Make piles.
It may not sound very organized, but sometimes, the best path to a neat home is through a messy one. Once you’ve taken a good, detached look at the house, start sorting its contents into piles. Piles should be organized as the seller clears each room. The value, appeal, and aesthetic of each item should be considered. Items you don’t want the prospective buyer to see during staging should be set aside; those you intend to keep should be recorded.
Have a spreadsheet.
Keeping some written notes makes the whole process much easier and less stressful. Please create a list of rooms that require organization and catalog their contents into different priorities to get a good, quantitative sense of what must stay and what must go. This will be very helpful for you as you move forward. It will also help prioritize expenses, like adding new staging elements, areas needing paint, and other small home improvement notes.
Empty closets.
Before staging a home, sellers’ closets should be emptied and cleaned. Any unused items in the wardrobes should be appropriately disposed of, either temporarily or—if the “Spring Cleaning” mood strikes you—more permanently. This helps the buyer see how much space they have to work with and lets them envision filling it with their possessions.
Clear off bookcases and counters.
Since most reading can be done electronically now, clear off books that will not be reread; as with the closets, this will emphasize the available space to potential buyers. Add some decorative items to keep the home sparkling and attractive rather
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