Radio Shopping Show

This month has gone by in a hurry—I haven’t blogged in three weeks! A lot can happen in that amount of time.

I want to tell you about the Radio Shopping Show on KCRN, the Big Money Station. If you live in the Denver-metro area, you can save big money by registering as a member online at www.thebigmoneystation.com and looking through the online catalog of goods and services available. Some of the categories include popular restaurants, oil changes, haircuts and spa treatments, gifts, entertainment—and home improvement.

Vendors advertise by providing their goods or services free to the station. The station sells them to you for a fraction of the value. You get a bargain and the vendor gets basically free advertisement.

SpaceLift offers one hour of staging, one hour of redesign, or a staging consultation in the catalog. We’ve had several customers already who took advantage of the reduced price.

I did an interview on the show at the beginning of the month. Thank you, Kate Duncan, for getting the word out about our services!

Decluttering Your Home for Sale

When preparing your home for sale, the advice everyone gives is "declutter." What does that mean exactly? Should all small items be removed from your rooms including junk, toys and all knick-knacks? We've all watched HGTV shows for inspiration, from remodeling kitchens, redesigning rooms to preparing homes for sale. When it comes to preparing our own home for sale, what do we really need to do to?

My best explanation for preparing a home for sale and decluttering would be removing personal items, things such as personal photos of your family, personal items that are valuable that you wouldn't want to be broken, and things that have a lot of meaning to you but may not be very decorative, such as a kid's school project. Also large collections with many pieces, things that fill up a whole shelf or table, should be reduced to a smaller number. These items are removed to make your house seem more generic for all buyers. You want to take yourself out of your home, so potential buyers can envision their family and their items in the house.

Your house should be tidy and clean. That is why decluttering is so necessary for the sale of your home. However, you can OVER declutter, removing every little item, all artwork, rugs and accessories. In this instance, your rooms will start to look more like a museum instead of a cozy house. Leave a small number of items on bookshelves so they appear used. Leave rugs for your seating areas to feel grouped together. Leave art work hung on large empty walls to keep interest. Leave lamps for ambiance. You still want your house to appear inviting, cozy and warm to buyers.

It seems like there is a fine line between too little decluttering and too much. Basic rule I would go by, If it is personal to your family, remove it from the room. Pack it in a safe place so you are free to enjoy it in your next home. Leave generic decor items, vases, paintings, a few books, lamps, rugs, anything to help your home feel lived in.