You Know Your Home Is Staged When ...

• You've discovered -- surprise!--that making your bed takes just 60 seconds.

• Your friends come by and say, "Wow, the place looks terrific." (You wonder what they thought of it before.)
• The default answer to your most of your kid's questions is, "It's in the storage unit."

• Neighbors slow down when they drive by, just to admire your spruced up curb appeal. You hope they are motivated to spruce up their own, especially...well, never mind...
• You love coming home after being away. Sometimes you go outside, just to come back in!
• Cleaning the house is SO much easier. You're kicking yourself for waiting to declutter.

Photo: SilkFlowers.com

• You never knew how gorgeous -- and convincing -- silk flowers could be.  
• Once in a while you actually rethink the whole selling and moving decision.
• Your realtor can't stop thanking you enough for making her job easy. Maybe she'll share the commission. Yeah, right!

Photo: Glory Road

• Your dog doesn't understand why you sometimes hustle him into the car, and then ride leisurely around the neighborhood. But he doesn't care.

• You feel like your house has 50% more square footage than before.
• Whenever the phone rings, the first thing you ask yourself is, "How many stacks of unsorted laundry do I have to find hiding places for? Fast."

Photo: Coastal Living

• Your husband says about the bathroom, "I feel like we've just checked into a high end hotel." But he also asks every day, "Do I really need to hide my toothbrush and razor?" Answer: yes.
• You promise yourself you'll never bring thin towels back to the bath. Ever. You'll recycle them for drying the dog's paws.
• You've stopped cooking with garlic because you want the house to smell like gardenias until it sells. 
• Paint is your new best friend. Better, your new lover.

Photo: TheFrameStudio.com

• You kind of miss the refrigerator art show, but you're loving the kid art you've framed as expensive Soho gallery abstracts.
• You know your deceased ancestors are looking kindly at your fluffed up home, instead of asking, from heaven, "Why did she pack our photos away?"

Photo: Sarah Richardson

• You have at least one chair that no one is allowed to sit in. Until after the closing.
• You realize that the furniture you've recovered and painted is going to look beautiful in your new home too. If it's not a prefect match, you know now how easy it is to recover and repaint.
• You' re entertaining more, because you're proud of your house. And you like making people jealous. And because your guests might know someone shopping for a home like yours.
• Your mother says, "It's about time you fixed your place up." Bless her heart.

If you want to make your dog happy, impress your friends, and learn the techniques that make your home look more spacious, download. my eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast and For Top Dollar. If you have a home on the market, I promise my book will easily pay for itself over and over. I guarantee it.

Top photo: Chester Jones via Desire To Inspire.