Decluttering

Here what we do for Decluttering room by room:

Kitchen

• Clear counters of small appliances.
• Keep towels and potholders in drawers, not dangling from the oven handle.
• Corral sponges and cleansers in a shallow bowl under the sink.
• Pack rarely used appliances (crockpots, fondue pots, roasters), tools, and pans (see you later, Bundt pan!)
• Collect teacups, plates, pitchers, molds, or anything else? Pack away all but a few. Leave up a handful of strategically placed accessories to call buyers’ attention to the decorative shelving.
• Pot racks, utensils hanging on walls and other open kitchen storage can be unsightly and even dangerous if people are in danger of hitting their heads or brushing up against sharp gear. Take it all down and swap in plain wallboard.
• Pack away rarely used staples and gear like seasonal cookie cutters, extra aprons, and unusual spices to air out pantries, drawers, and cabinets. People need to envision their own stuff in the storage spaces.
• Remove evidence of problems, such as ant powder, from closets.

Bedrooms

• Pack out-of-season clothes and linens and store off-site.
• Choose a pretty, light set of linens for each bed, with crisp decorative pillows. Now is the time to wash comforters, duvets, and quilts so they glow.
• Keep only a couple of family photos on display. Pack the rest and secure off-site.

Living, Dining, and Family Rooms

• Edit your book piles. Clear away all but a few volumes: what you’re currently reading, and perhaps a few for accessorizing.
• Clear out stacks of magazines and hobby materials. Stacks, even if neat and straight, add weight and visual clutter to rooms.
• Is there sufficient lighting for reading and tasks? Rearrange lighting to ensure that the rooms are well lit at any time of day or night.
• Clean the window treatments and the windows. If your window treatments involve numerous layers, consider leaving only the decorative layer.
• If your walls are covered with attention-grabbing artwork, shrink your arrangement to a tasteful few.
• Examine walls and woodwork for dirt and chips. Will cleaning be enough, or do surfaces need to be repainted? Ditto for switchplates.
• Choose only a few pillows for accents. Ditto for tables and shelves holding collections.
• Reconsider throw rugs. The last thing you want is for a throw rug to throw a potential buyer, figuratively, or literally. Either secure them with floor grips or pack them away.
• Make sure you have a safe, consistent landing spot for TV and sound system remotes, far from the hands of children.
• Limit the number of toys kept in any room, and create a place where the remaining toys can quickly be collected, such as a large basket. If you have a baby or toddler, consider laying a large, light blanket on the floor as a temporary play area. When it’s time to tidy for a showing, you can just gather the four corners of the blanket and voila, the toys are collected and can be plopped in a basket or box.

High Traffic Areas

• Front halls set the first impression. Yours should offer an obvious spot for setting down purses, umbrellas, totes, and coats.
• Remove out of season gear from the hall closet.
• Make sure the doorbell and entrance systems (locks and security systems) work smoothly and consistently.
• What is the view from the front door? Remove extraneous furniture so the sightline is as long as possible. The more of your house that visitors can see from the front door, the more intrigued they will be—and that will draw them into the house.
• Remove hooks and hanging things from halls, especially if the halls are used as storage for coats. The hall will seem narrow and even dangerous to visitors who are dodging hooks as they walkthrough.

Bathrooms

• Corral prescription drugs in a child-safe area or, better yet, secure them in a different location to keep them from harm’s way.
• Find a different or temporary home for jewelry, perfume, and rarely used toiletries.
• Pack or toss all but three changes of linens to create an airy look in your closets.
• Refresh shelf and drawer liners.
• Remove evidence of mothballs.
• Corral cleaning gear in a single, child-safe spot.
• Clean and repair grout.