For many homeowners, preparing to put the house on the market involves a lot of hard thinking about how to present their home in the best way. Decluttering is a major factor, and can do as much to create a desirable environment as redecorating. Proving you don’t need to spend a fortune on remodelling, here are four storage ideas that could revolutionise your space:
Get an Early Start on Packing
You don’t have to get rid of prized possessions in order to clear your cupboards or surfaces. In a few weeks, if all goes well, you’ll be packing everything up anyway, so why not get a head start on the process?
Anything you don’t use on a regular basis, including books that are overflowing the bookcase or games collections that are steadily taking over, are fair game for early packing. Once items you’re not using are packed, pop them into self storage for the duration. You can rent space from a week onwards, so you’re not tied down once you no longer need storage space.
Another benefit is that if you accidentally pack something you later need, the convenient locations in most towns mean you can easily retrieve the items. Or alternatively, add to them as you discover more stuff you can pack away and not miss.
Make Use of Hidden Areas
For the price of a few hinges and a little DIY time, you can convert the areas underneath kitchen cupboards into huge, flat storage spaces. Just remove existing kickboards and refit so you can either slide or lift them to access the space. In here, you can store cleaning tools (brooms and mops) or larger kids’ toys such as bats and skateboards. You could even empty a cupboard or two by storing baking trays and pans that you don’t use too often.
Another prime location that is usually ripe for a storage upgrade is the small cupboard under the stairs. Instead of allowing it to become a glory hole where all and sundry gets dumped, take control with a few shelves or hooks, or a couple of plastic drawer towers for odds and ends. Hang a battery operated lamp if there’s no lighting, and the space becomes much more usable.
Make Friends with Shelving
Shelves work all around the house, and are relatively inexpensive and currently fashionable. You can create a homely cottage look, or a designer loft ambiance with the right kind of shelving. Paint floating shelves to match surrounding colours and they become almost invisible, ready to draw attention to whatever you’re displaying.
Shelves aren’t just for walls either. Most home and kitchen shops sell wire rack shelves to go inside cupboards, and put an end to rummaging through everything to find what you’re looking for. You can buy nifty items like over shelf hangars to make room for mugs where there was none before, or corner plate racks that make it easy to select the size of crockery you need.
Organising small-item storage like this makes everyday tasks less stressful, and you’re more motivated to get on with a job when you don’t have to search or dig for items or tools needed.
When buyers come viewing, you can never be sure they won’t open cupboard doors to check on storage, so it’s reassuring to know they’ll only find order and neatness inside your cupboards and throughout your home.
When the house appears neat and cared for, buyers are much more likely to make an offer than they are if too much clutter lying around makes it look as though the house has inadequate storage.