A Place for Everything – Everything in its Place
Recently, we blogged about what a good selling point a well-styled master wardrobe can be. As sensational as an organiser system can be in a walk-in robe, we’ve since been checking out some organiser options for your built-in style wardrobes as well. Experts in styling properties in the greater Sydney area tell us that the new home buyer hates clutter but absolutely loves the concept of “a place for everything and everything in its place”.
Knowing that an emotional connection between your house and a prospective buyer is where the sale begins, we’ve been shopping ideas for making the other wardrobes in your house as irresistible as the master.
• The Entry: What better place is there to bring organisation to the home than the entry? Organiser systems may be sold with shirts and suits in mind, but they can also be designed to handle umbrellas, winter coats, summer windbreakers, boots, and galoshes. Look at what you will reach for when you go out the door, then plan a space for it. Gardening hats and gloves? Why not?
• Kids’ Rooms: Remembering that not all prospective buyers will come complete with children, plan your non-master bedroom wardrobes at multiple levels. If there are children in the next owner’s life, imagine the surprise when kids can actually hang up their own clothes – or at least imagine Mum’s glee when she “thinks” they might do just that. The organiser system doesn’t have to be an expensive wooden one. You can add wire-type components together to make a serviceable unit that can keep everything within sight from t-shirts to soccer shoes and roller-blades.
• Home Office/Guest Room: The experts in styling properties tell us that you’d be wise to remember that your millennial buyer probably works from home at least part of the time so staging one room in a multi-bedroom home as a home office can really pay off. The wardrobe can be fairly generic in this case, but choose one with adjustable shelving and baskets so that the buyer can store copy paper, manila envelopes and adhesive tape alongside the spare bedding, pillows, and sheets.
• Laundry: As we’ve mentioned, the millennial buyer is quirky. We mean that in the nicest way possible. These people like everything simple and straightforward, and because they like to use their time at work for work, and leisure time for leisure, there really isn’t any room in their lives for lost things. Planning a storage area in your laundry or utility area works just like any other room in your house. You simply need to imagine the work you’ll be doing there and supply shelves, bins, and hanging rods to facilitate it all. Because this can be a small area to start with, plan carefully to account for everything and, if possible, adding a table for folding is handy to keep the work in that room where it belongs as well.
• Mudroom: Often the mudroom is annexed to the laundry area and is found near the back door. In any case, this is the ideal place to store muddy sneakers, dog toys, and badminton rackets used in the backyard. Plan for as many activities as you can and see if you can create a place for everything.
• Pantry: It’s often painfully obvious that home builders don’t do a lot of grocery shopping. Pantry space is wonderful and we are all grateful to have it, but with a little thought you can add more useable space when you augment the shelving there. You can find entire kits at your kitchen store or home improvement outlet with specialised hardware to hold things like multiple vegetable and soup cans, or door mount shelving units for boxes, and bins for pet food and potatoes. The array of options is truly amazing – go take a peek.
As you plan for making your home irresistible to buyers, understand that you can tap into other trade secrets by scheduling a consultation with a professional home stylist. Styling properties is their passion and they can also help you make decisions ahead of the listing about what needs changing and what upgrades will help sell your property quicker and for more money than you’d ever imagined.