But now we're back... "home". Or what is, for the short time remaining to us, our home. Or at least, our house. I'm relying more and more on the Home that is my husband and my children and the Lord in our lives. The physical Homes in my life do not seem as dependable and safe as they once did, in so many ways.
On a more cheerful note, J did an amazing job of "renovating" our shower while I was gone! We finally gave up on the extensive renovations we've had planned since we first moved in and instead went for a cheapo fix that actually ended up look muchmuch better than I expected! Pleasant surprise-- thanks, J!
In anticipation of showing our home to complete strangers and asking them to pay us money for it, can y'all give me some opinions on a few things?
1) Bookcases. We have five large bookcases in our living room/dining room area. Is it worth packing up all that now and moving the cases out to the garage? Are bookcases/books a visual distraction that might take away from the room itself? They're certainly not "decorator books", if you know what I mean....
2) Wall art. I don't have a lot, but my sister keeps saying it should all come down and be packed away. But then I feel that the walls look so bare and forlorn... What do you think?
3) Bathroom stuff. Do you think it's worth the hassle of digging stuff out of a box every day to clear off the bathroom shelves and cabinet? I agree that it's a bit unsightly, but how important is that?
4) Peeling paint. Which is worse, trim paint in the kid's room that's been abused by rocking chair legs and other items of furniture being jammed up against it, or a potentially unfinished re-paint job on said trim? I'm worried that I may not get time to actually finish it once I start, but it does look pretty bad right now... Oh, the paint is already purchased, by the way. I bought whole gallon to do touch-ups around the house.
If you need to see pics to make a judgment, let me know and I'll dig up some camera batteries from somewhere and post some later today...
Thanks, y'all!!
9 comments:
Getting the House Ready to Sell - Remove the Clutter
Now let's talk about getting the house ready to sell. This is usually a precursor to the big move. Right now you are so overwhelmed with the clutter, you don't know were to start.
This may sound like a drastic move, but if you can afford it, order a dumpster. It will give you place to toss things. Or you can call for daily pick up from the area thrift/charities stores. You just have to get the STUFF out of your house as fast as you can. I don't want you to attack this problem without thinking a little about this.
If you run around with your head cut off, you are not going to accomplish anything. So start in one room. You can even start to pack up the stuff you will not be needing at the same time. Pick up an item and ask yourself:
* Are you worth moving?
* Do I love you enough to go to all this trouble and expense to pack you up?
You are going to be so surprised, at how much stuff you can actually do without. This is the key to getting the house ready to put on the market. Once you get rid of the clutter that is making your home too small you may not even have to sell. LOL This has happened.
Only keep the stuff you absolutely love and use just quite regularly.
Get rid of all the clothes you don't wear, too.
This comes from Flylady.net a great free source for organization tips
so answer to # 1 yes pack the books and stage the room to look it largest.
#2 Leave a classic type peice as a focus in each room but Susy is right remove most.
# 3 invest in a travel case for bathroom things prepare it and keep in the bathroom then close and stash in closet before house is shown - then during the move your bathroom things are easy to find ( just before the move throw toilet paper in the case and your bathroom is ready to use the minute you get there.
#4 I would set aside the time to touch up if not re-paint - to get the best possible price
Debbi
Thanks, Debbi :) That first set of advice about clutter-removal I've already been doing! Today we tackle the kid's room... (*dun-dun-duuuun*)
If it were me.... I would remove most of the books and book cases. Maybe leave one?
I would take down most of the wall art and just leave a few things.
I would get a huge plastic bin and dump all bathroom stuff in it and stash it when people come to view the place.
Are you going to change the paint in the kid's room? I know a lot of people say to paint everything a white or off white color. If it were me I'd paint over the bright green in there. But that's just me. (isn't it bright green?....)
It's the trim that's bright green, and yeah, that's part of what I was thinking. Might be worth it to paint over and make it a neutral.
As having looked for and found our last 3 homes in the 6 years of marriage, and now looking at #4, I'd say Yes to all your questions.
Definitely the bookshelves will detract from the largeness of the room, and the colors and options a potential buyer can do to it...
And yes, as horrible as it is, I'd say take almost anything "personalized" off the walls and leave it minimally decorated with generally pleasing items (a painting, shelf, mirror, etc). Nothing too frilly/loud/etc.
Do what you can to at least be able to make bathroom counters clutter free in minutes. Maybe a big basket under the sink.
And yes, if the chipping is that noticeable, do what you can to hide it until you can fix it.
It's amazing what a buyer's mind will take and make a BIG DEAL. We would look at nearly 30-40 homes personally (hundreds online) and would X one off the list for something like colored carpet. Or mildew that needed repairing. So, do what you can to avoid putting "fixer upper" in the buyer's mind.
That said, I know you will do a wonderful job making the house look lovely. I hope the process isn't too bad!!!
Sean and I have been house-hunting for more than 2.5 years now and we have seen it all!! As one realtor put it, "people can tell the difference between old dirt and new dirt"....and my mother always said that our house "looked lived in"...
I know Sean's been turned off by homes that have been professionally staged, since that is not our style of living. Make the house presentable, but lived in..
1&2.yes, get rid of books (or at least the cluttery looking ones). Anything that makes the room seems smaller needs to go -- including bookcases and wall hangings (you'll have to decide upon what makes the room smaller, however;)).
3.Don't worry about cleaning out cabinets, just de-clutter the countertops, etc. If it's behind closed doors, just make it neat so you're not embarassed if someone looks in there;)
4.Unfortunately, I'd say yes, too. You should probably deal with the trim (or ask J to do it as you SHOULD NOT be dealing with paint!).
People can know that you're still living there (and that the house is livable) -- but you can produce the illusion of more desirability by making things very streamlined. The easiest houses to mark off a list for us are the ones with so much STUFF and clutter that you can't even really see the house!
Cleanliness and minimal personal stuff is best.
We'll be praying for you!!!
Denise, great idea about the bathroom! That's what I did today. I pretty much packed the whole bathroom and the boxes are stored in the cabinet under the sink, with a draw empty and ready to receive our daily-use items when we have a showing.
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