One of the first things a realtor will tell you when staging your home is to get rid of clutter. The major contributors to a cluttered look are having too much furniture. The goal during staging and before listing is to decide what you can live without. If you have dark rooms without natural light, add mirrors to help reflect the light and remove all you can from counters and desk tops. Every home has something that makes it special. Take care to highlight those areas to get the best results. For most homes stick to a neutral palette, but add small pops of color and personality to keep the place from looking sterile. Do not underestimate what a fresh coat of paint will do for proper staging. Outside, roam around your neighborhood till you find that retired guy that spends all his time working on his yard, and do what he did. In this market you only need to go this far for a few days on average and then you can relax. Once your home is sale pending, typically within 1-5 days of listing, then you can go back to your normal life where your home actually looks lived in. Another method to help you declutter is the Japanese method called KonMari. KonMari teaches you to hold everything you own and to throw it out if it doesn’t give you joy. I tried this method and it really works! So far I’ve thrown out most of the vegetables in my fridge, all my utility bills, toilet paper that has less than 3 ply, every copy of my last physical, the bathroom scale and any mirrors that I can see in when I’m stepping out of the shower. 