Walking the Walk...

I had recently put my house on the market and therefore had to declutter to have it ready for showings. I realized I need to take my own advice..."Do you really need that? Can you take pictures of all your knick knacks and then make a collage or nice photo album with them? When will you use this next? How long has it been since you wore that?

I have emotional attachment to items just like the majority of us. I found it hard to let go of several items and know I will repurge when I unpack. One thing that helped me was reading a book - The life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo who has a style of decluttering; the KonMari Method. She is very extreme in her method and believes one should be rid of everything that does not spark joy or does not have a purpose. This helped me to unload, so far, 5 bags of garbage, 6 boxes of donations and this was just to get ready for staging. I have a lot more to go through as I am downsizing too. I like the question, "Does this spark joy?" it made me think about what am I realy getting from this item? Do I use/wear it? Do I feel happy looking at it? I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be inspired to lessen their items in their household.

I realized that I too will tell myself, I will use that someday so I better hold onto it. You see I am a crafter aka craft supply hoarder. Most crafters have an abundance of supplies since we are always creating new projects in our mind and hold onto items we will use one day soon. But life gets in the way and only a few projects can get done so our supplies sit and wait in anticipation of being used. I have put together, so far, one bankers box of supplies to give to a fellow crafter. She will then choose what she will keep and throw out or give the rest to another crafter. We tend to do this in our crafters community. What I cannot use another creative mind will see how to create something with it.

I was able to stage my house for showings. I ended up with 8 offers in less than 30 hours! I don't think people understand the importance of staging ones home for selling. You need to create a neutral, decluttered; almost bare space to help buyers see their own furniture/art work/photos and knick knacks in your space. People cannot see past another person's style. I am not sure why but people pay attention to small details and not the large picture. So it is worth investing a few dollars to paint your home in neutral colours, have a professional help declutter and stage your home. It will optimize your selling price and bring in more offers. You will also save on moving costs as you will have less to move after you purge and declutter your space.

Here are the final result of my house, I love how it turned out. It was very hard to clear it of all my style but knew I needed that blank slate to show it off better.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my latest blog. If you found it helpful or inspirational please comment below.