Trying to sell your home can be a stressful and drawn-out process if your home is not staged properly. Military precision and a ruthless attitude towards your old knick-knacks is what are needed for a successful and speedy sale. Before you even think about the décor, must empty your entire house of anything you will not be taking with you in the move- if you don't like these things nobody else will. Not only will this give you more room to manoeuvre whilst making your home much more presentable,

it will also make your actual move much less stressful and prove to be quite a purging if not completely enjoyable experience. Now you are ready to stage your home.

What you are attempting to do is make your home appeal to the widest broadest possible spectrum of buyers possible. To do this some honesty on your part is what's needed. What you consider cosy others may consider claustrophobic, similarly, your idea of minimal may be a potential buyer's idea of a Soviet prison cell. Be truthful, is your home a little to tailored to your taste. A good idea is to ask a trusted friend or family member to help with this stage. If need be, you should put your own furniture in storage and rent out more conventional pieces or if possible disguise the existing furniture with throws or new cushions.

While neutral tones are best, it doesn't have to be bland. Use accent colours or cheerful fabrics to draw the eye to the best features in your home. It sounds silly, but set up the table as is your were inviting friends over, make all the beds and add extra pillows, set up a comfortable reading chair under a floor lamp- what you are trying to do is provide appealing scenarios of life in your home to help people viewing imagine themselves living there. If you can do that then half the battle is won.

Really brighten up your hallway with some white or light coloured paint and add some picture frames, your hallway is where first impressions will be made.

It is vital that both your kitchen and bathroom are sparklingly clean. It is these two rooms that sell a home. In the bathroom, re-grout your tiles and make sure the towels and bathmats are new and match and perhaps add some flowers to the windowsill and add a new roller blind for affordable, effective freshness. Similarly, in the kitchen get some new tea towels, display your best china and add some flowers to the windowsill.

You've heard it before, but smells are vitally important so get baking some bread, get the coffee pot on a slow boil and really appeal to peoples senses.

When showing people around your updated home, make sure all the lights are already on to avoid anywhere looking gloomy. Always let your guests enter a room first to give the illusion of more space, and don't leave the worst rooms until the end. Instead build up to the most impressive areas. And lastly, don't assume people know how great it is to live there TELL THEM. There is no harm telling people about how wonderful the neighbours are or what your favourite bars or take-aways are in the area. Not only will this create a fuller picture of life in your home, it will also prevent any awkward silences during viewings.