Our Blog

How to Hide Kids’ Messes While Selling Your Home

October 11, 2018  |  Local Events, Midlothian VA tips, New Home Tips, Things To Do

There are plenty of articles that suggest ways to stage homes for sale in Midlothian VA to make them more attractive to buyers. However, when those articles suggest getting rid of clutter, many parents probably take one look at their family room full of kids’ toys and sigh in despair. Fortunately, there are some ways to help hide some of the kiddy clutter without too much effort or too many tantrums.

Ideally, if your children are old enough to understand, try moving some of the bigger items out of the living room and into their bedroom or even into storage for hopefully a short time. People understand kids’ rooms being more cluttered, but want to see a family room that looks spacious and organized.

Now is also a good time to actually go through all of your children’s toys and see what they still use, what can be stored for a while, what can be thrown away, and what can be donated. Items that they waver on can be put in storage and then if they haven’t asked about the toy again after six months or so, go ahead and donate it. For the toys that the children are willing to give up, especially the ones that can be donated, consider letting them have some sort of reward in exchange, such as a trip to the park or a special treat of some kind.

While you may not be able to move all of your kids’ toys out of the family room, try to take advantage of any inbuilt storage you may have. Use storage ottomans and closing credenzas to hide bags and baskets of smaller toys so they’re still at hand when you’re not showing the home. If you don’t have available space, consider purchasing some decorative but useful baskets with lids that can store the toys and be placed next to sofas, in corners, etc. This may also be useful in your children’s bedrooms.

In the bedrooms, if you have space in the closet or under the bed, look for storage bins that can be hidden in the back of closets or easily slide in and out under the bed. Group like items together, such as board games or action figures, so that you know which bin to pull out when needed.

Kids’ rooms are rarely going to be pristine, but if you can at least minimize the clutter and straighten up shelves, you can probably make the rooms look more whimsical than warzone. A focal piece, be it an indoor fort or a charming piece of art will help draw the buyers’ eyes away from some of the more cluttered areas.

It’s almost impossible to hide away all of the toys and childhood clutter, but if you can get it out of sight in the main rooms of the homes for sale in Midlothian VA, buyers will get a better feel for the home — and start imagining filling up all that space with their own children’s toys!

This post was written by Lifestyle Homebuilders.