Home staging is about illusions. It's beyond decorating and cleaning. It's about perfecting the art of creating moods. Staging makes your house look bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, more loving and, best of all, it makes home buyers want to buy it.

Contrary to what you might think, it's about more than preparing the house for sale. Staging is what you do after you've cleaned, decluttered, painted, made minor repairs; it's all about dressing the house for sale.

1.   Make an Entrance
2.   Conquer Clutter
3.   Less Is More
4.   Float Furniture
5.   Mix It Up
6.   Repurpose Unused Rooms
7.   Let Light In
8.   Use Color Creatively
9.   Paint It Black
10. Rearrange Your Art
11. Accessorize With Threes
12. Bring the Outdoors In

1. Make an Entrance

You know the saying: You never have a second chance to make a first impression. "The outside of your home is the first thing guests see. And like it or not, the outside speaks volumes about what's inside - and about its owner. A welcoming entry helps set the tone for the rest of the house.

We suggest a quart of glossy paint in a bold, cheerful color for the front door (we suggest red), new hardware (or a little elbow grease to clean and polish the existing knocker, lockset, porch light, house numbers and mailbox), a fresh coir or seagrass mat, and a trio of seasonal potted plants on the landing to dramatically brighten and refresh your home's entry and make visitors feel welcome. This small investment pays personal dividends, too, giving you an emotional boost and a dose of house-pride with each homecoming.

2. Conquer Clutter

The most important thing most people can do to improve their home is to clear out, clean up and get rid of clutter. Be ruthless as you go about purging your belongings. If you haven't used it in three months, stagers say, box it up and store it away; if you haven't used it in a year, get rid of it. Make a house rule that for every new item that comes in, an old one has to leave. Any mixed feelings you have about tossing life's accumulated belongings will quickly be replaced with a sense of relief and appreciation of your uncluttered surroundings.

If you simply can't part with your collection of National Geographic or your kids won't let you anywhere near their carefully assembled LEGO creations, it's time to get creative about storage and organization. Retailers like The Container Store and Target sell handy rolling bins designed to slip under a bed and house everything from household supplies to kids' toys.

If you can't get rid of it and can't hide it, flaunt it with style: "Places sell colorful and inexpensive fabric, cardboard or melamine magazine holders "Lined up on a shelf, they look a lot cleaner than stacks of magazines everywhere and add a unified visual element to the room." Your home will be far more inviting, if clutter is out of sight.

3. Less Is More

A cluttered home can also be caused by too much furniture. When professional stagers descend on a home being prepped for market, they often whisk away as much as half of the owner's furnishings, and the house looks much bigger for it.

You don't have to whittle that drastically, but take a hard look at what you have and ask yourself what you can live without. You really only need two pieces of furniture per wall: a bed and a nightstand, or a dresser and a chair. Another rule of thumb: If you don't use it regularly, lose it. While you're doing this sometimes-painful pruning, remind yourself that every square foot you free up is prime real estate.

4. Float Furniture

If your couches are clinging to your walls, you're not alone - it's a typical decorating mistake, stagers say. There's a common belief that rooms will feel larger and be easier to use if all the furniture is pushed up against the walls, but it's simply not true.

Instead, furnish your space by floating furniture away from walls. Reposition sofas and chairs into cozy conversational groups, and place pieces so that the traffic flow in the room is obvious. In most cases, this means keeping the perimeters clear. When you place furniture in a room, envision a figure-eight or the letter H in the middle, with clear pathways around it. Not only will this make the space more user-friendly, it will open up the room and make it seem larger.

If you're nervous about doing something that can seem a bit radical, Try an area rug on an angle first, then move the couch and see how it looks. But just try it. If the new arrangement doesn't strike your fancy, you can always put things back the way they were. But chances are, you won't want to. Giving your furniture some breathing room, as it will make a room look larger.

5. Mix It Up

You'd never consider donning the same clothes for days on end, so why force your home to endure the same tired decor year after year? We get used to our surroundings, but they can become stale and stagnant. If a chair has been in the same spot for five years, move it! Think of your digs as a superstore, with the added bonus that everything in it is free. Give yourself permission to move furniture, artwork and accessories between rooms on a whim. When you move things new spots, you appreciate them again and give your house a whole new look for nothing.

Suggestions:

Just because you bought that armchair for the living room, for instance, doesn't mean it won't look great anchoring a sitting area in your bedroom.

Perch a little-used dining room table in front of a pretty window, top it with buffet lamps and other accessories, and press it into service as a beautiful writing desk or library table.

6. Repurpose Unused Rooms

A big part of what stagers do is create fantasy spaces: an exercise room, a meditation space, an art studio, a family game room. You can take that unused space on the third floor or in the basement and turn it into something you've always dreamed about having.

If you have a room that currently serves only to gather junk, repurpose it into something that will add to the value - and enjoyment - of your home. Move boxes to a rented storage space (or better yet, have a yard sale or donate their contents to charity) and get to work creating the space you yearn for.

Suggestions: The simple addition of a comfortable armchair, a small table and a lamp in a stairwell nook will transform it into a cozy reading spot. Or drape fabric on the walls of your basement, lay inexpensive rubber padding or a carpet remnant on the floor and toss in a few cushy pillows. Voila! Your new meditation room or yoga studio.

7. Let Light In

Don't forget to dress up windows for both form and function. We almost always take off old, heavy drapery and put something light, airy and gauzy in its place. This ushers in natural light and makes a previously closed-in space seem larger. Use a combination of minimal window treatments for a light-filled living area. Use sheers and a tension rod to achieve this look on the cheap.

If privacy is paramount, top-down, bottom-up Roman shades will block the neighbors' view of your bathtub but let you gaze at the sky while you soak. We favor bamboo or parchment shades and simple curtain panels made from fine cotton twill or translucent linen. These materials let light stream in during the day, provide privacy at night and add touchable texture to a room. Or consider investing in window treatments: sheer fabric shades with built-in blinds (Hunter Douglas offers several options.) They look great and offer so much versatility.

8. Use Color Creatively

"Painting is the cheapest, easiest way to give your home a new look. Even if you were weaned on off-white walls, take a chance and test out a quart of paint in a warm, neutral hue. You can always paint over it if you don't like the effect. These days, the definition of "neutral" extends way beyond beige: from warm tans and honeys to soft blue-greens.

Even deeper shades are enjoying a renaissance. Don't shy away from dark colors in a powder room, dining room or bedroom. A deep tone on the walls can make the space more intimate, dramatic and cozy - and surprisingly, it can even make a small room seem bigger because there's no delineation of the corners.

Start with a pillow, textile or piece of art you love. The background color is often great for walls, and you can pull out the other colors for accents around the room. You could also try painting an accent wall to draw attention to a dramatic fireplace or a lovely set of windows. Either paint the wall a contrasting - but still complementary - color or a more intense version of the paint used in the rest of the room. If you have built-in bookcases or niches, experiment with painting the insides a color that will make them pop: a soft sage green to set off the white pottery displayed within, perhaps.

If you're too timid to whip out the paintbrushes, add punch with richly colored accessories, pillows and throws. When seasons change, or you're ready for something new, these couldn't be simpler to switch out.

9. Paint It Black

Using white-painted furniture is a tried-and-true tactic for freshening a room, but don't forget its opposite: a coat of satiny black paint can revive tired furnishings and lend a chic, dramatic flair to just about any space. Painting an old piece black immediately updates it. We use black in staging all the time. It has a graphic quality, provides contrast and makes a real impact.

Not only does black work with every other hue, it makes the colors surrounding it pop, and melds with most any decor, from vintage to ethnic to modern. The key, as always, is moderation: Use black as an accent in picture frames, lampshades, accessories and small pieces of furniture.

10. Rearrange Your Art

If your home is like most, art is hung in a high line encircling each room. Big mistake: Placing your pictures, paintings and prints in such stereotypical spots can render them almost invisible. Art displayed creatively makes the art stand out more and shows off your space. Break up that line and vary the patterning and grouping by hanging a row of art in several ways:

(a) Diagonally, with each piece staggered a bit higher or lower than the next. This is great for directing the eye toward an architectural feature like a window or arched doorway.

Triangularly, with one picture above, one below and one beside - a nice accent for a table-and-chair vignette.

A vertical line, perfect for accentuating a high ceiling. Hang pictures on different planes so that your eye goes up and down as it travels around the room. It creates interest on your walls. Try hanging things a bit lower than you're used to, as well, so that wall art relates to furniture groupings rather than floating (and getting lost) in its own space.

11. Bring the Outdoors In

Staged homes are almost always graced with fresh flowers and pricey orchid arrangements, but you can get a similar effect simply by raiding your yard. Take clippings of branches or twigs and put them in a large vase in the corner of a room to add height. It's a great structural piece that doesn't cost anything.

It's also an easy way to incorporate seasonal greenery. Budding magnolia clippings or unfurling fern fronds herald the arrival of spring; summer blooms add splashes of cheerful color; blazing fall foliage warms up your decor on chilly autumn days; holly branches heavy with berries look smashing in winter; and airy feather-grass plumes add elegance and texture any time of year.

Above all, "Get creative! Don't be scared to try something different. Just about every professional stager has tales of home sellers who, upon seeing their once-tired abodes transformed, were so blown away by the results that they decided to stay put. Who knows? You, too, may find you love your "new" home so much that you'll never want to give it up.