Home staging isn't tricks, people. It's not JUST the champagne flutes in the bathroom, the breakfast tray on the bed, the open book with the glasses on top placed by a window. Those may be valid tactics, but only in a bigger scheme. See Staging overall as akin to a diamond - brilliant, valuable and all about the clarity - and the rest becomes easy.

Brilliant

• Is the home's potential maximized? Are each of the spaces being used fully? Can you cover the basic needs of a home in this house? A home needs to offer a place where family life can take place comfortably - that means a place to eat, sleep, play, relax, self-cleanse and nowadays, work. The function of each space needs to be clearly illustrated such that each buyer walking through just "gets it"!
• Do the colors fit congruently with the architecture, the room sizes and their function?
• Have you deployed Design Psychology - which, at its most basic level is simply invoking sensory appeal, with visual interest, auditory, aroma, etc.?

Valuable

• If your home/property is not the best value in the price point you have one of two problems - either your have the wrong price, or the value perception needs shoring up.
• Is the home in mint condition?
• Has the home been maintained, AND (and I can't stress how important this is) kept up to date with electrical and plumbing enhancements. You should expect to have invested least 10% of the home's value if you want it to keep in step with "current pricing" ... which remember, includes new construction.

Clarity

• You do not want buyers to have to "work" to see your home's potential. They need to "get it", to see immediately how this property would fit. If your home is a starter house, chances are there won't be time for breakfast in bed, so forget the tray. However, if your house is a "move-up" then the book with the glasses perfectly expresses a quiet calm moment every stressed soccer mom yearns for!
• Do not be afraid to play the local card: if your town has a great rec department then have some brochures out on a desk. (one desk! Not the fridge, and not all over the place!) The same with private schools, country clubs and other desirable "amenities'. Information can be strategically placed to catch a buyer's eye... and you can always put it on the Squidoo lens for your home.
• Clearly and fully tell the story - of how your home is just the most delightful place. It has been for you, and it will be for the next person.

Use the image of a diamond when preparing and marketing your home for sale. Make sure your home looks delightful, the best value around and a perfect fit for the version of you guys when you first bought it yourself! That's the good thing about aging - there's always someone coming along behind you who has a similar road to travel.