Learning to declutter your home is one of the most basic lessons which must be accomplished by all property sellers. Clutter is a home stager’s worst enemy, since it is distracting, impeding and an absolute turn-off to prospective buyers. Luckily, decluttering is one of the easiest home staging fixes and can be accomplished for free. This project should be the very first thing you do when you start staging any home for sale.
This essay provides guidance on removing clutter from your home and details the benefits that decluttered spaces will enjoy.
Strategies for Decluttering Your House
Decluttering is easier than you might think. Although many home sellers do not have an objective eye for the appearance of their décor, the stagers they hire to address their problematic issues can find fault with any area of the home which is too crowded.
Clutter means that there is simply too much stuff in any given area. We virtually all have this problem somewhere in our homes. Some clients have a minor clutter issue in some areas, while other customers have a tremendous assortment of items all over their properties; inside and out.
Many of my clients are afraid that they will have to buy or rent lots of new furniture or accessories to properly stage their homes. However, they are universally relieved when I tell them that I am going to get rid of far more than I intend on bringing in. Decluttering is an inexpensive solution which works so well to provide fantastic results in a variety of home environments.
How to Declutter Your Home Simply and Easily
You are going to move soon anyway, so now is the perfect time to start to pack up all that clutter. Start by removing, packing and storing any and all collections and most personalized items, such as family photos and memorabilia.
Use an objective sense of proportion to eliminate furniture and accessories which are not vital to the sense of functionality in the room. Take 80% of the stuff out of your closets and precisely organize the rest.
Clean out the attic, garage, shed, basement, guest room and any other catch-all locations which are known to act as auxiliary storage areas.
Once most of the extraneous items are removed from the interior environment, you will be amazed how good it will look already. It is all about math: Subtraction is a cheaper and generally more effective means of home staging than addition.
Declutter Your Home Help
Decluttering is key to increasing the perceived size and spaciousness of your saleable property. Additionally, eliminating clutter makes your home appear better decorated, well maintained and even more updated. Organized areas of the home create a sense of high style, regardless of your specific taste and décor. Finally, eliminating clutter helps a buyer to see all the potential in your actual property, rather than climbing over all your personal stuff.
I can not overemphasize the importance of ridding your home of clutter and organizing the remaining items, prior to placing your property on the market. I often get thank you notes after a client sells a home successfully. It is amazing how many people mention that they loved their less-cluttered staged home so much, that they decided to really change their style to a more organized and open décor in their new property. This is a lesson which helped them sell their homes, but is also a gift that keeps on giving, year after year.
