Getting photo ready

[Hadestown]

Got to spend this weekend clearing clutter

This is our bedroom. Dh thinks I should pack away all the books and just put a small ornament on each shelf? I think it’s ok.

Also should I clear off the dressing table?

I would get rid of everything. Definitely the books and ornaments. Shove it all in your car boot.

Yep, EA told me to clear the decks. Filled the car!

Theres no way all our stuff will all fit in the car. I’ve got a living room and office downstairs to clear as well.

Estate agent told me not to bother moving everything.

The office is full of musical instruments, tech equipment & shelves full of sheet music.

Yep I would move everything. Our house was pretty decluttered when the photographer arrived but he then insisted we moved any photos/ the one baby toy we had out.

But where too? The shed is full. The only place to move stuff too is other rooms? I can take a few boxes of books to my parents house & put most of the stuff on my dressing table in a drawer but that’s it.

My house is full of clutter, I'm thinking of using one of them storage places to take everything to for a bit so we can have the photos done because there's no way it will all fit in my car and I'm pretty sure none of my family will want all of our shit in their house lol

Yes move it.

I’ve got loads of paperwork we have to keep for several years because we used to run a business.

I’ve also got a Ds in Year 11 with a Lego addiction and a dh who seems to collect musical instruments!

Hire a secure unit to fill with rarely used stuff till you've moved. If I view a house stacked with stuff I'd think it was lacking storage. A second viewing and I'd be opening fixed cupboard that would stay so you can't just hide it away out of sight

Good luck with your sale

Ive only got a couple of days before the photographer comes.

Did you really open peoples cupboards? We never did that. We thought it was rude to mess in people’s private possessions. Our second viewing st the house we are buying was mainly to look at kitchen and garage alterations.

we have lots of confidential paperwork so we’d best get some locks.

People will look in the cupboards, but I don’t think it matters if they’re full!

For the photos, pack all clutter into boxes and just move the boxes out of the room they’re photographing at the time.

we have lots of confidential paperwork so we’d best get some locks

Nobody will be reading through your paperwork, they’ll just want to see if the cupboard is particularly deep if it’s built it etc

Clear off worktops, dressing tables, sideboards etc and maybe get some white bedding as that dark colour makes it look gloomy.

You may not be the kind of person who looks in cupboards or judges a place by the apparent lack of storage etc but plenty of people lack imagination when it comes to a house and can only see what’s right in front of them.

Presenting it as a very clean, tidy, fresh smelling, airy place with lots of storage options so nothing has to be left on display will appeal to everyone.

Presenting is as a lived in home where things are out for easy access and of course some items are on shelves but will obviously go when you move will only appeal to people who are able to see past that.

One episode of any property programme will show you that more people fit into the second category than you think!

You’ll have to pack it all up when you move anyway, so start now, declutter, pack away anything you don’t need on a daily basis and stop thinking of it as your home for now. It isn’t your home any more, it’s the home of whoever buys it and they need to feel that when they first see it.

Estate agent told me not to bother moving everything.

Mine told me not to bother tidying the front garden or removing the broken trampoline from my garden. Don’t listen to them. Do whatever you can to make your house appealing to the majority of viewers. I used to love watching House Doctor. She was ruthless in clearing away anything vaguely personal and even buying things to ‘stage’ the home for sale. Made a huge difference on a small budget. Even if you don’t want to invest any money in repairs, decoration etc, invest a bit of time and effort in tidying and decluttering, and potentially some money in storing those bits until you move.

I know they won't be reading through paperwork but dh is a tutor who currently works from home and anything to do with minors has to be kept away from view.

Then it should already be locked up. I work as a childminder and all my paperwork has to be kept in a locked file.

For the photographer you can just move a big box out of the room before they take the shot.

Clear away most/all the ornaments etc it will make it look bigger.

If you want to keep the books out put some flat some on heir side etc for variety.

Put cheap plants on the windowsill etc. Can be fake or real.

Dress the bed like a hotel.

Look on Airbnb for inspiration

Picture of a dressed bookcase here

www.argos.co.uk/product/6093509

And if you really cba clearing your dressing table every time you have a viewing get a pretty basket with a lid

Really rubbish photo as I couldn’t get the angle or colour right but do I keep my teal contrast towels or put grey ones in the bathroom.

I think the teal towels are fine but I'd get rid of the stuff on the shelf above the sink and most of the stuff on the shelf/window sil above the bath.

Tbh I expect quite a few buyers would expect to replace that bathroom anyway so as long as it looks clean and tidy it will be fine.

I would take the towels away altogether, plus the floor mat and scales and have the window sills and basin completely clear of stuff.

The stuff on the shelf will go but dss toothbrush is currently charging.

The bathroom is brand new (we did it before we decided to move). It’s pretty high spec and the shower has never been used!

I think your teal towels could stay, but only on the towel rack. The bathmat needs to be taken away. Ditto the scales. You can put items like bottles of shampoo into baskets. I would add a plant to your bathroom. Aloe? Orchid?

I would take away all the knick knacks from everywhere (your bedroom windowsill for instance) and your DH is right about the bookshelves.

Put some order to the musical instrument room - dress it as a music room perhaps? Or a music/Lego/hobby room? Keep a little sheet music for dressing purposes, but you need to find a temporary home from home for the majority of it. Same goes for all the tech stuff.
Get a metal file cabinet for your business records and current tutoring paperwork.

Could you put things you use (i.e. from your dressing table) in shallow storage boxes under beds in such a way that they are not visible in photos? Make sure you can't see stuff that is stowed under beds.

YY to gussying up the beds like hotel beds.

Yes, people open cupboards - to check dimensions, whether shelves can be moved or if fixed in place, to check for funky smells/signs of mould, pipework running through.

Ask to see proofs of the photos before they go live. Look very, very closely at each one.

dress it as a music room perhaps

It is a working music room. It’s used several hours each day. I can’t really do much to it other than make sure cables and papers are tidy. Ds is currently working on GCSE compositions plus programming for the school show and dh is always working.

The grand piano is in the living room, the office contains the stage piano, mac, and speakers etc.

No estate agents or vendors allowed us to open cupboards although we did ask to see inside an airing cupboard.

People in our area do expect to see china figures.

I’ve moved some of the books. They were four deep on those shelves, There are a LOT of books.

The estate agent is right in that we have to live and I can’t go moving everything. Ds is autistic and he needs his music though his Lego has been temporarily taken to his grandparents.

I guess if people like it, they like it. If they don’t, they don’t.

I personally hate plants in bathrooms so I’m not buying one just to kill!