We have watched enough home improvement and real estate shows. When selling your home the first thing to do is de-clutter. We' have already done a lot of our de-cluttering and have sold a lot on craigslist. I still plan to go through the checklist I created to make the house look spotless. I may need to do it a couple times while our home is listed so it will be handy to have.
Here is my checklist in case you find yourself surrounded by clutter. You can do it, too, one step at a time!
Home de-cluttering and simple deep cleaning checklist room by room
Prior to beginning your de-cluttering choose a place in the house where you will bring items to sell or giveaway.
Bedrooms
□Dump all clothes on bed
□Sort in two piles “keep” and “give away/sell”
□Neatly put away clothes/accessories, perhaps even color coding your closet.
□Take all things off closet shelves and put on bed
□Sort in two piles “keep” and “giveaway/sell”
□Place “keep” pile back into closet
□Take all decorations and picture frames off dressers/shelves and place on bed
□Sort items by “keep” and “giveaway/sell” again
□Place “keep” items back on dressers or find another place in the house
□Remove any items that do not belong in the bedroom (i.e. giveaway/sell piles)
□Dust the room
□Sweep ceiling and walls for cobwebs
□Clean floor
□Put on clean sheets and fluff up the pillows
□Light a candle or spray some air freshener
Additional suggestions for children’s bedrooms:
□Use plastic bins to sort kid’s clothes by size
□ Sort (keep/sell) and organize by size/seasonal clothes in drawers and closet
□ Store any unseasonal toys or clothes in plastic bins
□ Store unneeded clothes and take giveaway/sell pile to determined spot
□Arrange toys and furniture on outside walls
Bathroom(s)
□Take out all items out of bathroom and place on table or kitchen/living floor(caution with kids or pets)
□Sort in “keep” or “give away/sell” piles
□Take giveaway/sell pile to determined spot
□Open window and steam/spray whole bathroom
□Clean Toilet
□Sanitize whole bathroom and polish faucets
□Wash/replace shower curtain
□Place “keep” pile neatly back into drawer and cabinets
□Fold towels neatly
Kitchen
□Determine which cupboards need reorganization or sorting
□Empty and sort each cabinet one at a time into “keep” and “giveaway/sell” piles
□Wipe down shelves if needed
□Place items back in cupboards neatly
□Take all items off counters and question which is necessary to keep on (less is best for de-cluttering, especially for sale of a home.) Perhaps you will only keep out appliances you use on a daily basis such as coffee maker and toaster.
□Wipe down the outsides of all cabinets
□Clean and polish sink, stove, and other appliances exterior
□Clean interior of microwave
□Take old food out of fridge and make some sort of rhyme or reason of the food (produce in drawers, cheese/dairy on bottom shelf, leftovers on top shelf, etc…)
Kitchen (cont’d)
□To deep clean the fridge take all items off first shelf, take the shelf out, shut fridge, clean shelf in sink, dry well, and return to fridge along with the food. Repeat with other shelves.
□Sanitize counters, faucets, appliance handles, and table/chairs
□Sweep and mop kitchen floor
□If there are any decorations/pictures dust and sort as you did in the other rooms.
□Light a candle or spray Air freshner
Living Room
□ Place on the couch all decorations, pictures, movies, cds, etc… that are not on the walls. Choose some to store or giveaway/sell.
□Dust and put “keep” pile back on shelves
□Place giveaway/sell pile in designated spot in the house.
□Clean couch and chairs
□Dust lamps, electronics, furniture, etc…
□Clean the floor
□Light a candle or spray air freshener
Den/Office
□Pull out all items into one pile (papers, magazines, catalogs, bills that need filing)
□Organize papers into piles (i.e. recycle, good coupons, “to file”, magazines to keep)
□Place sorted papers where they belong on the desk
□Any items that are not used on a daily basis should be placed in drawers or box nearby
□Dust Computer and Desk and clean the monitor
□For bookshelves, choose books you would like to read in the next year. Store all other books in plastic bins. Use extra space for small decorations or pictures
□Sort any other items in “keep” or “giveaway/sell” piles and remove any items from room that do not belong
