You’ve reached a decision; you’re going to put your house up for sale, but where do you start? Before that overwhelming feeling starts to take over, have a read of our blog to help you with Marie Kondo inspired tips for decluttering your home before putting it up for sale...
Who Is Marie Kondo?
Marie Kondo, also known as Kon Marie, is a tidying expert. Starting the business when she was just 19 years old, she now helps people around the world to transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration. She places great importance on being mindful, thankful, introspective and forward-looking. Now a bestselling author, with her own show on Netflix and listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people; she’s clearly doing something right!
Before You Put Your House Up For Sale…
When you’ve lived in a place for a long time, you can become comfortable, unaware of your surroundings and lose track of time. How long has that pile of magazines that you’re going to get round to reading actually been there? Marie Kondo talks a lot about choosing ‘joy’; if something doesn’t give you joy then there’s no need to keep it.
- Before you put your house up for sale, you need to think about your belongings. Do you want them all and do they need to move to your new living space?
- Is your house clean, tidy and organised? What’s the first thing people say when they visit your house - do they ever comment on how nice or messy it is? If you’re struggling, invite an honest family member or friend to come round and give you some productive feedback on your home and help decide what needs to be done.
- Whether you do it with pen and paper, on your phone or create a spreadsheet to print; make a to-do list, get started, and get ticking-off!
Get Decluttering
Most of the Marie Kondo tidying methods encourage you to tidy room-by-room or little-by-little approach; this way it’s little, often and manageable, so it doesn’t build up in to a big overwhelming pile of ‘stuff’ you don’t know what to do with.
Storage
Once you’ve gone through your belongings and have decided what you’re keeping, and what you’re not; it’s time to find a place for it all. You may feel that this is a waste of your time if you’re moving home anyway, but you haven’t sold your house yet so in the meantime it needs to look neat, tidy and organised. Putting this work in now will make things a lot easier when it comes to moving out of the property. Then when you move to your new home, it’s all sorted.
Get rid!
Whether you box your belongings and put them in storage, list them on eBay or Gumtree to get such cash for your move, or give items away to charity to raise funds for your local community; it’s all good as you’re getting rid of baggage you just don’t need any more. You know what they say - "clear home, clear mind"!
Remember to recycle
We’ve seen it too many times where people just hire a skip and chuck everything in! Good furniture, kids toys, gardening equipment, plastic and cardboard boxes. Remember that most of that will go straight to landfill. There are so many other ethical and cheaper options nowadays which are better for the environment and your local community. If you have a lot of stuff to get rid of, you can even arrange for it to be collected, if you’re short on time or transport.
Stylish storage
Is there a particular room or space where stuff always ended up piling up because of lack of storage? If it’s not realistic for you to empty your house asap, why not spend just a small amount of money getting some storage for your current home. You can decide whether you take the item with you but it’d be nice to find something in-keeping with your current property that you can leave for the new owner - making it more appealing.
Big box, little box
On top of the obvious big boxes, you’ll discover that Marie Kondo also utilises smaller boxes to keep smaller items in order. She stores things upright, so you can see how many of them you have; this is a top tip to keep things organised and for best use of space.
Clean canvas
When we talk about ‘decluttering’, people tend to just think of items on the floor or shoved in cupboard space. You also need to think about actual walls. If you chose to decorate your house with some crazy wallpaper, it may be a bit too busy and distracting. It doesn’t necessarily need to be magnolia or white, but think about getting a pot of paint and quickly covering any ‘offensive’ areas; think light, versatile and stylish. New buyers generally love to see a fresh colour palette, blank clean canvas and a place they can move into without having to spend lots of time and money on cosmetic things straight away.
Make an entrance
If your hallway or porch is full of shoes, kids toys and pet paraphernalia it will be off-putting. Make the entrance welcoming, clean and clutter-free. Remember, the entrance to your home is the first and last thing a buyer will see. Adding a plant will add a friendly, positive touch too.
Declutter Your Home With Tips From Marie Kondo
When listing some of her productivity tips, Marie Kondo suggests that once you’re done tidying up, you should find it easier to keep your home, and mental space, clear and focused. By being surrounded only by the things that spark joy, your life naturally begins to achieve clarity. Sounds good to us!
Need more inspiration? You can watch ‘Tidying Up With Marie Kondo’ on Netflix, or even buy one of her books.
We’ll Help You Move Home Faster
If you’re still just in the thinking stages of selling your house, you can get a fast online valuation. Once you’ve decluttered your home and are ready to put your property on the market, take advantage of a Move Home Faster free conveyancing quote.
Good luck and remember to only keep items that bring you joy.