Hi Friends, It’s a super busy week for me. I’m going to attempt to paint my entire main floor including walls, trim, ceilings, and stair cases. I’ve been up since 5 am and I’m sure I’ll need a nap later on. So my postings this week may be….well if you see one, you can be super shocked and so excited!
Also Thursday there is a Veteran’s Day sale on mulch and I’m hoping to go get a trailer full to enhance the curb appeal of my lovely home. If all goes well we will be ready to list the house on the market by Thanksgiving. But it always takes longer than I think it will.
Next week I will try to paint the second floor and basement of our home. But I don’t want to think about that right now. :).
I’m excited to list my home while we are in it. It’ s a first for us. I’m hoping it will help me get some good housekeeping habits and to train my children too. Do you have any tips for me?
Be careful of paint fumes and overdoing with that little one inside! Josh is going to get our new baby’s room painted before his surgery Nov. 18, then I’ll just do the fun detail painting of cute animals on the walls. Do you have a new home picked out?
Carrie,
Thanks, I will be careful. I am using low VOC paint, so the fumes are very mild, thankfully. I have my eye on a home in Blue Springs with 6 bedrooms, but we can’t afford it until we sell our home and it isn’t even on the market! That’s why I’m rushing to get it ready.
How fun to pain cute animals on the walls. I can’t wait to see it!
We are looking to list our home right after Thanksgiving..and the idea of keeping it clean while having 4 kiddos, homeschooling and continuing to live life is pretty daunting. Will be interested to watch your experience at the same time:)
Angela,
My husband says to be careful of any fumes (no matter how low it says it is. ) You don’t want to risk your baby at all. Is there anyone else who can paint? I wish my husband (who is unemployed) could help you paint but he has a really bad back coupled with arthritis. Good luck on your endeavor.
Margaret Mills
Oh, my! sounds like you will be very busy momma and handy woman this week. Happy Painting to you 🙂
A tip a realtor gave us was to take about 50% off the stuff (toys, junk, etc) out of our house. Pack it up and put it in the garage or a friends house. Clutter free homes sell faster and look more roomy. Plus, there is much less to hide when people come to see the house!
Yes! Strip it down to the bare minimum so that it looks spacious and flows well. Keep things neutral color-wise and try to take out personal touches because not everyone loves your family photos or your grandmother’s antique flower vase! Also, if you have a dog, remove all their stuff. Some people turn down houses for fear it will smell, or have hidden damage, or make their own animals mark in the house after they purchase it.
We moved when I was pregnant with my fourth child. It was tiring to keep up with the clutter and present a neat space. I really focused on the main living areas and the masterbedroom. If the children’s rooms were a bit messy with some toys it didn’t seem so bad as all over the house. You never know when someone might want to stop by so we ended up spending a lot of time at the library, mall, and other peoples houses or played in the children’s rooms. It was to cold to be outside. At least the house stayed neat. I also cooked meals ahead of time since some people like to come over in the evenings. There were less dishes to wash with food prepared ahead of time. If we had to rush to clean up our meal I stashed a lot of things in the dishwasher. 🙂
I went through everything and really purged what we didn’t need. There is nothing like moving to help with this process! our house sold in the winter withing 3 months. Hopefully some of these things are helpful for you. Good luck with all that painting!
Wow, busy is an understatement! Wear a respirator (not just a mask) to avoid any dangerous paint fumes. As for any tips on cleaning, readying, moving, and instilling good habits in the kids at the same time… FlyLady.net
Good luck with everything!
Every time I had a house showing, I boiled some cinnamon sticks in water on the stove beforehand (you could even throw some apple slices in too) — it makes the house smell homey and fantastic!
My Mom is a Real Estate Broker and also says that only having the minumum is very helpful. People do like to see a house tastefully decorated and uncluttered so it feels homey. Also, what others were saying about the paint being similar in all the rooms really helps. So many people cannot visualize their family living there if a room is bright pink or really blue. It makes them feel overwhelmed if they know they will have to paint right away to feel at home.
Good luck!
I also wanted to comment about flyladynet. Everyday she’ll end an email out to you and tell you what your task for the day is. She also helps keep me on the ball with doing morning routines and before bed routines. I highly recommend her! Good luck with selling your house and I hope someone snaps it up quickly!