When potential buyers tour your home, they examine every nook and cranny to make sure the space fits their needs. This includes opening every door, from kitchen cabinets to bedroom closets. If you’ve already begun working on staging your home, you’ve probably been trying to eliminate clutter from the living areas — but if any of that clutter has migrated into the closets, that won’t do either. Buyers want to see spacious storage areas that will accommodate all their stuff, and a well-staged closet can make the difference between a sale and a miss.
1 )Fix any damage to the closet door, light fixture or shelving. Touch up peeling or scuffed paint, change burnt-out light bulbs, and make sure the door opens and closes properly.
2) Remove everything broken, ugly or too personal from the closet, leaving only universal items such as clothes and shoes. Just as in staging the rest of the house, the closet should look like a blank slate, without your personality stamped on it. That allows potential buyers to mentally fill it with their own belongings.
3) Reduce the number of items in the closet further to make it look as spacious as possible. Empty about two-thirds of the space. Keep the floor as bare as you can, and make sure someone looking into the closet can see the back wall. This gives viewers the sense that they could easily fit all their belongings in the closet.
4) Replace mismatched hangers with matching ones. Organize hanging clothing by length, then organize each length of clothing by color. Space the items evenly across the closet bar.
5) Place a shoe rack on the floor against the back wall. Arrange your shoes on it in tidy pairs. Use only one-third to one-half of the space on the rack, and space the shoes evenly across the rack.
6) Place handbags, belts, spare pillows and any other items that look like they universally belong in a closet on the shelves or in the drawers. Install a closet organizer if you need more shelves or drawers. Fill only one-third to one-half of each visible surface.