Dear Jean and Richard, Can you offer any advice on staging a house to help sell it? Somehow, it seems a little silly to make your home into a kind of show house right when you’re trying to leave it, but apparently it’s all the rage. Thanks, Connie in Flat Rock

Jean: Hi Connie. I think we all understand the idea of staging a home, which is really just a fancy way of saying “making it desirable.” As the term implies, it’s like creating a theatre set, which if overdone can indeed be silly. Things like fresh flowers and background music are nice, but it’s far more important to keep your house straight and clean than it is to start painting everything “neutral.”

Richard: Yeah, how did that idea get started, anyway? One person’s neutral is another person’s boring. With apologies to my friends in real estate, I think it’s just plain bad advice to suggest everything should be bland—especially when your goal is to create uniqueness, warmth and interest. I just looked at a new contemporary, upscale condo for sale, and the kitchens were as “off the shelf” as you can get. Eek!

Jean: I think one reason Realtors promote blah is in case their client has chosen a really awful color. He or she can’t really say, “What in the world were you thinking when you painted the ceiling yellow!?” It’s easier, not to mention more polite, to rely on the neutral myth.

Richard: Good point. I suppose it’s possible even the term “stage” is used as a nice substitute for “clean up this mess!” So the first step in staging your home would be to look at it as if you’re seeing it for the first time. Ask yourself if someone else might view your amazing teapot collection as just too much clutter. Or if that fuchsia bedroom your daughter wanted when she was 5 is now a little loud for its current use as an office.

Jean: The trick, I think, is to subtract. This is truly a case of less is more. If your counters and tables have no surface space left for a newspaper, they have too much stuff. If the first thing you see when you enter the room is the Nascar wallpaper, you may want to strip it. A potential buyer wants to see the house, so if your home looks like an antique mall it may be time to have a yard sale.

Richard: As far as adding back, invest in tasteful accessories. If the sofa is a dull brown, add some colorful accent pillows—but not the ones that say King of the Remote. House plants can add color and life, but avoid the fake ones. Make sure the rooms are well lit, there are no stains on the carpet, and the house smells fresh. And I think baking cookies is absurd.

Jean: Ugh, my worst vision of a staged house is where someone has thinned out the furniture but added in fake trees in bad baskets or pots. Beyond reducing clutter and chaos, making sure it’s clean, and toning down screaming colors, the basic rules of interior design come into play. Easy traffic flow, balanced room layouts, and dramatic lighting all have their roles. Hang your pictures at eye level, erring on the side of too low. Collect the dog toys in a floor-level basket, box up clothes not in season so the closets look even more spacious, and pay special attention to your front porch or entry foyer. First impressions are made at the door.

Richard: And if you think your home is already a show house, get far away from the house while they are showing it. Believe me, you don’t want to hear the comments. Especially if it was us.