Spick and span is the plan

Hopefully, you've had a month or three to declutter and you may have hired a storage box for your excess belongings. Photo / Getty

Help! It's my open home this weekend; the kids are under my feet and the house is a tip.

Anyone who has hosted an open home will know the stress of last-minute preparations and keeping your house ship-shape for the duration of the open home period.

Hopefully, you've had a month or three to declutter and you may have hired a storage box for your excess belongings.

But there's a lot still to do on the night before an open home and the morning itself.

Buy your flowers the day before and consider putting the bread maker on a timer to run the next morning, if you believe the smell of fresh bread woos buyers.

First thing in the morning open all the windows to air the house. If it's winter, you'll need to close them again and put the heating on at least an hour before people arrive.

Then, throw clean bedding on the beds and fluff up the duvets to make them look luxurious. Replace wet towels with dry ones.

Vacuum the house to within an inch of its life.

A vacuum cleaner can be used as a duster as well to clean horizontal and vertical surfaces and freshen up the soft furnishings.

Check all the sinks and basins for stray hairs, which can be sucked up with the vacuum. (But not water!)

Don't forget to vacuum or sweep out the garage floor, as well. A "man cave" space is becoming increasingly popular with buyers and a tidy, clean garage can be as appealing to some buyers as other spaces in the house.

If you haven't already, pop out the front of your house and check that the entrance looks welcoming. Check that your cleaned windows are sparkling and smudge free.

Remember that buyers look in cupboards. They want to imagine their own stuff there. So tidy up what's remaining as much as you can.

If you have children, send them on sleepovers the night before, if possible. If not, at least employ a babysitter for the morning to give them breakfast and get them out of the house while you prepare.

Conversely, employ a cleaner to come in for an hour before every open home and disappear with the children yourself.

But realistically you're still going to have make beds and tidy up, so it might be better to delegate the childcare to a relative, friend or paid professional.

Have some bags or an "escape box" ready to throw your dirty washing, kids toys and laundry baskets in on your way out the door, says home stager Anthea Baker of Homebase. Your car makes a temporary storage facility.

Don't forget to open all the curtains, to turn your lights on to maximise light before you leave, and consider leaving some music playing via iHeartRadio to create atmosphere.

Take a final trip through the house trying to imagine what others might think of it.

And when you finally walk out the door make a beeline to a cafe and buy yourself a nice brunch.

You deserve it.