The most common clutter hotspots in your home

If you've lived in the same house for a long time, you've probably noticed some areas of your home attract more clutter than others. These are usually frequently used rooms with a bunch of various things that are tough to organize. Despite our best effort to tidy up a little bit every day, these areas are still chaos magnets that are difficult to maintain. But, don't worry - we're here to help you. This article will talk about the most common clutter hotspots in your home and give you valuable ideas on how to get rid of the chaos. So, grab a cup of coffee, and let's learn how to declutter!  

The entryway

The first thing you see when you enter a house is the entryway. Every time you pass through it, you leave something here - keys, shoes, coats, jackets, wallet, etc. Little by little, this space becomes cluttered. You won't even notice it until you come home one day and there isn't enough space for one more jacket or pair of shoes. This is why this area is one of the most common clutter hotspots in your home. 

The question is, what can you do to organize it better? First, put away everything you won't be wearing this season - winter coats and boots in summer or leather jackets in winter. Then, think about clever storage ideas. You can go for baskets, bins, cubbies, etc. Buy some hooks or a coat rack, if the space allows. Be creative but organized at the same time, and you won't struggle with this small, easily cluttered area of your house anymore. 

The garage

One of the most common clutter hotspots in every house is certainly the garage. Garages are practically storage units of every home. Here, we put everything we don't need anymore but may use sometime in the future, from old clothes and baby cribs to tools, bicycles, cars, toys, etc. So, if you want to clean out your garage in order to have a garage you can actually use, you'll have to set aside enough time and prepare appropriately. 

First, make three big piles - one for things you need and use, the second one for items you can donate, and the last one for old things that need to be thrown away. Secondly, don't forget that garages are meant for parking our cars, so make sure to leave enough space for it! Finally, purchase a couple of plastic bins and wooden baskets so that you can store some smaller stuff there. And there you have it - an organized garage you can use every day!

The kitchen counter and drawers

Whether your kitchen is small or big, you'll end up turning your drawers into junk drawers and your kitchen counter into a messy disposal site. Since every kitchen is a high-traffic room filled with little items with no permanent place in the house, it's no wonder this is one of the most common clutter hotspots in your home.

To clean out your kitchen counter, make a command center with hooks, tiny bins, and perhaps a magnetic or pinboard (ideally one that you can hang on the wall). This way, keys, mail, and other small items can be quickly organized and stored for later use. Buy drawer dividers and tiny containers for your kitchen drawers as well. Not only will you have a more organized kitchen, but you'll also improve the aesthetics of your cooking space and your house!

Where to store fragile dishware after decluttering your kitchen?

Everybody has fancy china and rarely used dishware that is hard to get rid of. So, after decluttering and reorganizing your kitchen, you'll need to find a place for this. We recommend renting a storage unit. A storage unit is a great way to keep your dishware protected and safe. Since you rarely use it, you won't have to worry about finding a place for them in the kitchen or your kids breaking them. Especially if you have expensive and valuable china. So, contact a local moving company and ask them about storing your fragile items. They often offer packing services, so you can even hire them to pack these delicate pieces properly!

The pantry

We all go crazy from time to time and buy a bunch of food and spices we don't ever use. Once we get home from the grocery store, we toss them in the pantry and forget about them. As a result, we end up with a pantry filled with expired foods and untouched kitchen stuff. More often than not, we can't even find the things we use because of the chaos we have created.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to keep things organized at all times. You should do the following to reorganize this common clutter magnet in your home:

• Pull everything out of your pantry;

• Throw away anything that reached its expiration date;

• Put aside everything edible you don't like to use - you can donate it later;

• Sort foods into groups and store them in labeled jars or baskets, put bulkier stuff in wooden baskets;

• Put everything you use every day at eye level, so you can easily find it.

Once you organize your pantry this way, it will be easy to keep everything in line!

The closet

If you think about it, pantries and closets are very similar. Usually, they are small spaces used for storing our stuff - the former for food and kitchen items and the latter for clothes. So, it comes as no surprise that closets are on this list of the most common clutter hotspots in your home.

It's extremely easy to pile things up in your closet. Too many clothes crammed into a wardrobe make putting together an outfit difficult. So, if you're currently in this situation, it's time to start decluttering. This is not a fun project - we're not going to lie. However, it is necessary. So, start by taking everything out of your closet. You can arrange clothes by season and type. Get rid of everything from the 'maybe' pile - let's be honest, you won't wear it. Donate it instead! You'll end up with more closet space and easily accessible outfits.

Are you ready to de-clutter?

Now that you know all about the most common clutter hotspots in your home and how to declutter them, it's time to get to work. The longer you procrastinate, the more mess you'll have to clean. Start now so that you can enjoy your decluttered home as soon as possible. Good luck!

4 Things that Increase Your Chances of Selling Your Home

Selling your home is a major decision for any person, and of course you’ll want to see it quickly and for a good price. Here are four ways you can increase the chances of that happening.

1. Setting the Right Price

Right off the bat you’ll want to accurately price your home, and to do that you can use an online seller closing costs calculator. You have to consider all the factors that would go into pricing your home higher or lower.

Look at what other homes in your neighborhood are priced at, research what houses your size are going for elsewhere, and consider any major issues your house may have. All these factors will help you determine just how much you can get for your home.

And having a reasonable price will certainly help you sell it quicker.

2. Making It Look Great

Speaking of issues and problems, don’t try to hide them! Sure you can hang a painting over a small scratch in the paint, but make sure your potential buyers know about major issues like foundation or flooring troubles.

If these issues won’t hurt your bottom line too much, consider fixing them up to make the house look more presentable to buyers. 

It’s important to also increase your street value. Mowing the lawn, trimming the shrubs, fixing your decor can really give buyers who are coming to tour that great first impression about your home. 

Stage stage stage! Your house must be staged and look nice and neat for potential buyers. Staging your home in a presentable way will allow buyers to admire how nice it looks, but more importantly, helps them mentally move in. 

If buyers can see themselves living there, they will certainly want to buy your home more.  

3. Getting the Right Agent

Getting an agent can sound like an unnecessary extra cost that will eat away at your bottom dollar. This is not the case. A great real-estate agent can help take a lot of the burden off your shoulders.

An agent will be able to help with the staging process, finding buyers, and accurately pricing your home. They will know the field a lot better than you, and might even value your house at more than you originally did!

4. Sweetening the Deal

Finally, a very important thing you can do for buyers is sweeten the deal. 

If a buyer is worried about a certain issue in your house, you can offer to fix it for them, in exchange for increasing the final sales price. It can also work the other way, you can knock a few dollars off the final price if the buyer is willing to accept or take on some problems with your home. 

It takes two to tango and sell a house, so making an effort to help out your buyer will definitely increase your chances of selling your home.

How Technology Has Changed Home Buying Forever

Artificial Intelligence and machine learning technologies are quickly becoming a normal part of our world. In our work, school, and personal lives, algorithms are all around us. Specifically, the real estate and mortgage industry is utilizing this technology for every step of the homebuying process. 

The home buying process begins with a simple search on Google. From there, you are scanning through listings that are in your area. Ten years ago, advanced local real estate listing websites were nonexistent. Today, we can view our cities entire inventory in minutes. While companies like Zillow and Redfin have dominated the real estate search engines, local agents are beginning to roll out their own IDX websites. This is a big win for the consumer for one simple reason: you can leverage this advanced technology with a local agent you trust, not a large multinational tech company.

The second step of the process is getting approved for a mortgage. In the past, you would go to your local bank, sit in the lobby, and spend an hour filling out an application. With the rise of direct-to-consumer marketing, mortgage companies are coming to you through Facebook, Google, and YouTube. Once you find a lender you can trust, you will fill out an application online. Furthermore, these online apps are getting more and more advanced by the day. Instead of giving the loan officer your banking information, the loan application uses an API to link to your bank accounts directly. This expedites the front end of the loan process tremendously. In some cases, mortgage lenders are giving pre-approvals out in days. Again, these advancements are only helping the consumer be more competitive in the home buying process. 

The third step in buying your home is finding a real estate agent. Chances are, you will go back to the original home search website and fill out a form. From here, you will receive automated text messaging, emails, and calls from the agent. This automated system is a new way for real estate agents to manage their lead pipeline and separate the high intent buyers from the low intent buyers. When this AI-driven bot has flagged you as ready to buy, a real person will get in contact with you. While this may seem disingenuous, it is an important step of the process. The housing market is flooded with people that want to buy homes quickly. Real Estate agents need to filter the good from the bad so they can better serve their clients. Once the agent has reached out, they will send you a DocuSign via email and your homebuying journey officially begins. 

Technology has seeped into every facet of life and fundamentally change how we live. In some cases, this is not ideal. However, when it comes to real estate and mortgage marketing, it is giving more power to the everyday home buyer. Instead of being referred to someone or using your cousin to process this important life event, you can go online and find a trusted professional that knows how to leverage technology. At the end of the day, change in the industry is going to give more power to the homebuyer. 

Guest Post - 5 Tips for Choosing the Right Contractor for Your Renovation

Whether you’re looking to remodel your home or you have specific building plans you want to explore, choosing the right contractor is one of the most important parts of making your vision come to life. From the kitchen to landscaping challenges, you need to trust the team that handles your home. If you’re looking for a contractor right now, here are a few tips to find someone perfect for you.

1. Ask for Recommendations

One of the best ways to find any kind of professional to do a job is to start with word of mouth. Ask friends, neighbors, and family members if they have anyone they truly love — and bonus points if they can show you the work they’ve done in their own homes!

2. Get Multiple Quotes

There’s nothing wrong with shopping around. In fact, you should shop around a little bit when you’re looking for a good deal on a project. Remember that you can — and should — ask for quotes before you commit to a contractor.

3. Build a Good Relationship With Your Contractor

It’s important to pick someone you can build trust and rapport with throughout the project. Having a good relationship with your contractor relies on honesty and communication skills from both parties, and it can help you get the work you want and make their jobs easier.

4. Go for Someone Reputable

It’s never a bad idea to do a background check on the contractor you’re looking into hiring, just to make sure they’re reputable. Make sure their equipment is up to code — if you can — and check online reviews and permits.

5. Be Honest About What You Want

Honesty is always the best policy, from your budget to your aesthetic preferences.

Tell your prospective contractors exactly what you want, both financially and in terms of the renovation itself. It’ll definitely serve you later!

Choosing the Right Contractor

Your home is personal to you, and you need to pick the right individuals to entrust with your space. No matter what kind of renovation you want to do, looking around thoroughly and building good relationships with the professionals you hire will take you far. So what are you working on in your home?

Author bio: Rose Morrison is the managing editor of Renovated, where she offers advice on home renovation, maintenance, and organization.nd slow-paced lifestyle now, because your little ones will be back in school before you know it!