Getting Ready to Sell - 20 Ways to Declutter Your Home

 Getting Ready to Sell: 20 Ways to Declutter Your Home

 

Are you preparing to sell your home? Getting your house cleaned up and ready for selling can feel overwhelming, but often simple acts of decluttering can make a huge difference in the overall appearance of your home. We've created a list of 20 common household items to organize or throw away for easily and instantly decluttering your home.

  1. Expired Foods - Look at your counter, cabinets, and pantry for any foods that might be past their expiration dates. Throwing expired items away can give you more counter space and extra space in your cabinets or pantry for storing and organizing other items.
  2. Take Out Menus - Most restaurants now have their menus online. Recycle physical menus that clutter your counter or junk drawers to free up space in your kitchen.
  3. Restaurant Sauce Packets - Sauce packets come in handy for carryout, but they take up room in your kitchen. Save just a few of each type in a small container and throw the rest away.
  4. Old Coupons - Keeping coupons from your favorite stores or restaurants is a great way to save money, but it can also create a pile on your counter. Sort your coupon collection every two weeks and keep only the valid coupons.
  5. Old Cleaning Supplies - Some cleaning supplies degrade over time, making them less effective. Check for expiration dates on your cleaning products regularly and clean out any products that haven't been used in a while and are unlikely to be used soon. Dispose of your unwanted cleaning products according to the instructions on their labels, as some can be toxic or flammable if disposed of improperly.
  6. Excess Plastic Food Containers - Sort through your containers and discard any that are missing lids, stained, or cracked from use. Resorting the remaining containers by size and stacking them helps to declutter your kitchen.
  7. Expired Medication - Medication past its expiration date is often less effective, and keeping it around the house can be dangerous for children or pets. Check with your local police departments and pharmacies on how to discard the medication and dispose of them safely.
  8. Old or Broken Makeup - Most unused and completely sealed makeup can last for 2 to 3 years, but once opened and used, most expires within six to 12 months. Look for a number next to an "M" on your makeup container, which is the "period after opening" symbol. For example, if you see a 6M mark, the product should be good for six months after opening it. Throwing away expired and broken makeup declutters your bathroom.
  9. Old Nail Polish - Unopened polish can last for five to eight years, but most nail polish may be good for up to only two years once opened. Sort through your nail polish and discard old polish to declutter counters and cosmetic drawers.
  10. Old Mail - In most homes, mail can pile up and clutter counters, drawers, and other flat surfaces. Sort through your mail at the door and recycle or destroy any mail that isn't needed. File important items in a filing system immediately, so you can find them easily when you need them. This keeps your counters clear and uncluttered.
  11. Old Manuals - Most manuals are available online for newer products, so you may not need to keep the paper manual on hand. Recycle the manuals for older products you no longer have.
  12. Old Paperwork - Clearing off your desk is a quick and easy way to declutter your home. Sort your piles of paperwork into bins for filing, recycling, and shredding, and get rid of what you don't need to keep.
  13. Old Receipts - If you are worried about throwing away a receipt you think you might need later, like the ones used for warrantees or service plans, consider scanning them and saving them on your computer or in cloud storage. Most receipts created using thermal printers will fade quickly, so scanning them is a great way to prevent clutter and still make sure you have a legible copy on hand should you need it at a later time.
  14. Old Magazines - Sort through the pile of magazines on your table and recycle anything you've already read. Consider donating old magazines to an art class or daycare center to be used in future art projects.
  15. Games with Missing Pieces - Take an inventory of your board games, ensure you have all their pieces, and throw away any incomplete ones. Use their pieces to replace the missing pieces of another game.
  16. Socks Without a Match - Every house has a collection of single socks looking for their match. If your socks still don't have a match after a month or so, throw it away and declutter your laundry room.
  17. Socks with Holes - Leaving worn-out socks lying around creates unneeded home clutter. Unless you are mending your socks as soon as they get a hole, just throw them, and their matching sock, out.
  18. Old Couch Pillows - Everyone loves a nice couch pillow for comfort and decoration, but many tend to lose their shape or discolor from sunlight or spills as time goes on. Sort through your pillow collection and throw away any that are worn out or discolored. You can also use the stuffing from that pillow to refill other pillows you want to keep.
  19. Burnt Out Candles - Candles can be great to have around your home for their fragrances and cozy ambiance, but once they've burned down past a certain point, it's time to get rid of them. 
  20. Extra Cords - With all the electronics most people have in their homes, messy cords can make your space feel cluttered and disorganized. Use Velcro strips to wind up loose cords, and consider using a decorative cord management box to hide or conceal power strips and plugs.

The Jamie Rassi Team of Cummings & Co. Realtors

www.JamieRassi.com | Cell: 410-652-6997 | Office: 410-823-0033 | Email: JRassi@icloud.com