House Fluffing on a Budget | The Kitchen

The house is on the market

The market is a tough place for any house today.  Professional staging can give a house big advantages when it comes to attracting buyers.  But unfortunately, many homeowners can’t afford the services of a professional real estate staging artist, especially right now.

The kitchen is often said to be the heart of a home, and I think it’s true. If you’re getting ready to sell your house, there’s plenty you can do to fluff up the kitchen without spending an arm and a leg. In fact, there’s plenty you can do without spending any money at all – but you’re going to need plenty of elbow grease! If you’re strapped for cash and need to spend a little money on kitchen improvements before putting your house on the market, think about getting a quick cash advance with an online payday loan.

. . . someone’s in the kitchen

assessing

Take a close and discerning look, and try to be objective. Remember, starting now you’re not trying to live in this house, you’re trying to sell it. The best thing you can do for the kitchen is get it spotlessly clean – and then keep it that way until your house sells. This can be a tall order if you’ll be living in the house while it’s on the market – even taller if you’ll be living in it with children – and taller yet when you consider that prospective buyers generally do not appreciate food or cooking odors. But spotless and odorless are the standards that will help your house sell.

scrubbing

Clean the appliances, inside and out. Clean the cupboards and refrigerator. Prospective buyers will touch these surfaces; make sure they won’t stick to them when they do! Get the sinks, countertops, windows, and floors squeaky clean.

decluttering

Once you’ve achieved or at least paid real respect to the spotless and odorless standards, the next hurdle is decluttering. Get everything off the countertops and other surfaces (including the top of the refrigerator) except a very few attractive and well placed canisters, pottery bowls, or cookbooks. Dishtowels add a welcoming touch, so you might want to include a nice, fluffy set.

decluttering some more

I can’t over-emphasize this: get rid of the clutter. Clutter includes the stuff inside your cupboards, drawers, pantry, and refrigerator. Prospective buyers will open these things, especially if they’re genuinely interested in the house. If they like the look of the kitchen, prospective buyers will be inclined to open a cupboard or the refrigerator to see if it’s as good on the inside as it is on the outside. Make sure nothing falls out when they do, and make sure the insides are (here we go again) spotless and odorless.

scrapbooking

If you’re fond of what I like to call refrigerator scrapbooking, take it all down – the magnets, the newspaper chippings, the kid art, and even the family photos – and put it away out of sight. Or maybe you should break the refrigerator scrapbooking habit now and put your materials in a real scrapbook. Remember, you want potential buyers to focus on the house, not the people who used to live there or who live there now.

. . . and someone’s online

When money is tight, there’s no point in purchasing over-the-top staging props for your kitchen. But if you have a real sore spot– such as an oven or range that is so well used it cannot be gotten clean — you should consider replacing it. Plenty of people will buy a house knowing it needs work, but they also like knowing they’ll be able to cook in their new home as soon as they move in.

If the walls are a little dingy and money permits, you might also consider repainting the kitchen. But don’t take shortcuts. If you have old, painted wood cabinets, sand and prime them before you paint. If you have dingy old wallpaper, take it down and prep the surface before you paint, but never paint over it. And remember, elbow grease is free and necessary expenditures are just a quick online installment loan away.