The 10 Minute Stage

Do you remember those single days when you were lounging around your apartment in your sweats, and your boyfriend would call saying they were going to drop over in a few minutes? What did you do? A clean T-shirt and jeans was a good start. Perhaps a quick brush of the hair, or perhaps a ponytail. A toothbrush, face wash, lip gloss and mascara……et voila!

You do what you can in the time you have. It may not be perfect, but it’s better. That’s what I mean by the 10 minute stage. I am exaggerating a little, but if you have very little time to get your house ready, there are some things you can do to make a big difference……depending on the existing condition of your house. If you are a hoarder, or close to it, 10 minutes will not make enough of a difference, so you might as well sit down and relax.

This is what happened to me yesterday:

I was working from home on Monday morning and my husband called to tell me that the bank was going to send an appraiser over to evaluate our house for our refinancing. The appraiser could come as early as the next day, but definitely some time this week. My immediate reaction was ” Oh #$@*!” I finished up what I was working on in the morning, made myself some lunch and got to it.

Reorganized Front Entrance

Lucky for me, my mom had visited on the weekend, and I had already done some clean up in preparation for her visit. Sunday was so beautiful that I decided to get out the lawn mower and cut the grass for the first time this season. I had also raked and had done a little bit of tidying in the garden.

Now, obviously, if I have an afternoon to make my house look “more valuable” I am not going to be redecorating or painting. I have to work with what I have and make it the best it can be, in only a few hours.

I started with the kitchen. Unload and load the dishwasher to help me clear the counter tops. I put the less used small appliances away, got rid of all the papers on my kitchen island, all the kids pictures and schedules off the fridge, and gave everything a good quick wipe down. Since I didn’t have time to sort and organize, I got a bag and put everything in it and put it in a drawer. Once the appraiser has been through, I will retrieve the bag and go through it then.

Cleared Surfaces

The basic idea is CLEAR and CLEAN!!

Beds made. Kids toys thrown into bins and put into the closet. Wii accessories in a bin……thank goodness for closed storage is all I can say. My son’s room, whose huge white wall is awaiting a mural, got a piece of art hung on the wall to break up the white space and a magnetic board over his desk.

The big challenge for me was the space at the bottom of my basement stairs and my laundry area. It is the classic dumping ground of the house. There was a coat rack, plastic shelving filled with boxes of “stuff”, our muddy boot tray, a bin of outdoor toys, etc., etc., etc., So, we made some space in the shed, moved out what we could and reorganized the rest. Now it is a relatively clear, clean space. Our house no longer looks like there is no place to put stuff.

Clean and Clear

We also re-hung a door on a storage area, that we had previously removed for ease of access, and I hung a few pictures and finished up some laundry that was cluttering my laundry room. The last load is sitting in the washer, dry, waiting to be washed, but at least you can’t see it.

Outside, we ran to the variety store and bought some pots of icicle pansies for our urns at the front of the house, organized our garbage cans and

Pretty Pansies

recycle bins, neatly behind the fence, and pulled out all the patio furniture, turning our back yard into a place that you might actually want to sit in. Kid toys were stowed away and the shed doors closed to hide everything.

Now really, is this the way my house would look if it was going on the market? Hopefully not…..unless I only had a days notice to list it. I would have swapped out some of my kid-friendly, but ugly furniture, and touched up my paint, etc., etc. This was the best I could do given my time frame, and this is for an appraisal. I don’t want the appraiser to know that I “staged” my house. I still want it to look “lived in”, just better than it was.

I am actually pretty happy with the result. If the appraiser doesn’t come today, I will spend a little more time in my garden out front this afternoon, and maybe touch up the paint, but realistically, I don’t have much more time than that this week.

Will it be good enough??? Let’s wait and see.

If you need some ideas for your home, contact Katherine James of Set Sale and Go Home Staging. Home Staging for Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton and Mississauga.