Spring is traditionally the season when we love to clean, declutter, purge, organize, and detox. When I think about where to start, the kitchen comes to mind as it’s truly the heart of the home and everything starts here: lovingly preparing meals for our families, interacting with friends while getting ready to entertain. Lately, it has also become popular to use the islands and nooks to set up a place to put your laptop and enjoy a cup of coffee while checking email. As a result, it can become very busy, cluttered and even dysfunctional.
If you decided that you had enough and are ready to enjoy a nice place to cook, entertain, and relax, then use these guidelines. And if you are thinking of selling your house this spring or this year, it’s never too early to start. You will enjoy your beautiful kitchen and be ready when the time comes to put your house up for sale.
Sort by function.
Nothing is more stressful than trying to locate things when we need them. Especially when we’re searching through the things we don’t need! Start by going through your cupboards and eliminating duplicates, things that don’t belong, or are hardly ever used. Make sure you have a designated spot for things you use daily and toss or give away the rest. Do the same with the food items. Remember, even small cupboards will look large when they are 1/3 empty. The buyers will definitely open each and every one of them to see if their stuff will fit!
Choose what to display.
A wonderful thing about kitchens is that you can choose what to keep inside the cupboards, and what to display. A lot of kitchen and food items are very pretty and can serve as decor items and become part of the design. Use open shelves to showcase the pottery you bought at a local market, and fill a wooden bowl with root vegetables or colourful tropical fruit. If you have designers’ pots and pans, they can be displayed on hanging hardware. However I do not recommend it when you have the house on the market as it may distract the buyers from seeing the best features of your kitchen.
Create a flow.
It is very important how easy it is to use the kitchen and navigate between its functional parts. It is important in order to minimize the daily stress but also to show your potential buyers how they can enjoy using the kitchen. If you have some free standing furniture, it may interfere with the flow and give your buyers an impression of not enough storage or prep space. After you declutter your cupboards, it it it probably possible that you can get rid of extra furniture. Also, if you have a breakfast area, make sure that it is set up in a way that allows easy access in and out. Nothing makes people more uncomfortable than bumping into chairs or corners.
Bring freshness from the outside.
I said it before and I will say it again: one of the easiest ways to make people happy (and that includes your family members and your potential buyers) is bringing nature inside. Put a large vase with fresh cut flowers on the kitchen table and a couple of pretty potted plants on the window sill. They will bring a smile to your face every time you enter the kitchen and it will make it more welcoming for the buyers.
Happy staging and decorating!