http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/ic-epi/frontpicture.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/ic-epi/DSCF1090.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/ic-epi/kitchen1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/ic-epi/kitchen2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/ic-epi/diningroom.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/ic-epi/Kalibedroom.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/ic-epi/kalibathroom.jpg

Sorry... I know this is a pain. Is there a better way to attach multiple links?

your daughter's bedroom is fine, don't do anything...the rest of home looks great also...try to get 1 link to make viewing easier

Hi, akkw.

Beautiful home. You say this house is $380,000? Where are you? I'd hate to show you what that buys on Long Island.

The house shows nicely. The only thing I would do is pack away the village you have on top of the cabinets, and maybe change the shower curtain in Kali's room. If the rest of the house looks like this, you don't have to worry about how it shows.

Good luck,

Kevin

Looked at a few, did not see clutter.
relax

I think the house looks nice. I wouldn't change your daughter's room except for taking down her name, I think the room is adorable and wouldn't turn anyone off from buying the home. The kitchen is spacious, well lit, neat and clean. I wouldn't invest any money into updating countertops etc because you most likely will not get that money back. I couldn't access the dining room picture for some reason so I can't comment on that room. Overall the home looks clean and inviting, two things that do appeal to buyers. I didn't see any clutter in the pictures you showed.

Very nice! I would do just two things:

Pack away the stuff on top of the kitchen cabinets. It reads "busy" to me, especially with the shelves and the backsplash/border pattern.

If you have extra paint sitting around, I'd prime and paint out the stenciling (or is it a border?) in your daughter's bathroom. By itself, I think the yellow is fine. But yellow plus pattern might combine in some people's minds as "oof, this will be work to change out." It's an easy fix for you, if you have the matching paint available, and it'll make the room just that much cleaner.

But I think your house shows great. If we've just seen the most problematic areas... wow, you should sell quickly!

Thank you... this is very helpful. I am sort of a perfectionist and I am starting to go nuts. I am worried about showing this home with three kids and a full time job. I get half the house straightened, get tired and then sit down to rest for a minute before starting on the other half, but by then the first half needs it again...

I'll pack up the village in the kitchen and consider removing bathroom border (they are Wallies wallpaper stick ups, they peel right off. Supposedly.) I am so relieved that most people think the kitchen is ok and that I shouldn't have to redo my daughter's room to revert back to what it was.

By the way, I am in rural Iowa. Fifteen miles from a very progressive university town so although it's rural, we are close to civilization.

Here are the pictures:

It is really easy to post pictures from Photobucket. You just copy the HTML tag under the picture and paste it into your message box.

I think your house looks great. I would take down the family pics in the dining room and the wallpaper border in the kitchen eating area.

Your home is beautiful!

In addition to the suggestions already given:

Try to remove as much as you possibly can from your countertops; it will seem bare to you at first because you're used to seeing things on it, but your kitchen will look bigger. Plus, it will take you less time to wipe down the countertops to get ready for a showing ;-).

The family photos in the dining room are lovely; the frames also work very well with your decor. However, I'd replace them with some artwork. IMO many people are curious by nature, and I'd want to ensure that potential buyers focus on the features of the house rather than be distracted by personal objects in the home.

Your best shot at selling your home quickly is to ensure that it's priced well, even 1-2% below sold comparables if possible. Feel free to interview 3 or 4 agents who know your area well and ask them to pull comps for you. If you are honest with them and explain that you need to sell your home, that you're planning on trying FSBO for a few months first before listing with an agent, I think many, if not most, agents will be happy to spend some time helping you. Just be sure that you examine the comps closely to make sure they truly are comparable to your house.

Good luck to you; I hope your home sells quickly!!

~Hannah

Oh, well, shoot. If they're just Wallies, leave 'em up - they're cute!

It's just that I remembered some people getting a little "nervous" about the stenciling I'd done at the corners of our master bedroom in our last house... as though 1.5" wide flowers (in a pale blue on a white wall) were going to be tough to paint over!

After seeing the dining room, I think I'd consider replacing the lighting fixture in there, it screams dated although it wouldn't stop me from buying the home. I think you'd just leave people with a better feeling about the dining space for probably in the area of $100 or so. But that's just me, my hubby would probably argue with me about changing it out.

I think your house looks realy nice. I don't have any suggestions other than those already given.

I wonder if you could somehow target some of the higher ups at the university or other businesses around. Your house may be high end for the area, but it has a lot of appeal.

Thanks everyone.

It's not high end for the university town, but it is for the small town we are five miles from.

The house is beautiful. I agree with taking the village off the top of the cabinets. It's distracting. The border in Kali's bathroom might be a turn off. Otherwise, you've done a great job getting it ready. It looks great.

Awkk, your house looks great. It seems to have a happy atomosphere. My only suggestion is to reshoot the kitchen and dining room pictures on the next sunny day...if the light comes in that direction.

I was a bit too obsessive about perfection and spotless cleanliness when I sold a few months ago. Nary a water spot or smudge. After thirty days on the market, I said to heck with this and relaxed. Guess what? We sold anyway.

Thanks, terriks, for posting the pictures. I didn't want to cut-paste all the links.

The house looks great. That's a lot of house for 380k! I don't think it looks too cluttered or too anything. If your market isn't totally down there I think it should be an easy sell.

Remember the line from that baseball movie - "Is this Heaven?" "No, this is Iowa!" I've always thought Iowa looked like a nice place. Friends in Illinois, however, say it stands for Idiots Out Wandering Around. :-) just a joke.

LOL, "Idiots Out Wandering Around". We do have a few of those.

And thanks terriks for imbedding the pics. I should have done that.

I really appreciate all the input. I guess I am obsessing. Nothing unusual there!

Iowa may not have the weather and cultural offerings of other places but I could live there if the people were friendly and other recreational opportunities. Not enough trees in that yard but we can work with that.
Afterall, isn't that why people live in socal? It's certainly not for their football team.

aye. Posted that last reply to the wrong thread.

I think your house is gorgeous!

I'm not a fan of yellow, but I think you did a fabulous job with your DD's bedroom. The colour coordination is fantastic. Unless you find potential buyers with all boys, I don't think her room will be an issue. I love the shower curtain, bedspread and sheer curtains! Love the pale pastel colours. I wouldn't normally like those, but you did a fab job!

The kitchen is fine except for the stuff on top of the cabinets. Too many and looks cluttered. I also don't like the border in the kitchen and eating area. Other than that, I would love a kitchen like that - sans the wallpaper and countryish things on top of the cabinets.

The DR is very nice. I agree with those who said to remove your children's photos. I think the light fixture in the DR and Kitchen are both a little outdated.

You have a nice house. NOt cluttered at all, although make sure your closets aren't used to hide everything! Make the closets seem like they are not full enough so that gives the impression that you're not using all your available storage.

Good luck in selling!

In general Midwest people are friendly and decent. Based on our experience, folks in Iowa are on top of the list. They are nice, friendly, sweet, honest, hard working with huge moral standard. When I first heard the phase "Idiots Out Wandering Around", I asked why. I was told that other people think Iowa folks are too good nature and innocent for their own good. It is very unfair.

In another thread OP asked "is it ethical?" First thought came to mind is "only an Iown would ask this question".

I would not do a thing. I would leave it as it is because it looks very nice even though it isn't my style at all. It looks like a house you could just move in, sit down and be at home.

Wow. You are all awesome! Thank you SO much for all your feedback. I really appreciate the support. People are, for the most part, friendly and good in Iowa, but clearly that is true elsewhere too!

The only thing in addition to what the others have suggested is get rid of the plants that are not real. I love your daughter's bedroom and the house is very nice.

I love looking at bad real estate photography, optimistic agents descriptions, etc. Saw a real dump a week or two ago that the agent described as beautifully presented.

Don't worry, your house really is beautifully presented. Very appealing. I agree the stuff over the kitchen cabinets seems a little busy. Not unattractive but distracting. Your daughter's room is gorgeous. The flowers make it a girls room, the colour is fine. One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned is furniture placement. The very first thing I thought when scrolling through the pictures was what is the view like out the bedroom window. The bed is in the way. The blind is closed. Is there something ugly outside. Beds look odd in front of a window like that (much worse if it's a double bed and it's off-centre though, like one I saw recently). Don't Feng Shui followers have a problem with sleeping with a window behind. I'm not sure. Nevertheless I would want to know that there's room for the bed across the other way. Sometimes beds block windows because it's the only way they'll fit in a small room. Doesn't look like a small room.The chest of drawers looks a little squeezed in though. I get the urge to move it. Anyway, that was just my train of thought. And only because I was analysing the photos. First impression was simply wow, nice place, I could live there, what are you worried about.

Thank you mmelko and macbirch.

Great comment about the furniture placement. Kali's room is big and has the big window just above her bed, plus the adjoining wall is all windows (the other wall is two glass sliders of walk-in closet space). The view from the window above her bed, and the windows along the walls beside her bed, is gorgeous -- all wooded acres and wildlife. Nothing to hide. Just no other place to put the bed but there.

The village over the kitchen cabinets is from my MIL. I am not a knick knack person, so it's all new to me. I put that up because she has given me one building for every year married (don't count them!) and she wants me to keep them out. I may take them out just for the selling. I really much prefer no knick knacks anywhere.

mmelko -- I do have a couple of plants that are fake (not fake looking, I am pretty careful about that). I love plants but I kill them. Do people hate artificial plants? I think people would have to look twice to see that the ones I have are actually artificial. But who knows.

akkw - personally, I can tell fake plants a mile away. The turnoff for me is when they are dusty. It wouldn't be a make or break in buying a house, but for my personal taste, I don't like them.

When looking for builders in FL, we must have visited at least 100 model homes. I can't think of one that didn't have silk plants and flowers. If they were clean and of good quality, I believe they made the house look nicer. As Sparksals says, they do need to be clean, as does everything in the home. From the looks of your pictures, akkw, that's not a problem in your home.

When you are showing your home, open up the curtains in Kali's room (and anywhere else in the house) to let in as much light as possible and to show off the beautiful views.

Kevin

Shame the bed can't be moved. Flexibility of furniture placement could be a selling point. On the other hand the window is very attractive and frames the bed beautifully and there's obviously plenty of space to walk around to make the bed and reach the cupboard,etc.. The worst thing is when a bed is obviously squeezed in awkwardly and and there's no easy access and the room looks unbalanced and crowded. Your daughter's room looks so lovely and cheerful and inviting. I'm just wondering, could the chest of drawers go on the right instead of the left? It looks like it's at a slight angle (ie, squeezed in) and slightly in front of the cupboard. You want the room to say "lovely window, effortless symmetry and balance", not "troublesome window which will dictate where things can be put ". (Actually I think your biggest problem is how to photograph the room to show all its features and advantages.)

I'm probably being overly picky now. It's hard to know what will make a difference to potential buyers. Some I think can visualise things better and think things through. Others decide they love or hate the oddest things. I know somebody who bought a house because they fell in love with the garden and outdoor entertaining area. The agent forgot the key (I've always wondered if that was on purpose) so they didn't get to see inside the first time they went to look. By the time they found out the house was smaller than they wanted, they had "fallen in love" with the outside of it, so they bought it anyway.

By the way, good looking fake plants that aren't dusty wouldn't bother me.

Well, I am not a fan of a lot of ivy or trailing plants up around the ceilings because they are hard to keep clean - it just gets dusty and tend to bring the ceiling down. Most of the "sell your house" type of shows tell you to choose live plants over fake regardless of how nice your fake plants are. And usually the first thing they take down are the owner's plants along the tops of cabinets and furniture. It killed me to throw out all the non-live plants. I am not good with living plants, hence someone on this forum thought my actual live new plants were fake or dead. That was depressing. :(

Shows very well. The only change I would make would be to take down the border/backsplash in the kitchen. The print there is a little busy.

I'd loose the fake greenery in the kitchen and dining room, take all the stuff off the top of the kitchen cabinets. I'd change the light fixtures in both the kitchen and dining room to something less dated.
Otherwise very nice job, especially if the rest of the house lives up to the pics.

Thanks so much all. Per everyone's vote I think I will remove the fake plants (even though I wash them twice weekly LOL) but I do get your point. DH is not at all excited about removing the busy country border in the kitchen; he thinks there are people around here that will love that country 'touch' (he may be right) but the real issue is that we don't have any extra paint (and don't know the paint shade) if we need to touch up paint in that area.

Wow do you like really take them all down and wash them off? That's clean. I have been known to "kill" the fake plants. ;P

The only fake plants I have are a few vines above the cabinets and hutch and I have to take those down and wash them twice a week because one of my children has a lot of allergies and asthma. I don't allow anything to accumulate dust for that reason. I also wash/dust the village buildlings above the counters and keep it clean up there. My MIL gave me this village collection and it's really a big deal to her, so I've kept it up, but I think it's coming down now. I am not a knick knack person.

Is it just me and macbirch, or is the dresser blocking access to the closet? It looks a bit crowded.
Great house, it would get snapped up in a minute here.
Good luck!

Hello, I'm in Iowa too - and it is a really nice state, (I've lived in two others.)

I agree with removing the wallpaper border and I would try to replace that kitchen light. I am afraid though, you may end up having to repaint the whole kitchen as the paint underneath would likely need retouching. But possibly not, and that shouldn't be a big deal - doesn't look like a real difficult area to repaint and everyone loves fresh paint anyway. If you do repaint, how about a nice cream or very light tan, other than stark white?

Your home is obviously meticulously cared for, inside and out. I hope it sells fast and for a good price. Very nice home!!

er wow that house looks suspiciously familar to me. Do you live in Washington County? I have been admiring a house just like that for a few years now :~) 15 minutes from a University town? Maybe it IS the same house?

If there was any doubt about Iowans being especially nice, this really proves it! I love my MIL, but if she gave me cute little ceramic houses every year, there is NO WAY I would display them in my home because it was important to her. Shoot, I think I'm pretty nice... but I'm certainly not that nice!

Looks great!
You can move a few things away, and have the look be even more clean versus cluttered. This is rally being picky, but these suggestions would be very easy. Except my comment about the TV antenna:

First:
Front of house: what is that museum piece on your roof? I am kind of joking, but when someone sees an old-fashion TV antenna, it makes them think of the 70s. We have cable and satellite nowadays. Is there no satellite service in your area? I would get rid of the TV antenna  if you want to watch TV, indulge in cable for the next couple of months til you sell.

Put the swing in the garage for showings.

Kitchen  I also say get rid of the farm people border. For showings, maybe duck the toaster, Kleenex, and all those jars and bottles into a cabinet. If the coffe pot is on the counter, be ready to offer a cup!! Otherwise, just duck it away.

Dining room: hide the stuff posted on the fridge (or is it on a bulletin board by phone?).

KaliÂs room  remove at least one of the two rugs. They make it look smaller, as there is little space between rug and wall, versus an expanse of carpet. Oh, on second glance, I see three rugs.

Also, hide sponge bob and the two dolls. The room has enough decor without them.

I agree that the room might look nicer if the window was not covered by the headboard. Can the bed be repositioned with the headboard angled in the corner to the left of the entry (angled with foot into middle of room)? My guess is KaliÂs room looks onto backyard. With bed out of the window, as people look in the room, it will have a great view from doorway to great outdoors, with those trees.

KaliÂs Bathroom- in the tiny corner that we can see, there are 5 things, plus towel holder with puffy towel. ThatÂs a lot in one place. Hide some of them in the drawer or cabinet. For showings, hide the hamper if it is easy.

Looks great!

15 minutes to college town? That is close enuff. It takes me 15 minutes to get out of my neighborhood. -Row1

akkw-
Now I KNOW we're related. ;) (remember the frugal DH's?)
My MIL keeps nagging me that I need to choose my "collection" so that it's easier for her to buy me Xmas, B-day & anniversary gifts. One of her daughters collects cookie jars and the other daughter she decided should collect teapots (the daughter didn't have a lot of input on this decision).
I don't particularly care for things that clutter horizontal surfaces and require dusting. I'm not sure how long I'm going to be able to hold her off; she just mentioned this again over the holidays.
I just hope it's not a village. LOL
R/
Lisa A.

Lisa - Well then, you may as well pick out something yourself. Either something really small (thimbles) or something really expensive (diamonds).

Ooh, yeah, go for the diamond collection!

I think your home looks 'market ready', and will show beautifully!

You 'could' remove the border, but it's not going to STOP the sale of the house, and that's what should be your worry. I don't see a hint of anything that would STOP a prospective looker from becoming a prospective buyer, not ever the tv antena!

As for the 'fake'~'faux' would be a lighter term~flowers/plants, I like them too, but when I DO list my home, will use the real deal. ;o)

patty_cakes

Thank you everyone! I spent the weekend tackling many of the suggestions from all of you. Especially the village -- I took down and packed away every building on top of the kitchen cupboards and it looks SO much cleaner. I think I definitely WILL ask MIL for diamonds next year...

Now I need to take some more pics.

The kitchen border is going to stay. It really is a 'country' feel kitchen and as such I think it's fine, but the deciding factor is that DH will kill me if I have to paint the kitchen. Plus after removing the large village city, it looks much less busy. I also cleared much of the countertop in the kitchen and that really helped too. Thanks again!

Oh, darn, I liked the village on the cabinets. I think if you take off everything and hide it, the house will look too sterile and cold. That's just my opinion, though. When I bought my house it was packed full of stuff. Baskets on top of the kitchen cabinets, stuff on the walls, not really me but it was warm and cozy looking. Not everyone likes the modern/sterile look.

kathsgrdn,

Thanks for your input and I do agree with you -- which was why I was hesitant about taking it down to start with. I actually decided to take about half of it down, but after having half down, decided it all needed to come down. I replaced it with just a few items (a basket, a plant, a couple of bottles) above the cabinets and it doesn't look stark or modern -- just not nearly as busy as before. And actually looks quite a bit more updated, I was surprised to find.

As a real estate agent, I would tell you to leave things as they are. When you hear, take away the clutter, keep things neutral, its really meant for very strong decorating tastes and messes. Your home shows well. Its decorated in a way that a potential buyer can see beyond or can choose to leave it. If you take down everything, you take away the homes personality.