How to Stage Your Home While Moving
Here’s a difficult situation that most people in the midst of moving often face: how can you pack and prepare to move while showing your house? You don’t want potential buyers to walk into a house with boxes stacked to the ceiling. At the same time, though, you have to start packing or you’ll never get it all done. So, what’s a home seller to do? Here are some top tips from your friends at Exodus Moving and Storage.
Clean Up Clutter
You can’t begin to stage a home or pack anything until you have gotten rid of unnecessary clutter. Why bother putting things into boxes that you don’t want or won’t use? It doesn’t make any sense, right? So, the first thing to do is to start getting rid of what you don’t want or don’t need. You can do this by going through every room, closet, and space, and tossing anything that you haven’t actually used over the past year or so.
Make sure to hold a yard sale or donate items that are still in good shape. You can make a few extra bucks from yard sale items, and someone out there is bound to want your old couch or items that you no longer need. It will take a few weeks to get through everything that you own, so don’t worry if this doesn’t happen right away – and don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to get it all done quickly! Once you’ve managed to declutter sufficiently, you can start to prepare your home for sale.
Staging While Packing
It’s a good idea to create spaces in your home for moving boxes (if you can find out-of-the-way areas to store moving boxes, that’s a good idea). Designate these areas ‘box areas,’ and move all boxes that you pack to those spots – just make sure to label the boxes first! As you begin to pack, try to keep major home areas free from clutter, and keep anything that doesn’t belong in a space where it does belong.
For example:
1. Keep countertops free from anything that doesn’t involve a kitchen space.
2. Don’t let clothes or other items pile up on furniture.
3. Keep all empty spaces (coffee tables and such) free from messes.
Keep Storage Options In Mind
If you have a separate storage locker, deep closets, or garage shelves, you can always store boxes and other items in those places. This way, you can keep your hallways free from any messes while people are visiting your home. If you need some help staging, here are some tips from the pros on staging your home the right way.
Some Basic Home Staging Tips
Preparing to move while selling your home can actually work in your favor. Why? Because depersonalizing your home is the best way to stage it! Doesn’t that work out just perfectly? Getting rid of photographs and anything else personal is a great way to show potential buyers what a space can look like without all of your stuff creating clutter (not that your stuff isn’t great!). Pack away anything that reminds you of yourself or your family first.
Next, make sure that your kitchen is clean. Use bleach and water to get rid of any grime, wash the floors, and replace anything that needs repairing (curtains, lights, whatever). Then, make sure that your counters are completely clean, and add some nice pieces of fruit in a bowl or a candle to the mix. Candles that have a welcoming scent (like the scent of cookies or cinnamon) are always a great way to turn any place into a home-like environment.
Above All Else
It’s hard to sell a home while you’re in the process of moving. But, don’t stress about it! The people that visit your home will know that you are moving (otherwise, you wouldn’t be selling, right?), and that means that a few boxes can be expected. If you can’t hide boxes and other items in a storage spot, go ahead and make neat stacks instead. As long as you keep things clean, you can still stage and sell your home without worry.
Scheduled Moving Helps Too
The other way to make a moving and staging situation less stressful is to make sure that you have a moving schedule that works. Spend some time working with a moving company that has experience, can help you figure things out, and will come up with a concrete moving plan. You’d be surprised at just how helpful working with professional movers is!
If you are moving to the Denver or Fort Collins area, be sure to give us a call. We’re the best Fort Collins, Colorado, movers you’ll find, and we can’t wait to help you move!
