Note* If you don't want to read about how we sold our home in
record time, scroll down to see the photos! :)
It's hard to believe that the four years we've planned to spend living in this house are coming to an end.
We've had so many great memories here.
Lots of holidays, bbq dinners on our back porch, Sunday afternoons
reading and having a picnic out on our deck. We brought 2 babies home from the
hospital to this home. Many tickle fights, races, hide'n seek in the dark,
and birthday parties. We've also put a lot of sweat and love into making this our home.
This week we SOLD our sweet first home. It was such a tender mercy.
Every little wish we had dreamt of happened. Literally a miracle!!!
We had our first two showings, both parties were very interested.
The second made an offer we couldn't refuse (and even are allowing
us to stay until the end of June!) and we could not be happier!
Some agents asked if we hired professional stagers-that was a fun compliment! :)
This is what we did:
Over the last few weeks we have spent countless hours getting this house ready to sell.
I can't tell you how long I spent painting all the trim, door frames, doors, windows,
stairs, closets and just touching up the rooms. We cleaned each room top to bottom, literally.
Vacuumed every nook and cranny, scrubbed floors and walls, even took down every light fixture and cleaned it. Our windows are older, with the "lovely" window panes, and they are a pain! We cleaned every window, and even the outsides of some.
Rearranging the rooms.
We gave it a lot of thought and gathered opinions from lots of friends and family on
how arrange the rooms and details of the room.
We rearranged bedrooms, so when you enter the room you are looking at the bed.
We took a leaf out of our dining room table, and the two
captain chairs at the table, to make the room feel bigger too.
Some rooms we took out pieces of furniture to make it look even more spacious.
Declutter! We also spent a very long time decluttering!!!
Most of our stuff we just gave away. Some of it we stored in the
"hobbit closet" (an unfinished portion of our attic), and I even
was able to store quite a bit under the beds and crib, but it
was all completely out of site.
We removed rugs from the bathroom, to feel more spacious.
And we took the rug out of our bedroom to get the same effect,
and to show the pretty hardwood floors.
Our closets were half full, and appealing to look at, including the pantry.
The fun part of staging:
I also spent a lot of time shopping! It was fun, most of the time, but also required
a lot of trips to make returns. I researched many tips on staging and selling.
I spent some time on Pinterest to get ideas and started following the Salt Lake City
Parade of Homes on Instagram. Every one of their photos is staged perfectly, so
it was a great place to see lots of examples and get ideas. Everything I read said it would
be worth putting an extra $500+ for staging. Things like decorative pillows, throws, fresh
flowers, nice towels, pictures or art work, etc. And we probably put $1,000+ into that
kind of stuff, paint and some other little jobs-but it definitely was worth it and paid off!
On staging day:
Every surface was clean; dressers, shelves, counter tops, etc. I tried not to
use heavy cleaning products too soon before showing the house. I didn't want it stink like
cleaners. And I didn't want a candle going. It probably didn't matter, but I didn't want it to
seem like I was trying to hide funky smells. I plugged in the candle warmer a couple hours before
a showing, and maybe even threw in a small batch of cookies (had some dough ready in the freezer).
I set my dining room table, as if we were going to having a nice dinner. And had a bouquet of
fresh flowers as the center piece. They say fresh flowers can sell a house!
All the other decor around the house was very simple and pretty neutral.
We took down all religious pictures (with the exception of a couple of wedding pics)
and most personal/family photos. The bathrooms had fresh, new towels and
I removed all the soap and everything from the sinks and shower.
I threw the high chair and laundry baskets in the car and any extra stuff laying around.
Lastly, I turned every light on in the house, including lamps
and made sure all curtains were open.
Now, I can't say that all of that sold my house. I'm not sure what did. It could have also just been the
fact the house was lovely and had lots of charm to begin with!
I really do love my house so much, so on the day they took photos for our listing I went around
and took LOTS of photos of the house. :)
This was our house during the summer.
Matt built this great fence. We added a stone patio and firepit in the back
corner and had quite a bit of landscaping to do after we bought the house.
Before it was just a wild, overgrown forest back there and was exposed to the street
through neighboring houses. And we also built a deck flooring on the upper deck so we
could use that space.
These aren't in a great order, just the order I took them.
Baby's Room
Hallway upstairs
These old homes have so much charm! We love all the built-ins and cedar closet.
And we love having a laundry chute!
Master Bedroom
Boys Room
Off of the boys room is a fun little deck.
Bathroom
Most of the bathrooms in Cleveland homes are not pretty.
We lucked out to have a nice-colored bathroom, with the yellow.
It has been semi-updated, which has been nice for us.
Living Room
Dining Room
Half Bath
Basement
Many basements around here aren't finished and are scary!!
Ours thankfully is finished, has a nice full-size window and no ugly bar
or wood paneling around the whole room.
And we LOVE having a gas fireplace down there.
We turn it on almost every night, because it's quite cold down there.
It's so fun and cozy to have.
Laundry Room
And most laundry rooms around here look like a scary cellar where dead bodies
could be hidden, seriously. Ours used to be much more scary.
We re-drywalled the ceiling. Painted the ceiling, walls, floors and utility sink.
We added new, bright lights. Matt built a cupboard around the sink base.
We threw a rug down and really tried
to make it feel like a useable, clean space.
I actually really love this space now and will even go in there without shoes on!
We sold our house with all of the appliances. Including the washer, dryer and
dehumidifer. Less than a year ago we had a new central air conditioning and
furnace installed. And the year before a new water heater.
The Attic
It has been so nice having this extra space for storage
and a place for guest to stay when they come to visit.
I had to take a photo of our quaint front door that everyone loves.
It's as old as the house, but gives it so much character (and works great).
The Kitchen
We bought our home with this updated kitchen.
We love our kitchen with the granite and all the appliances.
I have felt spoiled.
And love the cute eat-in kitchen.
The TV comes with the house too!
After, I went through the whole house, I switched out my lense and went back around
and took some photos of my favorite little details of the house.
Some of the curtains I made and they'll stay with the house.
I know it's corny, but I kind of love them.
Ahh, I love this old house! :)
