If youre like many people selling a home in Middle Tennessee, your REALTOR has talked to you about home staging but do you really have to stage every room? This guide explains.

Do You Have to Stage Every Room in Your Home to Sell?

Staging is a really important part of selling your home, and your real estate agent will most likely offer you pointers and tips if you need them. And though you should try to stage every room in your home, you may have to focus your efforts on the most important period if that's the case, here's where you need to stage:

• Kitchen
• Living Room
• Bedrooms

Keep scrolling for tips to help you successfully stage each space.

Kitchen Staging: The Basics

Your kitchen is one of the most important in your home to stage. That's partly because the kitchen is where prospective buyers stand with their real estate agents to discuss how they feel about a home, and partly because staging is about more than selling four walls and a roof its about selling a lifestyle. You want buyers to see that your kitchen is clean and easy to maintain, and you can do that by:

• Clearing off your countertops. Buyers need to see that there's plenty of functional space in the kitchen, so remove your toaster, blender and anything else that may be cluttering up the counters.
• Organizing and decluttering your cabinets and pantry. Buyers can, and will, open all of your cabinets and pantry, so they should see neatly organized spaces inside.
• Improving your lighting. Many kitchens have only one small natural light source, and it's usually a window over the sink. If that's the case in your kitchen, you may want to invest in an upgraded light fixture that comes with a dimmer so buyers can control just how much light is available in the kitchen.

Related: Should you use plants to stage your home? Absolutely!

Living Room Staging: The Basics

Living rooms are important to buyers because they represent prime space for entertaining and relaxation. You can successfully stage your living room by following these tips:

• Clear off every exposed surface. Corral all your remote controls in one tray, put away books and papers, and make sure there isn't a speck of dust anywhere.
• Move your furniture away from the walls. Experts suggest that keeping furniture at least 6 inches from the walls actually makes your living room appear larger.
• Take out furniture that makes the space appear cluttered or that interrupts natural walking paths. Additionally, if you have any furniture that's past its prime, put it in storage until you move into your new home.

Related: 15 home staging tricks you need to know before you list your home for sale

Bedroom Staging: The Basics

Each bedroom in your home is important to prospective buyers, so staging should be important to you. Even if you have a bedroom that you use for something else, such as a workout room or office, you need to make sure that you stage it to reflect its current purpose. You can stage standard bedrooms by:

• Clearing off your dresser and bedside tables. Buyers want to envision bedrooms as relaxing spaces, but clutter will prevent them from doing so.
• Removing a third of your clothing from your closet. Even if you have an exceptionally large closet, taking out at least a third of your clothing will help ensure that buyers can see they'll have enough space for their own belongings.
• Improving your lighting. If you have heavy drapes hanging in your bedrooms, take them down and replace them with lighter alternatives. Additionally, before your home is photographed and certainly before people come to tour your home, you should raise the blinds as high as they'll go to let in as much natural light as possible. Finally, consider adding floor lamps in dark corners and smaller lamps to your bedside tables.

Related: 7 essential tips for first-time homebuyers

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