Buying A Home
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
What did you declutter/put away when getting ready to sell?
What sorts of things did your realtor have you put away? Anything and everything, tell me now. I figured i'd start early and get a junp on it because I feel like I have so much stuff everywhere!
Re: What did you declutter/put away when getting ready to sell?
Interesting, I wondered about this.... Where did you go with is toys? I can put about half of DD's toys out of sight in a storage ottoman, but the rest are too big. Our living room is the only real room she has to play (play kitchen, table and chairs, dollhouse, etc....)
In all cabinets and cupboard I took about half out and organized everything. Made sure everything was folded (towels) and lined up. We have a 2 and 4 year old. We had to hid most of the toys too. Lots went into a storage closet and a lot went into totes that we through in the back of the truck to take with us when we left for a showing. During the showings we got rid of the garbages, put them in the garage or truck. Everything off the counters. If you don't use it on a regular basis, pack it, if not put it neatly in the cupboards. Take down all family pictures and sentimental things (religious symbols). Declutter everything. In the bathroom put everyting away...no soap dispensers, toothbrushes, tissues, etc... Put all laundry away.
Our house went in about a month.
HOpe that helps.
We took down pictures, knick-knacks, and everything but the essentials from various shelves - eventually removing most of the shelves themselves. We packed up all books and put enough in storage to fill a 10x5 storage unit. We also removed "extra" serving ware from the kitchen so that only essentials remained - 6 plates/bowls vs. 12. Made the kitchen cupboards look much roomier.
In the linen closets we rolled towels (versus folded) and put everything else in coordinated baskets.
We also put all winter coats in storage - as well as all off-season clothes. For everything else that remained, we got coordinating plastic storage bins.
Coordinating/Uniform storage was key - - it was sometimes a pain, but if it had to be in the closet(s) at least it looked nice!
When you have all the toys visible that you mentioned, you are basically advertising that your home has NO space. No matter how cute your kids' toys are, they do not "go" with your home's decor and are just perceived by many as "clutter."
My Valentine Bookends (2~13~13, 2~15~09)
We lived in a very small row home w/ a young child. We got rid of a LOT of his toys (well, put in storage) and I was amazed at how little he actually needed.
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
We packed everything in our bookshelves and only left 4-5 decorative items per bookshelf for staging. We packed up about 50-75% of the items in our closets and put them in storage so everything looked like there was plenty of room. We took 100% of our personal photos down and stored them. We packed all seasonal clothing away. All of DS toys are put away out of sight. We have two storage ottomans in the living room that hold a few toys, but that's it. Any that do not fit in there are stored away. All of the toys are out of the yard and stored in the garage or in a storage shed so that the yard looks like it for adults. We also donated any unneeded furniture so that our house has more floor space. I packed about 75% of the stuff in our bathroom and the only things we have left are the things we absolutely use every day (toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc.), which are in storage baskets under the sink.
Good luck. It is a ton of work and overwhelming at first. We had a stage come over for a consult, which only cost $100 total and was immensely helpful.
We packed as much as we could in boxes or rubbermaid containers and then stacked them in the garage.
Don't forget to declutter your kitchen cabinets (no more than 1/2 full) - same with other closets. Only one appliance on the counter.
Remove some pieces of furniture as well until the room feels rather sparce to you.
All personal photos - pack away.