Sense of Spaciousness Enhances Home’s Salability

Be honest.  Do you trip over or dodge at least a dozen things when negotiating your way from the bedroom to the refrigerator door?  Has your garage and/or basement taken on that nuclear-holocaust-preparation look with object after object being stored there?   Is your attic cluttered to the point where even a dormouse would have a problem setting a foot down securely on the floor, let alone walking?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you definitely have some work to do as you make preparations to sell your home.  Realtors strongly advise that home sellers should take the time to eliminate, or at the least, reduce your home’s clutter as much as possible before showing your home to potential home buyers.

And why is that, you may ask.  Two significant reasons come to mind.  According to real estate insiders, your home will project a feeling and look of spaciousness when clutter is eliminated.  It gives the illusion that your home is quite a bit larger than it really is.  Have no doubt -- buyers will like that.

Another reason is how a tidy, roomy-looking home appears to be cleaner and more inviting.  Psychologically, perhaps, a cluttered home brings to mind feelings of disorganization, uncleanliness, and, to some degree, claustrophobia.  In addition, it can put homeowners in a negative light – it makes it look as if they’ve been apathetic in taking care of their homes -- even if, in reality, they’ve acted very responsibly in the area of maintenance and repairs.

In order to create that spacious-feel ambiance, try following these tips:

• Remove large and/or excessive pieces of furniture, statues or other stand-alone art pieces, especially from the living room.
• Remaining furniture should be positioned as closely to walls as possible.
• Make sure all counter tops, closets, cupboards, and pantries – especially in the kitchen -- appear clutter-free.  Don’t forget dresser and chest drawers in the bedroom, as well.
• Remove excessive items from bookcases, coffee tables, end tables, and shelves – remember, less is best.
• Create an illusion of space by adjusting the lighting to eliminate shadows – shadows tend to break up a room into smaller entities
• Rooms with darker colors can be made to appear larger just by painting the walls.  Beige and pastel colors are particularly good to achieve this effect.  Likewise, smooth textures tend to reflect light, further augmenting the desired effect.
• Waxing hard-surface floors will also allow them to reflect more light.
• Clever positioning of mirrors can yield an impression of extra space.
• Clear out excessive items from the garage, attic, and basement.

Above all, make sure (for those of you with children) that Junior or Princess has picked up all of their toys and neatly stored them away, preferably in an inconspicuous closet corner.  Better yet, if your little ones have accumulated a considerable number of toys – to the point where their room could be mistaken for a Toys-R-Us franchise, hiding them in a storage rental unit (during the home-showing period) would be a wise investment.  This goes for the bulky-looking furniture and other excessive articles gathered from the rest of the home, as well.

Good news is – for the most part, reducing clutter and creating the illusion of more space is free – most likely the only expenses being the cost of a rental unit for a short time, paint, and maybe some floor wax.  This sacrifice, however, is insignificant when you consider the benefits to be had.  In fact, you may very well be amazed when your tidy, roomy-looking home fetches you a quick sale.