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Selling a home can be a stressful process. Making sure your home looks the part before an appraiser comes doesn't have to be stressful, though. Before you set the appointment for the appraiser to come out and look at your home, take a glance at these home staging tips we have. Some simple steps and tips can help improve your overall appraisal.

First, start by removing all clutter in your home. A messy home can have an impact on an appraisal by portraying a negative image of your home, which could possibly decrease the appraisal value. A cluttered room can feel smaller, which can make it difficult for an appraiser to properly measure the dimensions of said room. Before the appraiser comes, organize closets and make sure any entrances to crawl spaces or attics are clear. Not sure where to move excess stuff? A temporary self-storage space can hold many items until they're needed again.

Next, focus on the downstairs. If you feel your fireplace is a little outdated and won't do well with sellers, here's an idea: polish the stones to make them shine, using a stone-color enhancer. With a brick fireplace though, try painting it a light color with a rag or brush, one brick at a time to have it flow with the room. A good way to furnish living spaces is by not having all the furniture backed against walls. Having pieces of furniture grouped together more toward the middle of the room will not only make the room seem larger, it can show a distinct traffic flow and make the room much friendlier to use.

Don't just focus on the living space; other rooms can benefit from staging too. In the kitchen, you don't have to go out and do costly repairs. Those dated cabinets can look brand new with a new stain. This easy (and cost effective) effort will make the kitchen look updated. Another simple tip is to draw attention to any built-ins you may have. Again, nothing should be too cluttered, but arrange items in clusters to show how useful the built-ins can be.

For the upstairs, there are a few things to keep in mind for a home staging. Stage the rooms with one purpose so the appraiser (and potential buyers) will know what it is. Have an extra bedroom upstairs and it's currently just being used for storage? Show off that extra space by staging it as a bedroom or even a home office. In most bedrooms, painting the walls a neutral shade shows the size of the space, makes the room more serene and can take away from the notion of a gender-specific room.

There are plenty of ways to stage a home before an appraiser comes for a visit. These ideas are simply a few of the numerous ideas you can complete to help improve the appraisal score on your home. Do you have a helpful home staging tip? Let us know what you've done!