Dress Flower Girl Heirloom

It's official: you're selling your house, and the time is now. Let me tell you a secret: staging a home for sale starts in the kitchen, the heart of the home. It doesn't matter that you're more likely to have the pizza delivery service on your speed dial and the last time you cooked an honest-to-goodness home cooked meal was....it's okay, you don't have to give a time or a date! It's really okay!

Yet you want your kitchen to welcome any potential gourmet or gourmand who's a strong potential buyer. Let's face it: even if we've never zested a lemon or pressed a clove of garlic, we all like to think that given the opportunity, we could whip up a meal that would make Julia Child proud. The fantasy is that the right kitchen could propel any one of us to culinary genius. You can stage your home to create and literally sell such a fantasy.

Here are a few easy steps a motivated seller like you can take to stage your house to sell by transforming your kitchen into a deal closer:

1. Think fresh...paint that is. It's cheap, and it can totally change the mood of a room. A kitchen that's light, bright and airy invites folks to come in and sit a spell. The wheels in the mind of your potential buyer are starting to turn and plan. She's starting to envision her table in your highly marketable space.

2. De-clutter. We all have refrigerator doors full of kids' art, school pictures, and reminders for the next dental appointment. The truth is we've seen that door so often that we don't see it as junky any more. To a buyer, the sight is jarring and reminds him he's in someone else's house. You want each person to be able to envision himself in this house and begin to see it as all theirs!

3. Clear the Counters. Think long and gleaming. Get as many appliances and crockery off your counter tops as possible. Spic and span surfaces shine! A vase of fresh flowers is a nice touch.

4. Smells like home. A Mrs. Smith apple pie in the oven makes your whole house smell like your grandmother's on a harvest day. I won't tell them it's from your grocer's freezer if you don't.

5. Pantry Shelves, spice racks and spaces, oh my! We like to think the right kitchen would organize itself, and one with well-thought out storage spaces can certainly give that impression. Look in the most recent editions of home magazines for organizational ideas. Avoid Discount Club shopping and keep your pantry, cabinet and other storage places minimally stocked. Spaces will look larger. And you'll be moving soon anyway!

Staging your home to sell is part science and part artistry. A clean, creatively presented kitchen can cut through the clutter of "buyer overload" and stage your house to sell quickly. A few easy steps can lead a motivated seller like you to the sale you've been waiting for.

is a REALTOR® in the Triangle area of North Carolina. She helps her clients in Chapel Hill and Durham.