Decluttering Your House Before You Sell It

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Are you getting ready to put your house on the market but you know you have too much stuff?

Does the clutter overwhelm you?

Is it hard to keep your house tidy?

Decluttering your home will help you in more ways than you might realize, both in selling and in moving!

I have a list of areas you want to declutter. I also have solutions for what you need to do with the things as you tidy up your house and get it ready to be listed on the market.

Remember, we moved over 300 miles across Texas, less than a year ago. This is all fresh on my mind and something my large blended family of eight had to experience.

This post was written by me through an activation with HireInfluence on behalf of Simply Self Storage. Although I received compensation for participating in the campaign, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Depersonalize Your Home

I know, I know. These are your memories, your pictures, your decorating style, etc.

You’re likely very proud of your home and want to the potential buyers to see your beautiful family.

But here is the deal, the potential buyers have to be able to visualize this as THEIR home. Not your home.

They want to envision their decorating style, their beautiful family pictures and their personal touch making this home the perfect home for them. Getting epic decorations that are minimalist also helps beautify a place.

The home we bought, I did not step foot inside until weeks before we closed. Crazy, right?

I fell in love with the home simply by the images from the online listing and by having someone else who lived local go and look at the home for me. We lived too far away to hop in the car every time I found a house online that I liked.

The images were stunning. They sellers had removed all personal items making it very easy for me to see MY FAMILY in this home. The previous family only kept items in the home that were perfect for home staging. So smart!

So, what do you do with all of your stuff?

Pack it up and send it to the storage space! Your decor, your family pictures, anything that will not be kept for staging purposes.

Don’t worry, if you choose a storage facility like Simply Self Storage, you can choose a climate control option to ensure your family pictures and heirlooms do not get damaged from extreme weather conditions- like the Texas heat.

Create a Welcoming Entry Way

Your foyer or entry area is another area you are going to remove personal items from and keep in very, very simple.

But, you need to be able to make it welcoming and inviting, without over doing it. Selling your home does not have to be hard.

Remember, less is more!

This also includes ensuring all walk areas and hallways are completely 100% free of clutter. Cluttering up hallways not only makes your home look smaller but it will turn potential buyers off!

Again, pack up the personal stuff and take it to the storage unit!

And you know what, in a few months when you’ve sold your home and you’re settling into your new home, most of the stuff that you’ve sent to storage and have not used in months, you might realize was really just cluttering up your life.

Don’t Forget the Closets! 

While sometimes we focus too much on whether or not the colors on the wall are on trend, we overlook areas like the closets!

I can tell you, with six kids still at home, I was super concerned about everyone having their own space. We have all boys. The family who lived in our house before us had two girls and two boys.

I could get past the fact that one of the rooms was painted a pink- purple color and was used by one of their high school aged girls. It was perfect for three of our boys to use as their sleeping room, since they have a triple bunk. After all, repainting is easy! The previous owner had been very creative utilizing space in the closets as well as placing beds perfectly to maximize the room size. This helped me be creative too.

The same three boys use the adjoining bedroom as their game/playing room. Understanding what the closet space looked like for each bedroom really helped me in deciding how we were going to set up bedrooms.

My takeaway: ensure closets are decluttered and tidy as well. Even if you utilize a closet to store a dresser, that is ok! Just make sure it’s all tidy, practical and not just thrown together. Mama’s are going to open those closet doors!

Purge the Toys! 

Our two youngest are 4 and 2 years old. They have lots of toys!

This is another area you want to purge if you’re selling.

The toys can get out of hand and kind of take over!

Utilize creating shelving, like this shelving we purchased as used on Facebook Marketplace. Literally paid $50 for the shelf with the baskets. It’s a great way to help keep out of site.

The remaining toys can be boxed up and sent to storage until you’re ready for your move.

Choose just one or two small items to keep sitting out so that things are not too personal and not cluttered.

Completely bare might be too clinical looking.

Mama is Going to Focus on the Kitchen 

Let’s not forget one of the first places most mama’s are going to check when trying to decide if your home is the home they want to buy… the kitchen!

Because we are in our kitchen so much we sometimes get immune to what is in this space.

We don’t realize that the Kitchen Aid mixer takes up so much counter top space. Or all of those items on our “coffee bar” looks like clutter too.

As you’re preparing to sell, pack up all of those large appliances and any clutter that is taking up space on your countertop and send them to storage.

Don’t worry, if you decide a week from now you want to make a homemade cake and need the Kitchen Aid for mixing, you can always make a trip to the storage building. Leave the things you *might need* close to the front of the storage building when loading it up. Or, just use the hand mixer.

Also, we don’t realize the little dust bunnies that accumulate next to the fridge or the fact that our kitchen cabinets need to be wiped down. Grab your favorite duster and your favorite wood cleaner and give it a good cleaning. Trust me, mama’s are going to pay close attention to the kitchen. We kind of end up spending most of our time there! Make it a kitchen that she can envision as hers!

Getting your home ready for the best open house possible can easily be a success by storing the items causing clutter! Simply Self Storage has some great solutions for all your storage needs.