Article Surfing Archive

When potential buyers step into your house, they want to see a clean, neat and attractively decorated house. What they DON''T want to see is something so overly decorated they can't imagine their own furniture and possessions in the house. Plus, too many shelves and tables with knickknacks, too many overstuffed sofas piled with pillows can hide the architectural and structural features of a home.

Here are a few tips on keeping a minimalist approach to your home decorating.

' MINIMIZE. Put away EVERYTHING that isn't absolutely essential. Even if you have get down on your knees and beg your neighbor for some storage space in their garage, (or rent a storage locker), do it. Remember, it isn't forever, and you might find you can live without some of that stuff.

' ORGANIZE. This is a good time to tackle that filing you've been putting off, and organizing your craft materials and other projects. Once again, get rid of anything you can live without temporarily. Better yet, start packing! And by the way, it's easy these days to find attractive, inexpensive baskets in stores from WalMart to PierOne. Use those baskets to help keep you organized. A large basket can be used to stash magazines and coasters under the coffee table. Baskets can also be put to good use in bathrooms ' put away all your personal items like make-up, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc. People can get distracted looking at the brand names of products you use; plus, having all that stuff around makes the house look used.

' ARRANGE. The things you DO keep around can be rearranged in attractive ways to make your house look interesting. In the kitchen, for example, group canisters together. Spreading them out makes counter space look smaller. The same goes for ledges, end tables, bookcase, and fireplace mantels. Group no more than 3 things together, making sure they're varying heights, and mix graduate sizes. For example, group 2 candles on one side of the mantel, and something smaller on the other side.

One thing to remember while decorating to sell is that potential buyers frequently spend more time looking at family photograph and items of a personal nature. That embroidered family tree your aunt made might well spark a long conversation that does nothing to sell your house. So temporarily put away those photos and other personal items.

The key is to make the house look attractive, minimally decorated, and devoid of personal artifacts which distract the potential buyer and possibly prevents her from envisioning her OWN family and stuff in the house.