Home Staging in Chicago: Closet Organization

Home staging is about making potential buyers fall in love with our Chicago area homes. What many customers don’t realize is that closet organization plays a vital role to the perception of the overall maintenance of homes for sale. Many sellers believe that as long as their closet isn’t a complete disaster then they don’t need to worry about the finer details.

Closet organization isn’t just for TV stars

Today’s buyers spend a lot of time on sites like Houzz and Pinterest. These eye candy sites create often unrealistic expectations. Videos like those created by Alejandro Costello on organization techniques lead combined with fabulous HGTV shows showcasing all of the “I want that” home ideas make buyers think that everyone should be and do live like that.

While many of the organizational tips featured are out of the realm of “normal” living for many. There are some basic closet organizational rules that you should understand and follow when selling your Chicago area home.

Home Staging tips for your Chicago area home

Disorganized closets, mis-matched hangars, storage boxes, and shoes thrown all about the floor can spell disaster, and a much lower sale price, when selling your home.  One of the basic rules of thumb is understanding that the more organized you appear, the more likely buyers are to think that you have maintained your home. A well organized closet tells buyers that you probably changed your air filters, got regular termite treatments, and semi-annual pressure washing. A disorganized closet tells buyers exactly the opposite.

What are your first impressions of this closet?

Top Tips for an organized closet

The closet above is generally OK and possibly organized than many. The truth is that generally it’s a closet. It doesn’t have a wow factor. These simple tips will help create that.

• Always use the same hangars throughout the master bedroom closets. The more expensive the home, the better the hangars should be. Luxury homes should always use wooden or velvet hangars, while average homes can feel comfortable with plastic tube ones.
• Group clothing by type, then color. Hanging all of your shirts, dresses, pants, etc in individual categories, then color blocking within the category will actually make the closet feel larger.
• Always use baskets and bins on the top shelves to organize your belongings and keep the look clean and organized.
• Keep everything off the floor. Shoes should be on racks or in organizational totes.
• Remove excess hangars. It is OK to have a few throughout your closet as you wear pieces, but do not have dozens just sitting there taking up space.
• Be sure that there is at least 20% of open space. If you can’t comfortably walk in the space and see everything, you have too much stuff.

Our goal is always to create the illusion of more space by maximizing what already exists. A show-stopping closet is bound to make buyers stop and take notice, often making your home feeling more valuable or luxurious than it really is. It may also make buyers feel that you have taken better care, overall, of your entire home.

Call Margaret Gehr or one of our Chicago area home staging professionals to find out how we can help sell the sale of your home 815-530-3566.