Spring cleaning your way to a quicker home sale

Winter 2020 is over and spring is here - and that means it's time to talk about spring cleaning and decluttering. When it's time to put your home on the market - whether that's in a month or in five years - you'll thank yourself for having conquered the clutter, because it's one of the biggest off-putters for potential buyers. Less clutter can often mean a quicker sale, and the less clutter you have, the less boxes you'll need to pack when it's time to move. There are a few different approaches that you can take to spring cleaning and decluttering, but they all share one goal: a tidier, less chaotic and better-organised home.

The Marie Kondo approach

Decluttering the "Marie Kondo" way is also known as using the KonMari method and it's about approaching the clutter problem one category at a time, rather than one room at a time. According to Kondo, your home should be full of items that make you feel joyful. If it doesn't make you feel joyful, it's got to go. Kondo breaks up her strategy into six steps and five different categories. The first step is to commit to tidying up and the second is to imagine your ideal lifestyle. The third step is to discard items which don't bring you joy, and the fourth is to tidy what's left by category, not location. Step five is to follow the right order and step six is to ask yourself if everything left behind brings you joy. The five categories to tackle include clothing, books, papers, miscellaneous items and sentimental items. 

The room-by-room approach

If the idea of the Kondo-style category-by-category approach doesn't appeal to you, the room-by-room approach is another way to go. Taking on one room - be it a child's bedroom, a home office or a living room - can be a weekend project. Or, if a free weekend is hard to come by, you can even make a start when you have ten minutes available. To make your ten minutes count, use the "box or basket approach", in which you set up three labelled boxes or baskets in the room. The first box is for items to be thrown away, the second is for items you want to keep, while the third is for items that can be recycled, repurposed or given away.

The pay-it-forward approach

Instead of indulging yourself in sentimental feelings over a toy your children will never play with again, a piece of furniture that doesn't fit into your décor scheme or a set of crockery that's been gathering dust in your cupboard for the past five years, think of what these items could do for a less fortunate family or a charity. Those toys could bring light back into the eyes of a child living in an orphanage and that furniture you never use could become the only furniture that another family has. You can breathe new life into these possessions by donating them to people who need them far more than you do. The golden rule here is that if it's no good to you because it's broken or damaged, it's no good to a charity either. 

The environmentally-friendly approach

In 2020, throwing plastic into a rubbish bin destined for a landfill should be unthinkable. 
As far as possible, whatever you are getting rid of as part of a decluttering attempt needs to be discarded responsibly. This includes paper, plastic, glass, cans and electronic waste (think keyboards that don't work anymore, broken phones and your old DVD player).

Make your 2020 spring clean count and let it make your home a more joyous place. Getting rid of clutter means less dust-busting and more space. When it's time to sell your home, the lack of clutter provides an opportunity to show off your home's ultimate potential. For more information about buying, renting or selling property, contact the Jawitz Properties team.