I am a slattern. I have 2 days to get my house ready for sale. Help!

[LidlMermaid]

Firstly, I am the worlds biggest procrastinatorI have been meaning to write this post for about 2 weeks

Secondly, my grave stone will definitely not say Here Lies a Domestic Goddess.

Thirdly, my CV does not include organisational skills as a strong point.

We are putting our house on the market and the estate agents photos will be taken next week. I now have two days (tomorrow and Saturday) to get it market ready. It needs a bit of decluttering and a lot of cleaning. I hate cleaning so it seems like a mountain to climb right now. So, I need your top tips to make this as easy and painless as possible.

The things that I am most daunted by are:
Blinds how the feckity feck do you properly clean wooden venetian blinds? I have 7 sets of the bastards and enormous windows I usually just flick a duster in their general direction and dont look too closely at the actual state of them and when I say usually I mean maybe twice a year

Windows its only a 3 bed semi but there are an extraordinary number of windows. And, as previously mentioned, they are enormous! DP has borrowed ladders to do the exterior of the upstairs windows but Ill be doing the rest. How to I make the spotless and streak-free?

Stainless steel my kitchen has a lot of stainless steel. My fault as I designed itIll never make that mistake again! I usually just wipe it down and ignore the smears. How do I make it all sleek and shiny for photos/viewings?

The cooker hood. Oh god, the cooker hood. Stainless steel and glass and grease . Yikes.

My utility room feels more like a futility room. Its tiny and cluttered although not terribly untidy as such. I dont even know where to start with it to be honest.

Help!?

Sorry for the random question marks...here's my post again in a more readble format

Firstly, I am the world's biggest procrastinator...I have been meaning to write this post for about 2 weeks

Secondly, my grave stone will definitely not say 'Here Lies a Domestic Goddess'.

Thirdly, my CV does not include 'organisational skills' as a strong point.

We are putting our house on the market and the estate agent's photos will be taken next week. I now have two days (tomorrow and Saturday) to get it market ready. It needs a bit of decluttering and a lot of cleaning. I hate cleaning so it seems like a mountain to climb right now. So, I need your top tips to make this as easy and painless as possible.

The things that I am most daunted by are:
Blinds: how the feckity feck do you properly clean wooden venetian blinds? I have 7 sets of the bastards and enormous windows I usually just flick a duster in their general direction and don't look too closely at the actual state of them and when I say 'usually' I mean 'maybe twice a year'

Windows: it's only a 3 bed semi but there are an extraordinary number of windows. And, as previously mentioned, they are enormous! DP has borrowed ladders to do the exterior of the upstairs windows but I'll be doing the rest. How to I make the spotless and streak-free?

Stainless steel: my kitchen has a lot of stainless steel. My fault as I designed it...I'll never make that mistake again! I usually just wipe it down and ignore the smears. How do I make it all sleek and shiny for photos/viewings?

The cooker hood. Oh god, the cooker hood. Stainless steel and glass and grease . I wonder if I could pay someone to clean it for me?

My utility room feels more like a futility room. It's tiny and cluttered although not terribly untidy as such. I don't even know where to start with it to be honest.

Help!?

No idea about the blinds.

I would declutter on the first day and clean on the second day.

Load all the clutter into your car, then deliver

For the blinds.....put a pair of damp socks on your hands and wipe the dust off.

For the stainless steel....clean as you usually do then use a little baby oil on some kitchen roll to bring to a shine

Windows - clean with a ever so slightly soapy water and dry with a chamois leather (like for the car)

I wouldn't overly worry about a utility room. If I were buying, I'd think - oh, that's handy and move on. It's a dumping ground for laundry by nature isn't it? As long as it's clean and relatively tidy.

I do one room at a time and anything that isn't in it's home gets put in the doorway so that it gets put in it's home. Tidy first and then clean from top to bottom, cobwebs to skirting boards and then hoover/clean the floors as the last job.

Good stuff. Thanks. I don't own a chamois leather though. The car gets washed once a year for MOT whether it needs it or not

Happy to hear that a cluttered utility wouldn't necessarily be offputting. The work surfaces are clear and clean, it's just free standing shelf units along one wall that are ladened with stuff. It's all quite neatly arranged though. I'll try to thin it out a bit by hiding some of it in the shed

When I was selling, I noticed that all the nice pics of bedrooms had white duvets or bedspreads. It makes the room look clean, crisp and bright. Duvets with patterns didn't look great.

We didn't have any, so actually went out and bought some. Then ironed them.

The photos looked great, i'm really pleased we did.

Other than that, declutter everything! If you run out of time, go round with a box and remove everything on surfaces, unless it's exceptionally nice and will look good in pics. Hide the box! Clear everything on your kitchen surfaces. No herbs, pots, drying up cloths, kettle, anything.

www.lakeland.co.uk/23591/Microfibre-Blind-Cleaner?gclid=CJq8-9S7-8QCFUYOwwodtZAAyQ&src=gfeed&s_kwcid=AL!49!3!66287712869!!!g!48739941684!&ef_id=VQQ0cgAABSfgsTBa:20150416183533:s for the blinds.

Vinegar for cleaning stainless steel.

If you have any stuff on top of high-up cupboards, hide it somewhere else.

With the utility room, take all the excess stuff, put it in a bag and hide it somewhere.

Remember you're not actually trying to organise your living space in a sensible fashion, you're just trying to create an illusion for camera.

Get a window cleaner to do the windows inside and out.

Agree about white bedspreads.

Basics baby wipes for the stainless steel.

If there's still some clutter when they take the photos, you can just move it out of the room for each shot.

Sugar soap is your friend here, it cuts through all grease and grime on all surface as its what decorators use to prep walls for painting. I used it on my kitchen and it just cut through all the grease that normal kitchen cleaners can't. Astonish cleaner from the pound shop is good for cleaning the extractor fan, my oven cleaning man used it & it's fabulous.

Use a damp rag on woodwork to wipe dust off without it floating around the room.

Open all the Windows while you are cleaning, empty the bins and leave a small bowl of diluted fabric conditioner on the window still to leave a trace of fragrance in the room.

Get rid of old clothes, toys, paper, plastics etc to charity/ recycling and then 'hide' all visible clutter and just clean for the photos.

Once that ordeal is over, try and keep up a cleaning/decluttering routine for viewings and your potential move. The more stuff you get rid of now, the less junk you have to pay for to move with you.

Washing up liquid for greasy hood and window cleaner on shiny bits.

You will want to open blinds for photos and viewing to get as much light as possible. Work on decluttering, if necessary hide it at somebody else's house.

Leave the lights on as it makes such a difference to the pictures even on a sunny day. I'm looking at houses online atm & am put off by dark pictures in natural day light, all it takes is a light to make the picture brighter.

Also, I've seen lots of pictures taken of unmade beds,, messy rooms and junk all over the place and it's so off putting. Do make an effort to tidy as it will hopefully be result in a quick sale at a good price for you. Good luck.

WD40 brings up stainless steel a treat. I get a professional in to clean my oven, hob and cooker hood. He have me that tip and it gleams!

These are brilliant tips, thanks...and giving me an excuse to go to Lakeland tomorrow to buy that blind cleaner thingy . Also adding WD40 and Astonish to the shopping list...although no one is actually going to look inside the oven...are they?

Halfords bike degreaser is blinding at cleaning up anything sticky in the kitchen and I use window cleaner and a microfibre cloth on it to polish.

Declutter everything and store it somewhere else. Don't forget nice pressed bedding and good lighting for the pics.

Microfibre cloth for stainless steel and glass. They're amazing and you don't need to use product.

I second the shove it in a cupboard/ the shed approach, so you can have a good clean round.

Then if you have time have a good de clutter of the bags/boxes one at a time & go to the tip/charity shop or have a yard sale! it'll all have to go before you move!

Cheap white vinegar in a spray bottle...one third to 2 thirds water. Shake up & use to clean anywhere, wipe down & then buff the surface with a rough cloth or dry flannel/tea-towel. Works brilliantly on most surfaces & esp cookers hoods. Initially it smells like a chippy but it soon fades esp if you leave a window open.

I do admin work for an estate agents, and they always tell clients to depersonalise an area for pictures, so hide

• family photos apart from the odd one for show,
• any "quirky" mementos from holidays/ kids masterpieces
• family pets, get a neighbour to come & walk the dog while photos are done

• YY to freshly made beds, doesn't have to be white but a plain colour & a few contrasting cushions or a throw looks good.
• a vase of flowers or fresh plant on a window ledge if a vast expanse to add perspective.
• clutter free surfaces in kitchen & utility to emphasise space
• garden is often v.important deal breaker, cut lawn & hide kids toys, minimise patio furniture.

if the EA is any good he/she will be clever with the angles etc. Don't agree to the brochure until you are happy with how it is presented, & push for lots of pictures, it helps to weed out time wasters!

Good Luck!

I have microfibre cloths so that's a good start. There's a Halfords beside the pound shop so I'll add degreaser to the shopping list.

Pressed bedding...I'm going to have clear out the utility room then just to find the iron.

Put what you need in boxes and bigs and stuff in the attic.
Then get as many of your friends in to help OR phone a cleaning company first thing in the morning and get them to do a deep clean ASAP.

Fill your car with the junk

Go in a cycle: do some tidying, do some cleaning, do some getting rid of stuff, then back to the start.

Declutter the bathroom to within an inch of itself. A cluttered bathroom looks particularly awful for some reason.

If you have soap not handwash, put out new bars of soap.

oh TBH I would advertise in the local gumtree/local paper for someone to help on Saturday for as many hours of cleaning as you can afford - ideally 8. Then you can spend much more of Friday tidying and getting rid.

Agree with wiggleylines about the white bedding. When we had our photos done and before viewings I used to nip to my mum's and borrow her white duvet cover with duvet still in it and throw it over the top of ours. Looked fab and very squashy!

Remember the old House Doctor programmes? When you have reached the end of Friday, go outside your house, walk up to it, go through the front door and walk around - all of it trying to see through other people's eyes. Try to catch angles that you normally miss, e.g. unfortunately as you come up our stairs you are at eye level with the bit under our bed normally I look somewhere else when coming up the stairs