Declutter Before Selling: The First Step of Staging

Decluttering before selling is the cheapest and most effective first step of home staging. Remove unnecessary items down to a minimum, working room by room, using a keep, donate, and discard system. A home with less stuff looks larger, cleaner, and move-in ready, so buyers focus on the house, not the previous owner's belongings.

Why clutter makes a home hard to sell

Clutter makes rooms look smaller and dirtier, and stops buyers from imagining themselves in the home. When shelves and counters are full, buyers cannot see the real space and assume the home has little storage. Decluttering changes the feel of the whole house before you spend on anything else.

Work room by room with the 3-box method

Do not try to clear the whole house at once and burn out. Start one room at a time and sort into three piles: keep and use, donate or sell, and discard. Pack things you keep but do not use now into boxes and move them to a storage rental, so the house stays open for photos and viewings.

• Clear kitchen counters and tabletops
• Halve the clothes in wardrobes so they look spacious
• Pack away collections and scattered toys
• Rent storage for boxes you are not discarding

Do not forget the overlooked spaces

Buyers like to open cupboards, drawers, and storage rooms to judge storage. If things tumble out when they open them, the home feels short on space. Organize cupboards and drawers with room to spare, to signal the home has plenty of storage.