Everything conceivable went into a POD and off site. As far as the specific items you mentioned- I used the newer disposable brushes and a plunger is kept in the garage.
Personally, I think a plunger sitting anywhere near a sink or toilet would make me think "plumbing problems".

When my home was on the market only the barest of minimum items were kept in closets, and I mean bare. The linen closet had one set of sheets- it served to say "this is where you keep the linens". Each clothes closet had two items hanging and one pair of shoes- "this is where you keep clothing". Ditto every closet and cabinet in the entire house.

I sold in 30 days in the tough South Florida market and I attribute it directly to my preparation and staging.

I redid our closets with wicker baskets a few months ago to get ready for the spring season. I threw the plunger in one (bagged). Honestly, I haven't needed the plunger since we replaced both toilets last year. I could have thrown it in storage. Toilet brushes are near the toilets. I have the cylinder type that "hides" it. Target has a few nice ones. While the brushes aren't the greatest, it works for now.

I also went to Ross and bought decorative shoe box type boxes that have lids. These have been great for things like paperwork that is laying around. You can get an idea of the boxes here:

{{!gwi}}

I found the rest of both sets and now have 4 stacking of the top one and 2 3 piece sets of the bottom one, plus those 2. I found the rest of the bottom one a year after I originally bought them, felt like I won the lottery lol Can't wait to put them in the new house as we'll have a lot of closets!

In our laundry room I found stacking wicker trunks which I keep cases of water as well as what ever else needs to be picked up fast.

This is the laundry area
{{!gwi}}

The top 2 baskets are not full. I can either use them for excess food if I've just come home from shopping, or stuff that needs to be stashed.

One couple that came through mentioned how organized I am, and it's pretty true. All of the closets have similar wicker baskets to what I have in the laundry area. You would die if I told you what I spent on all of them as it wasn't cheap to do, but the look is so much better.

LOVE the baskets! I don't have the extra floorspace for something like that, and I can only imagine what you've spent. I think my Husband is about to have a heart attack with what I am spending to prepare. Although I may have spent a few hundred on the interior with decor I won't take with me (new panels for the nook window and slider, some twin bedding for a staged bedroom) the majority of what I will use to decorate/stage will be things I will use to decorate my new home. In the end, he's okay with that.

We used to keep a dresser in our walkin closet for our "unmentionables", but it really made the space looked cramped. We had decided to downsize our guest room anyway(had things that we won't be taking to our new place)and re-stage it as a childs room so we moved the dresser in there with a twin bed. We could have left our things in there but for convienience sake, I wanted to find a place for them in our closet.I bought some of those Closetmaid collapsable fabric storage bins. 2 for my hubby and 2 for me. It will work for now. Our new closet will have a shelf where you could place storage baskets, and these may or may not work, but at 8 bucks each (in the suede & leather looks, less if I went with canvas)I'm not too worried. I can always find a place for them somewhere!

Our plungers and brushes have decorative storage housings but it's still evident what they are. I will move them to a spot in the garage, maybe all but one set will go to storage. Disposable brushes are a great idea.

I am buying us all cheap travel bags for our toiletries and moved my son's things to our bathroom so we all use the same space and it's easier to maintain. We painted & reorganized his bathroom space, all needed. I will put up some items I bought for the new place and we just won't use that space on a daily basis anymore.

I want my home to look as "model-like" as it can with the furniture I own. I can tell it won't be easy to live in it like that. I just pray for a quick sale!

janjan, we've done the same. Touched up the kids bathroom and moved their stuff into ours so there is less cleaning, etc.

It's amazing how much you can pack up and take to storage, and amazing how little one can live fairly comfortably with for a short term.

We stored a lot of our stuff in my husbands office. At the time he was self employed. Then the building burned down and we lost a lot of personal stuff. Make sure if you put stuff in storage it is insured.
As for plungers and cleaning products, I bought an inexpensive closet at Target and put it in my basement.

Cearb,

How much do pods cost? We are getting ready to sell and I think we have a lot of stuff to store. I have been selling things I don't think we need, but we can't sell everything. I am interested in the POD idea, but was wondering the cost.

Thanks.

I think you can get away with a few packing boxes in the garage. I'd stick items like the plungers in there so they are still handy in the house, but out of sight. Label the box something else and then close, but don't tape it.

For stuff -- boxes into attic.

POD cost--depends on the size and the company. We used a company called "Store to Door" which is not national yet. Their units are smaller (5x8x7) than PODs, which are at least twice as large. The cost is about $70/month with a delivery fee of $110 for each delivery (up to 9 units, or something).

I would say the cost is comparable to storage units in a Public Storage type of place. What you pay for delivery is savings on renting a truck or hiring a mover. Since it's temporary the lack of access is a non-issue. It's amazing no one came up with the idea sooner.

JanJan, you might think to replace the toilets if they are that bad. The flush right ones we bought were pretty cheap & work great. It was an easy job.

Our plungers and brushes have decorative storage housings but it's still evident what they are. I will move them to a spot in the garage, maybe all but one set will go to storage. Disposable brushes are a great idea.

I am buying us all cheap travel bags for our toiletries and moved my son's things to our bathroom so we all use the same space and it's easier to maintain. We painted & reorganized his bathroom space, all needed. I will put up some items I bought for the new place and we just won't use that space on a daily basis anymore.

While some people may feel differently, people expect to actually see signs of you living there. If your market is bad like ours, you could be spending a lot of money on disposable brushes. Do you have room under the sink?

While having it look like a show house is nice, what does your neighborhood demand? With ours we don't have to "not live here" because even if I don't get stuff picked up, ours shows cleaner then most around here. I was told that you can tell it is kept up verses showing for a cleaning.

I put the dish drainer in a cabinet, hubby likes to throw it in the locked shed. The offers we've had the toilet brush was where it usually is in the decorative holder and the dish drainer was in the cabinet.

How much do pods cost? We are getting ready to sell and I think we have a lot of stuff to store. I have been selling things I don't think we need, but we can't sell everything. I am interested in the POD idea, but was wondering the cost.

What is the market like in your area? Do you have kids? Will any of their stuff go into the PODS?

For us, the PODS would have been really expensive and the location it would be kept at is a 30 minute drive, one way. They also require 24 hours IIRC notice if you want to get your stuff. I don't recall if there was a fee either if they had to bring the POD out to you so you can access it. From what I remember last year, it's put in a storage facility and some times they are stacked, so they might have to get it down.

We ended up renting a garage sized storage at about $125 per month, thankfully too. The PODS would have been more expensive where we live.

You also have to worry about packing it so that nothing breaks / moves during the drive to where it's going.

We've been to our storage unit a few times on a moments notice. I couldn't imagine having to call someone and make an appointment.