Preparing your home to show at its very best need not be a daunting task.  After all, some of the best open house decorating ideas are those that can be done on a shoestring budget with stuff you probably already have at your house anyway.  Where to start?

First Things First

Start outside at the street.  Potential buyers will form an opinion before they even have their car parked.  The outside needs to be picture perfect.  Start by getting the lawn and landscaping trimmed and pruned to the most impeccable standards.  Try a few simple arrangements of colorful flowers – no need to go overboard though, too many flowerpots can create a feeling of clutter.

How does your entryway look?  Paint the front door to make it stand out if needed.  Don’t forget to sweep and clean at least the front porch or main entry way.  Shine up even further with a brand new door mat – don’t worry about the expense, you can take it with when you move.  Remember, preparing the outside of your home, even beyond the patio or deck, is every bit as important as getting the inside just right.

Covering the Walls

Many home stagers wholeheartedly recommend repainting the entire interior of a home to maximize impact and create a top dollar sales price.  If any of your paint is dingy, faded, covered with smoke film, or just a plain ugly color (even though you might not publicly admit it, you know what I mean) it’s indeed imperative to redo the entire paint scheme throughout.

But in most cases, even when things are recent, up to date, and clean, many homeowners mistakenly choose to overlook some aspects of wall decor.  Dark colors can make things look dingy unless used very sparingly in a den or other room where dark and dim can achieve a desirable ambiance.  Ditch floral wallpaper no matter how much you love it. 

Take down any really specific themes in kid’s rooms – you know, the sports team borders and so on.  Focus on hinting neutrally at “child’s bedroom,” but not necessarily at “dad loves this hockey team so we covered every square inch of Billy’s room with hockey décor.”  This is not mean to be rude, but not all that many people will envision something this specific for a child’s bedroom.

Uncover the Windows

Unless your home’s window treatments are totally up to date and mostly neutral, it might be best to take them down altogether.  The extra light makes the house feel bigger and brighter, but there’s also that one less distraction from the best features of the home.

If your windows are sparkle clean and especially if you have any intricate trim or woodwork around the windows, prospective buyers will not even notice the lack of window treatments.  One exception – if the window looks out at something just plain ugly, then keep the view inconspicuously out of sight with appealing treatment.

Decorate By De-Decorating

This might seem counterintuitive, but one of the best things you can possible do when decorating a home for its open house showing is to remove as much of your personal décor as possible.  It’s probably best to just take everything down and then pick the best yet most neutral items to go back up – but not necessarily where they originally came from.  This is your chance to look at things from an outsider’s perspective and be imaginative on where the top choice items really fit.

Also, remove at least fifty percent of all furniture in the house and rearrange the nicest pieces that are left for optimal fit and flow.  We generally have way more stuff than our space really allows for, so clearing the extras out makes the entire home seem roomier and generally more appealing.  It’s okay to be skeptical, but believe me, it works.

Again, many of the very best home decorating and home staging ideas can be done with the items, furnishings, and décor that you already have.  The key is to let go of any premonitions of where things have always been and being open to using original stuff in all new creative ways.  Decorating for your open house can actually be fun!