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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Don't just declutter. Take *everything* out and put it in a Pod or a storage unit if you are staying in the same town.

Then bring back a few pieces to stage. A couch, chair and a table. A dining set. A few decor items for the foyer. Take down any personal wall decor. In the kitchen, bring back a pot or 2, pan, etc. Only a few cooking utensils that you use the most. 6 dinner plates, 6 sets of silverware. 8 glasses. No appliances all over the counters, Just the minimum you must keep.

Same in your closets. All clothes go out except the 20% you wear most often. All shoes out except the 5 pair you wear each week. Stage the upper closet shelves with a cute straw hat, maybe a canvas tote bag. Just some items to suggest a fun life of weekend plans. All the extra towels and sheets go and you stage the linen closet to look like those in ads. A few matching towels folded, 1 blanket, etc.

People will look in your kitchen cabinets and pantry, so another staging here. The idea is to make the buyers forget what real living is like. Your pantry isn't crammed with everything like it usually is. It has 20 items, all chosen to look ideal. Clean the fridge and get rid of all those jars you opened more than 3 months ago. Make it look roomy in there.

A few throw pillows, some choice decor objects. And especially clear out the garage and only keep absolute essentials, again staged to look oh so organized. If you have a lawn mower and edger, maybe store all that and hire a service until the house sells.

I divided up the kids toys into 3 or 4 boxes and stored at the front of the unit. Go to the unit every 2 weeks and bring back a different box, but all the toys go back in the box for a showing. I kept just the classic toys and staged them in their bedrooms. The wood train set stayed, shown in cute design but without the other 100 pieces. All the books got packed, but I displayed a classic few (about 9) on the shelves facing out. Keep 3 or 4 classic board games stacked on the shelf.

Pack any bath or personal item that you don't use at least weekly, and just keep the necessary items in a plastic bin in the cabinet. All items off the bath counter like an electric toothbrush charger or a water pik. When there's a showing, get all bottles out of the shower and into a bin in the cabinet.

Keep only minimal animal accessories in the house and have a place to take all animals and evidence of animals with you when there is a showing (like cans or bins of dry food).

Your bedroom should look like a designer showroom. No junk on your nightstand except maybe 1 staged book and a lamp.

Have fresh flower pots on the front porch and around your back patio. Replace as often as needed if they don't stay blooming.

I lived like this for 6 months. It was very doable. We ate take out more than usual and I didn't make anything with a blender. It wasn't hard and it really shows you that we all have way more stuff than we need.[/quote]

Some of this is super weird advice. You don't need to "stage" your kitchen or linen cabinets. You also don't need to move everything out and then move some back in. Your closet clutter isn't really that important either. Just get rid of the junk, clutter, excess crap on counters and shelves, close the toilet lids when showing, and do a light clean. A quick vacuum, dust, and mop will go a long way each time. Keep it as clean as you can all the time. It sucks, but it's temporary. Have a few laundry baskets to quickly whisk things out of rooms and throw in the garage last minute. Have "show" towels for all the bathrooms. Clean, white, towels you use just for that. Hide the real ones.[/quote]

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