Declutter and Stage to Sell
Tackling the Clutter
Kitchen Chaos
When you think de clutter… it’s usually the garage, or a walk in closet. What about the Kitchen Chaos & Eating Area? The space where you share cooking and eating with friends & family are the most important spaces to consider.
1. Drop Zone- Is there a countertop, island, or shelf that everyone in the household dumps their day?! Irritating and unorganized.
Make a “drop zone” for the family.
Set up a space near the door that’s most used, usually the garage door, A place where everyone can drop their keys, mail, etc. Place a couple of decorative trays, one for keys, one for mail, maybe a charging station for electronic / mobile devices. A magnetic strip over this area on the wall is a great place for reminders and snapshots, BUT don’t let old notes and memories linger and complicate the space. Clean and streamlined leads to a neutral drop zone.
2. Less is More – During my initial staging consultations, it’s generally not about what can be added but what can be removed. My eye goes to what can be taken away, opening sight lines and natural pathways. It’s amazing how much stuff we accumulate over time. We’re all guilty, sometimes it’s just easier to look the other way instead of takling the clutter head on.
3. Start Clutter Kicking in the Kitchen – the kitchen is one of the most salable rooms in your house. Ask home buyers what area or room they consider most important, they’ll usually say the Kitchen. In fact you could say, people will buy a kitchen and the house that goes with it.
If that is true, having a great first impression in the kitchen is essential… When prospective buyers look at your kitchen, they pay attention to its cleanliness, the layout, and storage capacity. Clutter is not pretty and can add years to the look of a kitchen.
Today’s buyer is looking for openness and easy organization. Therefore, you need to stage your kitchen to make it appear as open and organized as possible.
When buyers come in, they may open everything – yes, everything. The more serious they are about your home the more they’ll open, they want to see how their stuff will fit. They’ll open your cabinets and drawers – look under your sink. They’ll peek in your pantry. If the appliances are staying, and sometimes even if they’re not, they’ll check them too. They want to see how well the home has been cared for and make sure there is enough room for their “stuff”.
Buyer’s NEED to see the cabinets are adequate. If your kitchen cabinets, pantries and drawers – even your refrigerator – look jam-packed, you are sending a negative message to potential buyers that there is not enough room.
4. Staging is a Process – the process of making your house as inviting as possible to the widest range of buyers. You may need to edit a couple of times before you can get it down to the “best look” for presentation.
It’s usually difficult for buyers to look beyond personal items or styles of decorating to see the house. In staging a property, the goal is to have the house appeal to the greatest number of buyers and make them feel at home, we want a buyer to visualize living there with their furniture and …….stuff.