Preparing your Southern California home to sell is only the first step. You must keep it “show ready” at all times while looking for a buyer. Your own bedroom may be relatively easy to keep clean. However, keeping up clutter-free kid spaces may pose a bigger problem. Here are a few tips to help you create and, even more importantly, maintain a home free of children’s clutter.
Clutter-Free Kid Spaces That Help Sell Homes
Minimize the “Stuff” to Maximize the Impression on Buyers
First of all, you need to go through all of the clutter in your house, not just the kids’ stuff. Throw out any broken items. Then, see what you or your children have outgrown (either size-wise or age-wise). These items may be donated. Include your children in the process. Explain to your kids that it might be time for that unused toy to bring joy to another child. This may help make paring down a little easier on them. Finally, store away out-of-season clothing, seldom-used toys, most of the books, and any other items that your kids rarely use right now.
Transforming Furniture
Toy boxes only hold so much. Here is where furniture that performs double duty comes in handy. Ottomans or benches with hidden storage compartments help you stash away smaller items in a hurry anywhere in your home. Add some pretty baskets with lids around your home (on a console, on a shelf, on the floor next to the couch) to hide extra toys and blankets.
Underbed or Overhead
Want to put that extra clutter out of sight? Store it in containers under the bed or stacked neatly in storage bins in the closet and/or garage. You may also stash extra clothing, linens, and other items in these bins. Just make sure they look neat and tidy to the eye when stored away.
Muna Dionne, your Inland Empire specialist with Coldwell Banker Realty