Welcome back to the second part of The Three D's -Disassociate, Depersonalize, Declutter of our 10 part series to getting your home show ready for the "For Sale Sign" in the front yard.

During our time together we'll be going over bedrooms, bathrooms and home offices.  Each of these spaces are important to the overall feel of the home but there's two that are very important to a buyer. Master Bedroom and bathroom can be a deal breaker in the eyes of a buyer.  So let's make sure we take care of those starting with some of my true and tried tips.

BEDROOMS:

Master Bedroom- Within this space most buyers are interested in the space of the room and how their belongings will fit.  Is it big enough for a king size bed or queen. Can they have room for a night stand, dresser and other furniture that they will need?  So when your looking at this space it's ideal to get rid of furniture that makes the room look small. If your room is small, it might help to remove your dresser just to show the space is bigger.  Go ahead and remove exercise equipment if you have it in this space. It just doesn't say restful to a buyer. Do you have family photos within this space, clothes piled in the corners or on the furniture? Again, think hotel room. There's nothing personal to a hotel room, its a place to relax and sleep. Creating this feel can be done through staging, which I'll be giving these tips within the 7th day post titled 30 Quick Tips To Home Staging. I haven't mentioned this yet but if you have any religious items within your home please go ahead and remove those items while it's on the market. You don't want a potential buyer to see that and make a decision based on your own beliefs. One last thing, pets; if you have dogs, cats, reptiles, any other pet that might scare a visitor besides fish living in this space with you please, make sure to put away any items that might give this impression. Removing the animal's possessions along with the animal is ideal for the safety of both parties.

When we put our house on the market I donated a majority of my shoes and probably 15% of my clothes.I wasn't 100% successful with this tip but it did feel good to get some items out so I didn't have to move them. Taking everything out of the closet and bringing back in is helpful when decluttering. It allows you to see the items and try it on. Because I know if your like me your still hanging on to those pair of jeans you wore in high school, thinking one day they will fit again. After the removal of unwanted items, I then reorganized the closet so that it looked like someone who was very clean and organized lived there. You can achieve this by buying matching hangers and arranging hanging clothes by color. Do I normally live like this? Um no! But again I'm trying to give the buyer the idea that their closet can look just as amazing as mine. So as your doing this scale down what's in the closet by packing it up even though your keeping a majority. Stack folded clothes neatly on shelves also arrange shoes by style or color. Think like your closet is a department store, show off your items so that a buyer will want what your selling. Follow all these tips to decluttering throughout all bedroom closets including kids. Kid's closets may have memorabilia or toys. Same rule applies, get rid of most of the items by donating or packing up. Show of the space not the items.

Kid's bedrooms- When walking into your child's rooms take some time to note a few things. 

1. Can you see the floor?  I have 2 kids myself who are boys. The clothes don't seem to find its way to the closet or drawers. This is a great time to go through their clothes and get rid of those they can't and won't wear.
2. Are there too many toys? Our kids are like us, they possess much more than what is used. Go ahead and make another child happy. Donate!
3. How are the walls holding up?  Not sure how this happens but it seems like the walls transform into other colors then what was originally painted. Or the walls have holes every where as they were used to display drawings, posters, an creative impression of their personal tastes. Start by taking down these items and we'll address what to do in To Repair or Not to Repair post. I know Johnnie might be upset but tell him that in his new space he gets to redesign it and make it look even cooler.
4. Memorabilia over taking the space?  I'm not going to tell you to get rid of all Johnnie's trophies or Suzy's collection of stuffed animals but you may need to scale them down while showing the house. The rooms need to not have so much personal touches to it as they normally would. Just for safety reasons its better to remove personal items as to not show off what your kids look like, where they go to school or what they are in too.  
5. Over crowding of furniture- Can the door open up all the way? Is there gaming equipment scattered about or gaming chairs taking over floor space? TV's in the space that might need tables for it to rest on? I know this might not be a big deal to you, but taking the time to remove those can help the buyer visualize their own kid's personalities in the space or the idea of what they want for them. Bookshelves may need to be stored, if it makes the room look smaller. If the bookshelf is alright to stay, take everything off that is of memorabilia.

Overall take away for decluttering and depersonalizing the bedrooms, take out anything that says this is who I am. You want it to give the impression that they are walking into a clean slate for them to live in. 

Estimated time of completion: 2-4 days per room

BATHROOMS:

So now are you ready to tackle some bathrooms? These rooms shouldn't be too hard to get decluttered and depersonalized. Lets talk about the drawers, cabinets, counter tops. Take everything out every drawer and also cabinets to clean. Go ahead wipe them down, take old items to the trash can and donate unused hair accessories. Ask yourself these questions... 

• When is the last time I used this?
• Is this expired?
• Will I really use this at my new house?
• Will I need this while the house is on the market?

All these questions will help you pair down your clutter to a clean space. I find having baskets within this space is a great way to group your personal items while bringing a cohesive look. Toilet paper, medicines, small items like brushes, hair accessories, make-up, hair products are perfect examples of things you can group in a basket or container. There's some more details that should be considered within your bathroom since these rooms persuade a buyer but we'll go over those in day 4- To Repair or Not to Repair.

Estimated time of completion: 1-2 days per bathroom

HOME OFFICE:

Home offices are a nice bonus to any home. If there's not a designated room, home offices can be located within many areas of the home, for instance, guest rooms, master bedrooms, closets, kitchens, living rooms, basements. Wherever you may have yours there's some must do's when making your office look inviting.  I would like to suggest this, if your home office is a distraction to any of the above make shift rooms, you might think about removing the office all together. This might make the space look bigger and cleaner. 

Estimated time of completion: 2-4 days based on paper declutter

Give yourself a pat on the back. You have decluttered and depersonalized pretty much your whole house. Another big hurdle is repairs within your home. Something to note;  even though I'm giving you this information broken down into steps, you may find while your working in one room to address all my steps in it before heading to the next room. I only share this way so that you can decide which way works best for you. When I did my house, it was easier to declutter, repair, clean one room at a time. Leaving the staging to last but getting a sense of what I would do to the room while I was working in it. Just a thought.

Thank you for coming alongside me and letting me help you with this journey.  It is a stressful but rewarding time. Good luck! Next up is To Repair or NOT to Repair.

Previous Posts

 Part 1: The 3 D's <        >  To Repair or NOT to Repair