De-Clutter Your Home Before Selling

New sellers, take notice: less is more. Before you even consider putting your house on the market, you’re going to want to make sure it’s ready for fresh eyes. The goal is to clean your home so thoroughly it looks like a 4-star hotel room.

It may seem like a daunting task, but you can make it less intimidating by starting small. Even if the first space you clean is just a closet, taking it one step at a time will get you where you need to be. You may also want to set aside specific blocks of time on your schedule to clean- whether it’s 3 hours a day or just 15 minutes.

Remember, de-cluttering is the best way to show off your home’s best features. Buyers will not be able to see the “potential” behind the clutter that you do; that’s why it’s up to you to turn that potential into reality. Below are tips to help you get started:

Bookshelves: Remove most of the books and knick-knacks that are currently in your bookshelves, save for a few “coffee-table” books (placed symmetrically) for presentation purposes. You may even want to place a fresh potted plant or two on a bookshelf and throughout the rest of your home for a touch of freshness.

Personal Items: Makeup, hair appliances, brushes, and other toiletries are examples of personal items that you don’t want potential buyers to have to look at. For that matter, pack up all family photos and framed certificates, and replace them with decoration or artwork that reflects your home’s décor tastefully. And don’t forget about the kids’ room: put away all stuffed animals, videogames, trophies, or dolls!

Kitchen: Remove all of your pots and pans that are hanging from the ceiling or stacked above shelves, get rid of all countertop appliances save for one or two, and clear all magnets or photos from the refrigerator.

Rugs: No one’s going to notice beautiful wood flooring if it’s covered up by seemingly random, mismatched area rugs. No matter what type of flooring you have in each room, make sure it’s thoroughly cleaned and free of any distracting rugs.

Furniture: Leave behind only the pieces that pull a room together, and put the rest in storage. That means while you should definitely leave the leather sectional in the living room, the coffee tables and nightstands aren’t really as necessary in order to get a feel for a room’s potential.

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