Continuing with my “Messy Rooms” series of posts, the next room to look at is the kitchen!  The old saying everyone hears is “Kitchens & Bathrooms” sell homes!  In our area, as in probably most every other area, many of the homes on the market are older homes, with possibly dated cabinets, dated counters, etc.  So am I saying that a potential seller should gut their kitchen and put in a new one?  Probably not!  But the seller-to-be should take a good look at their kitchen and make some small changes that can go a long way towards making their kitchen show great!  So, here are my top 10 things a seller can do to make their kitchen a “Cook’s Delight”!  I welcome any other suggestions you may have to help this kitchen shine!

• Buy new curtains for the windows!  The curtains on the window & door appear to be old and faded!  You don’t have to spend a fortune on new curtains – go to Target or Kmart and get some nice valances!  It will give some pop of color to the room and will help to let in some light into the room!

• Pare down the number of cookbooks on the baker’s rack!  Lots of people collect cookbooks (myself included)!  But when you are showing your home, you don’t want your potential buyers to spend time looking at your cookbooks!  So pack up most of them – leave a couple on each shelf if you want!  Remember when items are packed onto shelves a potential buyer may begin to think you don’t have enough storage in your kitchen!

• Clear the refrigerator!  The top of the refrigerator has lots of stuff on top and the refrigerator itself has lots of things on it!  Pack up the items that are on the top of the refrigerator – and remove the magnets, pictures, coupons and anything else you have stuck onto the refrigerator sides & doors!  Again, you don’t want buyers to think that you don’t have enough room in the kitchen to store things like the blender!

• Get some new stools!  The stools that are under the breakfast bar look very cheap!  Perhaps you can find some nice but inexpensive stools or high chairs to sit under the breakfast bar!  This will help add some pizzazz to the kitchen!

• Clear items from the breakfast bar!  Taking the items off the breakfast bar that are there right now so that the breakfast bar can look neat and clean.  You may wish to consider getting some colorful place mats and setting up 2 place settings on the breakfast bar!  This will help your potential buyer envision what can be in this room!

• Replace the towels!  Again, the towels on the door of the oven give it a little bit of a cluttered look.  Perhaps you can purchase a towel bar that can be installed on a cabinet door and the towels can be hung there!  If you need to have towels out in the kitchen, buy a nice and colorful towel set that coordinates with the curtains you will add a nice touch to the kitchen!

• Update the cabinet hardware!  The cabinets in this kitchen appear to the original, and the hardware found on them is dated.  Updating the hardware that is on the cabinet doors and drawers will go a long way to making the kitchen look like it belongs in the 21^st century!

• Replace the counters!  This is probably the most expensive update that I would recommend, but this will help you get the best price possible!  There are many granite outlets and even places like Home Depot and Lowe’s that will carry higher grades of laminate countertops!  This will give your kitchen a “Wow” factor that your competition may not have!

• Put down a nice area rug!  The floor in this kitchen is very dated!  If you don’t plan on putting in a new floor, get some nice area rugs that will coordinate with your new curtains & towels so that the kitchen will look great!

• A fresh coat of paint on the walls!  A fresh coat of paint will make this kitchen pop!  You may or may not wish to paint the knotty pine walls, but painting the rest of the walls a nice neutral color, along with your new towels, new curtains, new rug & all of the other changes will make this home’s kitchen a kitchen your new buyer will want to cook in!

So, envision this kitchen as it is in the picture – then envision it after you have made the changes above – does the kitchen shine?  Is it a cook’s kitchen?  If you are thinking of putting your home on the market, take a critical look at your kitchen, pretend you are the homebuyer for your home and honestly answer the question:  is this the kitchen of my dreams? 

As always feel free to call or email me if you have any questions!  Have a great day!