Small Projects Add Value

Nobody likes clutter.
One of the toughest conversations I have when taking a new listing involves the need for clients to get temporary off-site storage, or permanent dumpster space. One man’s cherished knickknacks are a potential buyer's trash.

I always tell sellers that they should take a hard look at anything they may plan to get rid of after moving, and preemptively remove it from the premises. I know it’s tough to do as purging is time consuming, but I learned the costly lesson the hard way when I last moved. I de-cluttered our home and filled the basement with fairly neatly stacked boxes of possessions. My wife insisted that we should just get rid of stuff, but my need to get the house on the market quickly obfuscated her common sense. Our 7-minute move to a larger suburban home necessitated two moving trucks and took the crew of four 10 hour$. Over the next weeks we proceeded to throw away the better part of a moving truck – mostly box after box from the previous basement.

So I have reformed – well maybe not entirely. I still love my stuff and so do our kids. But a few times a year we do some things to prevent another wasteful and costly move.

The Big Purge
Yesterday, we did the “big purge” with our kids. We took a few hours of two-on-one time with each child going through all of their belongings in their bedrooms. The eight-year-old learned that there really can be too many stuffed animals, and that having the World’s largest collection of miniature bobble-head birds may not be all that matters in life. During the process we discovered toys and games that had never been opened or played with and made decisions to donate some to good will. In all four large trash bags of stuff is leaving the house! Cost to us: 0!

Coat Closet Cubby Shelf
Of course, there are the belonging which we do not wish to part with. For those, we are constantly looking for better ways to keep and/or display them. Which brings us to today’s small project: the Coat Closet Cubby Shelf. While kitchen and bathroom projects may be sexier, today’s $14-trip-to-Home Depot project took less than an hour and will help us hold on to stuff in a way that the next buyer may actually (in a small way) appreciate.

Our hall closet has a rod for hanging coats, and until today a single shelf upon which are piled hats, scarves, gloves and mittens for our entire family. That shelf, despite many organization attempts, some including plastic containers, became unruly whenever disrupted while searching for the right accessory. Today, we added a 2nd shelf above the existing shelf, and between the two shelves added cubbies to keep belongings sorted. The custom shelf fits perfectly in the space, and someday will be sold with the home.