TIPS ON
DECORATING YOUR HOUSE TO SELL
When
potential buyers step into your house, they want to see a clean, neat and
attractively decorated house. What they DON”T want to see is something so
overly decorated they can’t imagine their own furniture and possessions in the
house. Plus, too many shelves and tables with knickknacks, too many overstuffed
sofas piled with pillows can hide the architectural and structural features of
a home.
Here are a
few tips on keeping a minimalist approach to your home decorating.
· MINIMIZE. Put away EVERYTHING that isn’t
absolutely essential. Even if you have get down on your knees and beg your
neighbor for some storage space in their garage, (or rent a storage locker), do
it. Remember, it isn’t forever, and you might find you can live without some of
that stuff.
· ORGANIZE. This is a good time to tackle
that filing you’ve been putting off, and organizing your craft materials and
other projects. Once again, get rid of anything you can live without
temporarily. Better yet, start packing! And by the way, it’s easy these days to
find attractive, inexpensive baskets in stores from WalMart to PierOne. Use
those baskets to help keep you organized. A large basket can be used to stash
magazines and coasters under the coffee table. Baskets can also be put to good
use in bathrooms – put away all your personal items like make-up, toothpaste,
shaving cream, etc. People can get distracted looking at the brand names of
products you use; plus, having all that stuff around makes the house look used.
· ARRANGE. The things you DO keep around can
be rearranged in attractive ways to make your house look interesting. In the
kitchen, for example, group canisters together. Spreading them out makes
counter space look smaller. The same goes for ledges, end tables, bookcase, and
fireplace mantels. Group no more than 3 things together, making sure they’re
varying heights, and mix graduate sizes. For example, group 2 candles on one
side of the mantel, and something smaller on the other side.
One thing to
remember while decorating to sell is that potential buyers frequently spend
more time looking at family photograph and items of a personal nature. That
embroidered family tree your aunt made might well spark a long conversation
that does nothing to sell your house. So temporarily put away those photos and
other personal items.
The Key is
to make the house look attractive, minimally decorated, and devoid of personal
artifacts which distract the potential buyer and possibly prevents her from
envisioning her OWN family and stuff in the house.
Gail Sutton, Gail Sutton Properties,
is an experienced real estate professional. For 20+ years, Gail has served
hundreds of clients, and bought and sold hundreds of millions of dollars in
real estate. Gail's passion is helping
individual clients enjoy the buying and selling process by fulfilling their
dreams of quality home ownership. Gail
Sutton KNOWS the real estate market in the Colorado Springs, CO. region. Give her a call to discuss your plans to buy
that perfect home for you or sell and list your home, gather information, and
find out what Gail can do to get you the best market price with the least time
on the market! Call Gail at 719-362-9702 or EMAIL HER HERE
