House-Selling Secrets of a Home Stager

Solution: The owners decided to put the table in storage to open up the kitchen more. Gould cleared off the counters and nixed the fridge magnets to make the modest-sized kitchen seem more spacious.

This home sold the week after Gould finished her staging—much to the owners' relief, since they'd already bought another home.

Listed: $688,000
Sold: $667,000 (97% of list)
Staging costs: $5,000