When looking to sell your home, decluttering, deep cleaning, and depersonalizing your space are some of the most important things you can do during the home staging process to help you make a great first impression with potential buyers.

While there are several benefits of staging a home—quicker sale, higher offers, positive first impression—there are some common staging mistakes that homeowners make that can seriously hurt their chances of impressing prospective buyers. To help you avoid these common mistakes and get the highest dollar value on your home, here are five things you can do.

Leaving Too Many Personal Items on Display

A few belongings can help your home feel lived-in and help create a great first impression. However, too many personal items like family photos in each room can make it difficult for prospective buyers to visualize themselves in the space, which is the main goal of staging your home. A professional home stager can help you update your home’s interior design and provide a space that’s more inviting to buyers.

Making Poor Lighting Choices

Another great way to make a staged home stand out to buyers is by making smart lighting choices. A bright and airy living room creates a sense of ease, so pay attention to this. Prioritizing natural light is a great way to make a home feel more inviting, and a great way to do this is by focusing on the fabric quality and color of your window treatments. Get rid of any heavy fabrics that are likely to block natural light. Consider diaphanous curtain fabrics as they’ll let in more natural light.

Also, consider your light fixtures. Use them to play around with ambient, accent, and task lighting. A great way to do this is by adding floor lamps, overhead lights, or sconces to all the areas of the home that don’t receive much light.

Neglecting Much-Needed Paint Jobs

Never underestimate what a huge difference a fresh coat of paint can make. A new paint job can completely transform the aesthetics of your space and make it feel like a new home. If you want your home to feel new to buyers, also consider having the ceiling repainted.

Including Missized or Unnecessary Furniture

Ensure that each furnished room is fitted with furniture that’s properly sized for the space. Huge furniture pieces will make even the largest living rooms appear smaller than they actually are. If you choose to use your own furniture during the staging process, ensure that your furniture matches the size of the room and ties the room’s decor together.

Not Notifying Noisy Neighbors of Your Showings

If you’re looking to get new furniture pieces, online auctions offer a great place to shop. If you happen to live near a car yard, for instance, you may be used to the noise that’s associated with live auctions. A noisy neighborhood can be a deal-breaker for prospective homebuyers, so to avoid losing out on potential buyers, consider doing a quick “public auto auctions near me” Google search to get information on future auctions and approaching public auction dates near your home.

Once you have an idea of when the next live auction starts you can plan to have your home showings either before or after these dates. If you have noisy neighbors, also let them know that you’ll be having house showings on certain dates so they can know to keep their volume down.

Professional home staging is the best way to create a great first impression with buyers, get a higher sales price, and consequently increase your home’s value. Invest in a great property staging company and let them help you avoid the mistakes mentioned above.