Prepping your home for showing can be a painful process. However it’s also a perfect time to pare down and start to pack up personal items. Look at it as the beginning stages of your move and it will be much easier to tackle. Lordes Arbuscato recently published a list she compiled by interviewing top stagers depicting the seven things you should do to give your home the polish it needs for a first impression. I’m paraphrasing for the sake of time.
1. Detach from your personal items and pack them away. Pictures, mementos, personal stuff that just adds clutter. Remember less in a room translates into more space.
2. Don’t walk out of the house until it’s perfectly clean. First and foremost have your home professionally cleaned. Carpets washed, blinds dusted, windows cleaned, etc. Once the heavy stuff is done…maintenance is of paramount importance. On a daily basis leave your home pristine, make sure the kitchen and sink are clean, pick up all clothes and shoes and put them away, bathroom towels should be fresh and neat, beds are made, etc.
3. Scentologists will tell you, not only is the visual important but a homes scent, if it’s bad, can be a deal breaker. Not everyone has time to bake bread or chocolate chip cookies (two of the best smells) but you can air out your home, avoid strong cooking odors, get rid of the cat box. Common sense type of things. If it smells it goes!
4. Remove “sight-line” impairments. This means pull up the area rugs and the bathroom mats that can make a room look choppy. Long lines and less clutter. No toys, knickknacks, dish towels, portable appliances that stop the eye from the bones of the home. Clean and mean!
5. Improve traffic flow. Take out the excess furniture that might inhibit a comfortable flow through a room.
6. Create the perfect climate. Not to hot, not to cool, not to dark. Pleasant ambient noises are soothing to buyers soft and subtle music, birds singing from open outside windows, waterfall running.
7, Leave out what you want them to walk away with. Home flyers and pertinent information should be in the foyer for easy accessibility. Put away what you value, jewelry, medicines, financial papers, portable electronics