Capital Real Estate Washington

A clean, attractively decorated and clean house is what potential buyers want to see when they step into your house. But avoid overly decorating your house because this is something they don't want to see since they won't be able to picture their possessions in the house. Plus, too many shelves and tables with knickknacks, too many overstuffed sofas piled with pillows can hide the architectural and structural features of a home.

Here are a few tips on keeping a minimalist approach to your home decorating.

MINIMIZING You need to put away things that are not absolutely essential. Either you rent a storage locker or you could try asking, or maybe even beg, your neighbor to allow you to have some storage space in their garage. Keep in mind that this isn't forever and you even come to realize that you don't really need all that stuff after all.

ORGANIZE. The time has come to organize your craft materials and other projects and tackle that filing you've been putting off for a while. Once again, get rid of anything you can live without temporarily. Better yet, start packing! When you go to stores like WalMart or PierOne, it would be easy to find inexpensive and attractive baskets. Use those baskets to help keep you organized. A large basket can be used to stash magazines and coasters under the coffee table. You can put away your personal items such as shaving cream, your makeup kit, or your toothpaste if you use these baskets in the bathroom. People will look at the brand names of the products that you used so they'll end up getting distracted and if you have all that stuff then the house will look used.

ARRANGING YOUR STUFF The things you DO keep around can be rearranged in attractive ways to make your house look interesting. For example, canisters in the kitchen should be grouped together. Spreading them out makes counter space look smaller. Do the same for the end tables, bookcase, fireplace mantels, and the ledges. When you group things together, there shouldn't be more than three items and they should vary in heights and the graduate sizes should be mixed. For example, put something smaller on the other side of the mantle while grouping 2 candles on one of its side.

When you're decorating the house you're going to sell, keep in mind that potential buyers tend to spend a lot of time looking at personal items and family photographs. That embroidered family tree your aunt made might well spark a long conversation that does nothing to sell your house. Make sure that you put away your photos as well as your personal items.

Personal items may distract the potential buyer from envisioning her own family and stuff living in your house so the key would be to make the look attractive, minimally decorated, and devoid of personal artifacts.