About three years ago, we decided it was time to move into a home that, hopefully, will be our last home. We wanted to make the move before our oldest child began high school and our youngest began middle school. We found the area we liked and several homes we were interested in. So we moved forward, hiring a well-respected real estate agent, and listed our home on the market.

Eleven months later, our home was still on the market. What were we doing wrong? Our agent would send us newspaper clippings about the sluggish market, and told us our home wasn't selling for a variety of reasons, but especially because so many new homes were available in our area in the same price range. We asked her a few times if she thought we should do anything to our home to make it more attractive. She insisted our home was lovely, and that we didn't need to do a thing. But after her contract ran out, we made some changes. We got a new agent, but most of our efforts were concentrated on changing the decor of our home to make it more attractive to potential buyers. The result: our home sold within six weeks (to buyers who had not seen it before our makeover), for full asking price, and we got two offers in the same day. Maybe it was just our time, maybe it was coincidence. But because of the feedback were received after we made the changes, from potential buyers and agents, I think our re-decorating efforts really paid off.

Here are some of the steps we took to make our home more attractive to potential buyers:

• Closet Cleaning: We moved all out-of-season clothing out of our closets to make then look more spacious, and stored the extra clothing neatly in the basement in large, plastic tubs.
• Remove Collections: My husband has a very large collection of crosses and other religious art. Since much of the collection must be hung on a wall, we displayed most of it in our stairwell. Although it was lovely, some potential buyers seemed overwhelmed and distracted by it.
• Go Neutral: We painted the main living areas in a neutral color (pale yellow) and removed all wallpaper, so potential buyers could see the home as more of a clean slate than a home decorated to someone else's style.
• Remove Clutter: We packed up and put away many of our knickknacks, books, and accessories, particularly those that were very unique (like my many folk art pieces) and could turn off buyers with more traditional taste.
• Make It Smell Great: Before every showing, I made sure the house was smelling fabulous. My tricks included Glade Plug-ins in every room and potpourri. Just don't go too perfumey--many people are bothered by strong smells.
• Remove Your Pets: This was the most difficult to pull off. We previously left our two dogs (one small, one medium-sized) in the garage when the house showed, but we were informed a few times that they would often bark loudly when the home was being shown. Whenever possible, I would take the dogs with me and leave the house while it was being shown, or they would go for an afternoon visit to their aunt's house to play with her dogs if I couldn't take them with me.
• Leave Them Alone: If an agent is showing your home, make it a point to leave whenever possible. Potential buyers just don't seem comfortable discussing the pros and cons of a home when the owner is around.

If you're looking for more tips on decorating your home before you put it on the market, check out HGTV's Designed to Sell and the book Dress Your House for Success.