How do you freshen up your residence for potential buyers, with the spring homebuying season approaching? David Cieslak of Signature Staging explains.

With winter officially over (on the calendar), now is a great time to open up those windows in your home and do a little spring cleaning to prepare your for the busy market season. Here are a few simple tips to freshen up your home for a potential buyer:

•Curb appeal: I can talk about this anytime of the year, but now is the time to clear away all the debris from last year and what may have been revealed once the snow melted (dogs, I’m talking to you). It’s still a bit early to do plantings, but stores are now beginning to sell heartier plants, such as geraniums. Make sure, if you are doing new plantings, to protect all frost-resistant plants against possible damage, if cold.

•Clean all windows: On that first warm day, I don’t know about you, but I love to open the windows in my home to let in some fresh air! On a day like that, cleaning your windows is not such a bad idea to make the first impression sparkle.

•Pack away winter-related items: Remember, when staging your home, you are taking the first steps to your new home. Now is a great time to pack up boots, scarves, winter wardrobe items and take them to storage, or perhaps donate unwanted items. Showing more space in storage areas is key when putting your home on the market, and this will allow for easier organization for those last-minute showings.

•Lighten up!: Make sure all lights in the home are in working order. Simple ways you can brighten a space are by: changing out heavier lampshades; removing heavy thermal window treatments you had up for the cold; and adding some seasonal accessories and toss pillows for that “wow” first impression, which will add a pop of color that will contribute to the excitement that summer is just around the corner!

For more tips on how you can spruce up your home for the spring homebuying market, feel free to visit our Facebook page. And, for more information on our services visit our website at www.signaturechicago.com.

Happy Spring!

David Cieslak is the owner and principal stylist of Signature Staging.

The owner and principal stylist of Signature Staging, David Cieslak is known for his excellence in taste, service and efficiency, and gives Realtors and their clients’ homes a competitive edge.

A Certified Staging Professional, Cieslak is also the vice president of the Chicago Chapter of the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA), and his work has been featured on LX.TV OpenHouse, which airs on NBC. He was also a RESA Stager of the Year Nominee for the Midwest in 2012.