Photo by Patsi Jones / Phoenix Home Enhancement After

Send in the Pros

If doing it yourself doesn’t work, it might be time to call in the professionals. Fees vary, but expect to pay about $150 for a 90-minute consultation. Beyond that, stagers will do everything for you, from hiring movers to rearrange furniture to bringing in sofas, accessories and artwork from their vast troves (i.e., storage units and other houses) to spruce up your place. Many of them even offer “staging for living” services for people who don’t plan to move but want to redecorate.

The biggest obstacle can be change. Oftentimes, people have a hard time accepting it. One couple Craze worked with had bolted “a little too much” contemporary canvas art on their walls and couldn’t bring themselves to take it down. Another client had just invested in slightly scary security bars.

Undeterred, Craze says, “Well, let’s put a nice wreath on that barred entry gate.”