You're listed your house for sale! You've found a real estate agent and now you can relax and let him do all the work. Not really! You may have lived in your home for many years and been very comfortable with it, but now is the time to step back and see it without emotion.

Imagine yourself as a buyer viewing it for the first time. Firstly, is your house clean, and does it smell fresh? Does it seem neat and organized? How about the two most important rooms in the house, the kitchen and the bathroom? Are they clean and even attractive? What about the carpets and floors? By now you're getting the idea and you're excited to get started turning your comfy home into the sparkling jewel that attracts buyers.

Let's do a 'walk through' with our discerning eyes wide open. The obvious offenders are clutter. Check all rooms in the house for items that take up space unnecessarily. Find a suitable storage place for items that appear to make a room smaller than it actually is. People who are inspecting your home will look in closets and cupboards to check storage size. Cramming these spaces makes them appear smaller as well. Walk through each room in the house and do a clean sweep wherever possible, especially the kitchen and bathroom. Things like curling irons and shavers should be out of sight. In the kitchen try to put all small appliances under the counters. This is the prime place for clutter. Tea towels and dishes in the sink need to be cleared as well. You may not be aware of it, but bathrooms and kitchens often accumulate an odour, and this will certainly put the buyer off. Get out all the brooms, vacuum, dust cloths, scrub brushes and wizard fluids. Pay attention to stains, curtains that could use washing, vacuum carpets and stairs paying close attention to pet hair.

OK. Now the house is clean, organized, and ready for viewing, right? No again, but this is the fun part. It's called staging, and you will probably want some help with this one. Your real estate agent can help, or you may wish to have a professional stager do this for you. This is not necessarily and expensive venture, but staging may require a few new and current style accents. Imagine your newly cleaned bathroom becoming a mini spa. Thick white towels rolled and tied with raffia, new bottles of hand soap, lotions or body scrub, new loofas or sponges by the bathtub, perhaps a few polished stones. Compliment this theme with a simple glass bowl with a fresh flower floating in it and the hint of aromatherapy. Sounds good doesn't it, and your buyer will feel the comfort of just that little room. Fresh flowers in vases here and there in the house are a nice touch. Is the kitchen a coffee tone with white trim? Consider adding a simple picture in a contrast color, and then repeat that color somewhere else in the room. Ideas for staging your home are endless, limited only to your imagination and size of your budget.

Now that you've finished cleaning and organizing your home it's taken on a whole new face. It's ready to be viewed and you can be confident that you have prepared it to be shown at its best.