4 Areas of Home Clutter That Distract Buyers
Potential Buyers Want Your Home, Not Your Stuff
While O Designs by Orli Shoshan specializes in luxury staging for vacant homes, we also have expertise in assisting occupied homes before they join the market.
We offer the service of Occupied Staging Consultations, where a member of our team will walk the entirety of the home and provide design guidance to the client. Our focus is on how to make the home more attractive for potential buyers, utilizing current market trends. After the consultation is complete, the client receives a checklist and detailed report of adjustments to make throughout the home.
Decluttering the home is often a conversation point during a consultation. Here are some of the top areas we focus on decluttering in order to keep buyers interested:
Front Entry
The first space buyers see. While a lived-in front entry may have shoes, jackets, and a catch-all bowl, buyers prefer a blank slate. O Designs recommends keeping the front entry of the home as simple as possible. All shoes and jackets should be put away neatly into a closet. An entry table should have limited accessories and feel clean, not cluttered.
Kitchen Countertops
For many families, the kitchen is the heart of the home. This is where meals are created, homework is completed, and late-night conversations are had. In luxury real estate, buyers are looking at more than finishes and appliances. They are evaluating the lifestyle a property offers. Clean countertops help buyers focus on the scale, design, and function of the kitchen rather than everyday household items.
Wall Decor
Buyers are not simply buying a home for its square footage. They are imagining their future in the home. Removing personal family photos and niche art allows them to create an emotional connection to the space and envision their own story unfolding there.
Bookshelves
Bookshelves are a great way to display personal collections of books and trinkets. As we walk through occupied homes, we often see bookshelves that are overflowing with items. This visual clutter can be distracting or off-putting to potential buyers. The best course of action is to simplify how much is on the bookshelf. Instead of completely full shelves, select a few items to stay and pack the rest away.
At O Designs by Orli Shoshan, we believe buyers should experience the home itself, not the distractions within it. Even beautifully designed properties can lose their impact when personal belongings compete with the architecture, light, and flow of a space. If you are selling a property in Chicago, consider scheduling an Occupied Staging Consultation with O Designs.
