If your house is “decorated” with Nintendo Wii remotes on the floor, bikes in the driveway, Barbie on the couch and legos….well, legos everywhere, you have some work to do before going to market.
It can be very challenging for home-selling parents of young children to keep their house “show ready” (looking its best.) Being a mom and a Realtor, I understand both perspectives -but the important thing to know is that the way you live in your house is not the way you sell your house. While you may have tolerance to live among SpongeBob paraphernalia and crayons, others viewing your house may not. Before you put your house on the market, take these steps to make life easier for you and your children.
First, go through your children’s toys to determine if there are things that they have outgrown. Such items can be donated or sold at a yard or consignment sale. Less stuff generally means less mess. Another benefit to eliminating unneeded toys is that you will also have less to move to your new home.
Second, make sure things your child uses infrequently (perhaps seasonal toys for example), are stored away neatly in a shed, garage, or top shelf of a closet. Finally, make sure your children have a concealed place to put their toys that they use on a regular basis.
Some suggestions for tidy-looking and convenient storage would include a storage chest, decorative storage ottoman, or toy chest. In the above picture of a girl’s purple bedroom, the armoire housed the girl’s doll collection. She placed art supplies in her desk drawers and stored her CDs in the basket on top of the armoire. As you can see, the result is a perfectly staged bedroom ready for showings.
Once you are organized and your children know where to put their things, maintaining your well-staged house will be both quick and easy.