Frugal or Free - Staging Your Home to Sell

Now it's all the rage, the catch phrase and yes... even a lot of new start up businesses as someone decided to put the word 'house stager' in front of their name and charge people for telling them just what they can find on the internet for free, in magazines for free, and by using their friends and family for free.

Now, if you have the money to spare, by all means go ahead! But in our family we are frugal with a capital F and even $10 is debated before spending, much less a hundred.

So here is a quick, easy, cheap and sometimes even free way to de-personalize your walls and yet give your home a comfortable 'lived in' feel.

We all know that personal family photos are a no-no. You want your buyers to walk in and see themselves in your home. No matter how adorable you think your kids or grandkids are and and how much you love your wedding photos, other people see 'just another kid' and 'old wedding pictures' with bad hairstyles and puffy sleeves.

So down come the photos and up goes..... what? You don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on pricey art work? Join the club. Instead, if your home's decor fits the theme, how about hanging up a pretty quilt your grandmother made? If you have a game room, creatively showcase your collection of hockey sticks or perhaps hang a rack of your pool sticks. If you have a deep frame, an NFL jersey or NBA jersey of your favorite player, framed might be just the thing to take up the space on the wall yet not be so personal that your potential buyers feel uncomfortable walking through 'your' home.

Here is a great tip - Print out some attractive black and white photos of historic buildings, those ocean shots you took on your last vacation, European streets, old time photos or artfully arranged flowers or settings and hang them in black frames you've purchased for a buck or two each at the local dollar store. You can hang them gallery-style on a focal wall for a striking yet comfortable decoration. Don't try to hang things on every wall though! Wide open space is your friend when trying to sell your home.