All stagers and real estate agents will ask their home sellers to de-clutter. But what exactly is considered clutter and why do you need to remove it?
The Definition of Clutter
Clutter is a collection of things lying about in an untidy or excessive mass (basically your stuff)!
Benefits of De-cluttering
1. You are not selling your stuff, you are selling your home. You want people looking at your home, the rooms sizes etc. not at your stuff.
2. You can temporarily live without some of your favorite things. The key words here are YOUR FAVORITE things, not a home buyer’s favorite!
3. You are moving anyway. So pack it up now. It will make your job easier when the home sells.
4. Your professional photographs will look better, crisp and clean.
The Top 7 things That Clutter Your House
1. Your collections – whether it is a tea cup collection, your doll collection or beer mug collection; it is your personal style and needs to be scaled back. A few of these items can be used to stage a display but an excessive amount is considered clutter.
1. Your family and personal photos – again you want the buyers looking at your home not at your family photos, certificates, diplomas, sports trophies, or where you went to college.
2. Paperwork, books & magazines – We do not want people looking at our personal information such as bills and kids school & sports schedules. Find a storage place for items you need on a daily basis (a cute box for the top of your desk is ideal to put things into prior to a showing). If you have a lot of books, thin books on your shelves by ½ to ¾ and remove all paperback books. Get rid of magazines to the recycling bin. Cut out articles you may want!
3. Kid’s toys – all kids have toys but how many do they actually play with? Think about storing a majority of their toys. Have a small designated play area with their favorite toys. It should not be the dining room, office or area on the main living level of the home.
4. Area and bath rugs – we want the buyers looking at your beautiful hardwood flooring, gorgeous tile, stone or new carpeting. While we do use rugs to anchor furniture in a room with hardwood, stone or tile, a lot of little rugs at doors, vanities, kitchen sinks and hallways covers up the flooring.
5. TOO much furniture – the size of rooms are very important to buyers. Rooms with too much furniture appear smaller!
6. Clothing and shoes – same as with furniture. Stuffed closets appear smaller!
IAHSP 2018 Top Home Staging Team!