How to stage your home.

There's nothing like horrible curtains, dreary nets or dodgy window ornaments to turn off potential buyers before they've even got inside your house.

Net curtains are the biggest offenders in the window dressing stakes and are the bane of estate agents' lives - one of the first things an agent will do when photographing a house for publicity is to remove the dread net curtains. Net curtains gather dust, block out light and give the house a very closed look from the outside. They must go.

Net curtains aside, replacing your outdated curtains will reap rewards in the long term. "If you are preparing to sell, spend a little money on your windows and you will get it back," according to Iona McGuinness from Living Space, a Navan-based interior design company. Plain, easy-on-the-eye colours like cream or gold are the best option, according to Iona. "If people come in and see mad colours on the curtains they just can't see the potential of the room." A curtain or blind makeover doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg - a makeover for the average three-bed semi could cost in the region of €2,000. The fashion for wooden Venetian blinds has c gone, says Iona - voile and roller blinds are now popular. And voile is cheaper than blinds - prices start at €25 a metre in Castle Curtains & Blinds in Sandyford. Reception room curtains start at €40 per metre, bedroom curtains at €20 a metre. Dunnes Stores has good ready-made lined curtains in neutral colours starting at €65 for a pair of lined reception room curtains. For €20 you will pick up a voile panel. Hickeys in Henry Street also has lined readymades starting at €60.

Castle Curtains & Blinds, Sandyford Industrial Estate, D18: 01 295 5100.

Living Space: 087 2697171.

Dunnes Stores: www.dunnesstores.com .

Hickeys: 01 8730714.