To stage or not to stage

When I was growing up, no one was worried about staging their home as a part of the selling process. Most people felt like it was good enough just to tidy up. Nowadays, the home buyers have become much more discriminating and have many choices. Therefore, those little overlooked elements like unpleasant odors, cluttered rooms and worn finishes make a difference to buyers and certainly affect that irreplaceable first impression that is so important.

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Let's start with WHAT HOME STAGING IS
Stated simply home staging is the art of improving the visual appeal of your home to become more attractive to a broader range of customers in order to increase the odds of selling your home as quick as possible for as much money as possible. Staging goes beyond cleaning, decluttering, painting, and making minor repairs; it's all about dressing the house for sale.
A home stager is similar to an interior decorator and bring expertise in planning and choosing colors, fabrics, and furniture and arranging them all in a way that makes your home look its best. The stager is not focused on creating a home that suits your personal taste and need for everyday comforts, rather on making your home appeal to a broad range of tastes. This may mean that you, as a seller, have some inconveniences as the home may not be as "livable" as it formerly was when you hide the toaster, put away the toothpaste, remove furniture, etc. The idea behind staging is to help people fall in love with your property and motivate them to want to buy it.
The kind of things might a STAGER SUGGEST OR DO for you
Regardless of which stager you use, they all begin by examining your home from top to bottom propose modifications that are intended to help the saleability of the home. They will typically prioritize the actions to allow you the greatest flexibility in choosing which actions to implement.  
The stager is looking to identify specific ways to highlight your home's best features and compensate for its shortcomings. For example, the stager might recommend removing window treatments to open up a fantastic view; or, in a small bedroom, replacing the oversized bed with something smaller in order to make the space look larger.
The stager may also recommend which furniture pieces and household possessions should stay in the house and which should be removed. Be prepared to have to either move or store some of your possessions in order to de-clutter and depersonalize your house.
They may also suggest adding or changing out pieces and can often provide or secure those items for you. Additional items may include furniture, art work, curtains, carpets, pillows, and even accents. Many stagers keep warehouses of this stuff.
If repairs are needed to improve the appeal of your home, the stager or I can help you arrange for recommended repairs or other work on your home (These additional services provided by vendors are typically billed directly to you and the stager or me, as your agent, simply help facilitate the scheduling and completion of the work that you agree to.)
This may sound like a major undertaking but it can make a difference and with the help of a stager to manipulate aesthetic perceptions, it can be easily managed. It requires you to be open and honest about the house's physical condition.
The BENEFITS of staging for you
A visually appealing, well-dressed house can attract lots of attention help it sell more quickly. This is true regardless of the market conditions. According to some pros, a staged home can bring in 6 to 20 percent more than the same home without staging [source: Staged Homes]. A recent Real Estate Staging Association survey revealed that 50% of professionally staged homes spent 72% less time on the market and that 50% sold for 10% more on average than unstaged homes.
Hire a professional OR do it yourself
Staging yourself is better than not staging at all. You may already own well-chosen furniture and gorgeous home accessories and have an eye for decorating. However, it can sometimes be a challenge as you may be too close to things to truly see it objectively. it can come down to a decision of budget to determine what is possible. Know that home stagers will often try to use a good deal of your furniture as opposed to theirs as a way to minimize costs to you. You also need to consider whether doing it yourself is worth your time and effort. The hours you'll spend on these tasks can add up quickly.
The decision is yours, or course. If you decide to hire a stager, make sure to get recommendations and interview several before making a choice -- you don't want to miss out on some of the benefits described here because you've hired a stager who isn't up to the task.