decluttering and house presentation tips

  Decluttering tips

Tips to help you declutter your environment and make you feel better.

Wardrobes:

• Be brave! Open your wardrobe and go through each item piece by piece and lay everything on your bed or other open area.
• If you haven’t worn it for the last 12 months decide if you want to sell it, or take to the charity shop. 
• Any clothes or shoes you are keeping with the hope that you will get into one day, store separately in a labelled container.
• When organising your wardrobe and adding items back in, store items together by type, colour and length. Shoes are best organised on a tiered shoe rack so all visible and not piled on top of one another. Ties and scarfs can be organised well on specialised hangers.
• Repeat this every 6 months or seasonally. 

Kitchen cupboards

• Start by taking all items out of your cupboards 
• If food, go through each item and check use by dates.
• Throw anything out (recycling where you can) you are not going to use 
• Before your put anything back in your cupboards, wipe and dry shelfs and add a protective liner available from stores such as Ikea which you can cut to fit. At these stores you can also get small internal stands that can double up your storage space by giving you two levels. Cutlery drawers always need a good clean!
• Cereals are always well presented, stored and preserved in sealed clear containers as is rice, pasta and other dried foods. Frying pans and woks, use a bit of kitchen roll inbetween to reduce scratching. Pegs are always useful to keep packet items sealed and fresh.

Living areas

• Re-enter your room with fresh eyes and look for any dark areas so you can identify spaces you can make lighter. 
• Dark areas can make spaces feel small so lighten areas identified with lamps or décor. Mirrors can be used to bounce light around the room and create the illusion of space. Also consider how windows are dressed.
• Remove items that you are not keen on or are too dark or big for areas and restore or upcycle items that have potential for improvement.
• Big areas can be split into smaller cosy areas using sofas, furniture and rugs which also help define spaces. To create a focal point in the room add a fireplace and surround - you don’t need a chimney and you can buy electric ones that simply fit against your wall.
• Lighting and fresh flowers can make a big difference to how a room feels.

 Photo - by Freestocks on Unsplash  

House presentation tips

Tips to help you make your house and surrounds look their best.

House

• Take a fresh look at how rooms are dressed, furnished, lit and how colours are used to identify areas for improvement. 
• Create action plan to deal with rooms in priority order – don’t try and do everything at once! Take your time.
• As part of your action plan, remember that rooms doors can be removed or changed to improve flow around the house.

When tackling a room:

• Start with a review of your lighting – does it enhance your room and help define areas?
• Next is looking at walls – colours, pictures and window dressings – key is using light colours which can make areas feel brighter and uplifting.
• Review furniture layouts bearing in mind that you can paint items different colours to freshen up looks. Furniture layouts and rugs can help shape and define a room and help with flow. Also consider if the room needs a focal point.
• Remove items that are cluttering areas and thin out book shelves, photo frames and pictures which can sometimes be overwhelming.
• Lamps, carefully placed mirrors and flowers can be used to brighten areas.
• · When presenting a house for sale de-personalise rooms as much as possible as you need to help potential buyers visualise themselves living there. 

Surrounds

• Kerb appeal is an important factor in either selling your house and attracting potential buyers or just to keep up appearances. First impressions make a big difference!

· Make sure:

• All fences are up together and painted (there are lots of different colours to choose from nowadays!) and bins are hidden out of site. If nowhere to hide bins, consider constructing some bin storage.
• All windows, front door and step are clean
• The front garden is well tended with some colourful flowers and pots
• The house is clearly identifiable with a name or number.

 Photo - by Steffen Trommer on Unsplash