Others say...

"Useless bit of self-promotion by Barb Schwarz - a waste of money"
This book tells you what you already knew - clean, declutter, fix broken stuff, and clean up the yard. That's about it. The reason the book is more than ten pages long is that it is chock full of the author's stories about how wonderful she is and what a staging pioneer she is. I really wish I hadn't wasted my money on this fluffy piece of advertising.

"Written Infomercial"
Reading this book is like reading the script for an infomercial. The entire purpose of the book was profit for Barb Schwarz in book sales and additional customers. At least once per page, sometimes once per paragraph she re-credits herself with inventing the entire concept of Home Staging from the name to the work to the profession. The only person to take more credit for anything was Al Gore and the infamous internet issue. There are maybe 10 total ideas/concepts for actual home owners to implement themselves, but they are very general. The other 200 pages are various ways of reiterating that Barb Schwarz created the concept of Home Staging, all homes should be staged before sale, and that the home owner should hire a licensed, professional Home Stager, preferably trained by Barb Schwarz. If your purpose of buying this book is to find out the value of Home Staging, or justifying the cost of professional Home Staging to an unwilling seller (spouse, relative, client) than this is a very useful book. If you are a home owner that already believes you should stage your home and are looking for creative ideas on how to do it yourself - don't bother with this book. The book does give insight in how to choose a professional Home Stager, what to look for when interviewing Stagers for your project, what to expect from Home Staging, the value of it, and general ideas of what a Home Stager can and should do for you. I agree with the reviewer who said, "Not for Do It Yourselfers." For Do It Yourselfers The Designed To Sell book is quite a bit better for what is out there that is very current. 50 Simple Steps to Sell Your House for More Money in Any Market by Ilyse Glick is also better, but not as current.

"Buyers will be disappointed..."

If you're about to put your house on the market, you have a million things to do. Don't take time out to read this book. The amount of truly useful information fills about ten pages, and can be found on various internet web sites with a simple search. The rest is repetitious, contradictory, and/or silly.

The biggest waste of time is reading personal information about her own home and the off-topic "staging for living" concept. Also annoying are continual plugs for her organization, profession, and services. (Obviously, home staging makes sense, and is worth the effort. We wouldn't have bought the book otherwise. Why must she remind us over and over?)

Spend your time decluttering, instead.

"Home Staging: The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money"
This is an excellent book on home staging. Very detailed, well organized, professional.
The information is up to date and useful.
This would be a great choice if you want to learn how to prepare your house for a sale.

"Not for do-it-yourselfers"
If you're looking for concrete plans and ideas for doing most or all of the clean-up and staging yourself this is not the book for you.

If you're looking for general information on what a professional stager can do for you - it's fine.

My biggest complaint is this is a thinly veiled infomercial...not to mention when she talks about how she lives a staged life and describes her own home it doesn't fit...an ostrich in the bathtub that's dressed for the holidays??