With the dawning of the warmer days and extended hours of sunlight, we often find ourselves turning our thoughts to clearing out the inside of our home from the clutter that has amassed during the Winter.

For some of us de-cluttering our home could be as simple as packing away the boots and gloves and breaking out the sandals. For others, the thought of tackling a de-cluttering project in our home will leave us paralyzed, not knowing where to begin. Many of us have a difficult time detaching our self emotionally from what we’ve collected.

We all live such a busy life juggling the demands of family and career that we tend not to notice the ‘stuff’ we’ve accumulated. Depending on who and how many we share our home with, our ‘stuff’ might accumulate quite quickly.

When we decide to sell our home, we need to face de-cluttering head-on. When we prepare our home for sale, we take steps to present each room to its fullest potential – appealing to the majority of buyers. Rule #1 is Less is More. Remember that buyers walking through your home are there for a short time. Ensure that they focus on all the positive things and don’t waste their time on anything that will leave negative thoughts about your home – arrange furniture in each room to open it up, highlight the focal point of each room and most importantly DE-CLUTTER.

As an experienced Home Stager, here’s my tried and true rules on de-cluttering

1. Less is more.  Look at each room with an objective eye.  Purge, pack, store elsewhere or eliminate unnecessary, unused and irrelevant items.  Keep only the most essential items for each room.  You’ll be surprised how doing that opens up a room and makes it look bigger.
2. Make a plan, be focused and stick to it. Keep your overall goal in mind. If it helps keep you stay focused, post a note to your bathroom mirror highlighting the end result.  That way you’ll always be motivated.
3. Set a realistic timeframe to accomplish the task. Don’t try to do the whole house in one day.  Do a room or an area at a time. That way you’ll feel a sense of success each time and be inspired to continue.
4. Set up a staging area (perhaps in your garage) where you designate piles for ‘donate’, ‘trash’ and ‘return to owner’.  Stick with your first thought.  Don’t over analyze your decision.  Decide and move on.
5. Deal with those piles immediately.  Take the items to donation centres that day, put the trash immediately into garbage bags.  If you don’t see it you won’t change your mind.
6. Pass along clothing you don’t wear.  If you’re uncertain about clothes in your closet, turn all hangers so they face away from you.  Once you’ve worn the item and are hanging it back up then let that item face forward.  That way it will be easy to see what you wear and what’s just taking up valuable space.  Don’t forget to leave some extra space in your closet for new purchases.
7. Make use of those attractive storage baskets and bins in Family Rooms, Offices and Kid’s Rooms to hold like-items. That way they’re easy to find and stay neatly stored.  Purge the baskets and bins regularly so they’re not overflowing.
8. Don’t forget to the basement and garage.  Buyers want to know that both areas are spacious and clean. And, take a walk around the outside of your home.  If buyers don’t think your home looks great from the outside they’ve already put one strike against your home.
9. Practise de-cluttering on a daily basis.  Put things away in their right spot.  Open your mail over the recycling bin.  That way you can quickly deal with paper you don’t need to keep.
10. We all buy with our eyes.  Become as critical of your own home as you would be of potential new home s you visit.  Always remember rule #1 – Less is More!

De-cluttering is empowering. Once you’ve done it I guarantee you’ll love the way it makes you feel. Don’t stop with the obvious. Follow through with your dresser drawers, medicine cabinet, kitchen drawers and cupboards, laundry room shelves and cupboards, etc.

So when you’re ready to take the step to list your house, enlist the experienced and objective eyes of a Home Stager. They will tell you exactly what potential buyers will see when they walk through your home (good & bad). A professional Stager can give you an action plan to ready your home for sale. They’re looking for the same thing you are – a quick sale of your home for top dollar.

ForShow Staging and Design provides Home Staging and Design services to the Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Dundas, Ancaster and Hamilton area.