Staging is the craft of transforming a home listing into a showpiece, removing clutter to make rooms look bigger, cleaning and repairing to give a used residence that new, model-home look. According to Schwarz’s Web site: * Ninety-three percent of homes staged by professionals sell in a month. Professionally staged homes are on the market an average of 33 days, compared to the 161-day average for non-staged homes. * Staging provides at least a 300% return on investment Hence a $3,000 staging fee adds about $12,000 to a home’s price, Schwarz said. Tips for a making your room a winner If you can smell it, you can’t sell it, writes Barb Schwarz in her book, “Home Staging: The winning way to sell your house for more money.” Other home-selling tips: Homes need to be Q-tip clean, not just clean. Wash all windows and make sure they open freely. Clean out the fireplace. Keep curtains and blinds open to let in light when showing a home. And keep soft music playing. But home staging takes more insight than just playing music and baking cookies. Schwarz provided these “simple steps” for staging a room: * Stand in the doorway: This is where buyers stand before deciding to go into a room. If they don’t go in, they won’t buy your house. * Pick a staging point: Stage the round around a focal point. If it’s a bedroom, the staging point usually is the bed. In a music room, it could be the piano. In a living room, it could be the fireplace. * Make a plan: Design the room around the focal point, but change it if the feeling of the room isn’t right. * Clear the clutter: Remove pictures, accessories, mirrors to reveal the room’s bones. * Divide things into piles: Some things go back into the room, others are packed ? or tossed. * Get rid of some of the furniture: Keep the basics, get rid of the extras. Remove furnishings that crowd a room. * Arrange the furniture: Find an arrangement that works. Use less furniture and create more space for a room that looks open, balanced and bigger. * Rebuild with accessories: Find new uses for things, such as making a curtain rod out of a golf club or an oar. Be creative. But don’t over-accessorize. Less is more. * Fine-tune: Stand in the doorway again to see if anything needs to be removed or added. Scan for overlooked details, like tags on pillows or crooked blinds.