How to declutter..

You’ve heard it all before, we’re sure, but it’s important so we shall say it again – selling your home is almost as much about presenting a potential lifestyle to buyers as it is about location, location, location. When you put your house on the market you are immediately putting yourself in competition with every other house for sale in your area. How do you win? Help buyers picture themselves living in your house, making it their home.

How? Declutter.

We’re not suggesting that your home is a mess, or packed with so much stuff people can’t see the floors (though admittedly some we see are!) but we always say there’s opportunity to strip back every unnecessary detail and allow viewers to transpose their own furniture and accessories into a room.

First – go through every room and remove photos, personal items that mean a lot to you but nothing to other people, and those bits and bobs your mother-in-law gave you and likes to see when she visits. It’s not necessary to leave every flat surface empty, what we are trying to do is de-personalise the space, so your viewer can envision their own life here. Tidy your bookshelves – remove those stacked on stacks, colour-code by spines, remove anything placed in front of the books: it’s all about curating a sense of calm.

Second – we all know people viewing homes like to open cupboards and peek into pantries, assessing just how much storage space is available. Start with your kitchen. Find some cardboard boxes and empty out all the things you don’t use very often and decide if they are to keep, tip or donate. Do you really need that juicer you bought six years ago and used three times? What about the sandwich toaster? When did you last use your wok? Or your steamer? How about all those cookbooks? It’s time to get brutal and remove it all. Those things you use only occasionally, but still keep using – pop them in storage. Things you last used pre-Covid – donate or dump. It will also make life easier when you’re packing to move home yourself.

Go through this process in every room – every fitted wardrobe, every built in cupboard, and even the loft. Buyers want to believe they can bring all their clutter and it not fill their new house straight away.

Finally – review your storage. You might be used to a pile of shoes in the hallway or stacks of washing in the utility, but to others’ eyes it might look untidy, and like there’s nowhere else to put it. Invest in a shoe rack, a storage box or two, and ta dah – a nice neat home someone else will just love to live in.

(Picture used from Egerton Road North, Chorlton).

Eddie – Friday 15th July 2022.