If cleanliness truly is next to godliness, preparing our house for sale has made us feel pretty saintly. We were tidy before—clutter is out—but having a newborn this summer put a pause on deep cleaning. Now that strangers are touring the home, we’ve shifted into full cleaning mode.
Here I am on a ladder, washing the outside of the sunroom sliders. Goodbye grime, hello curb appeal. I may be optimistic, but every bit of elbow grease helps when you want your house to show well.
I’ll spare you the routine photos of polishing stainless hardware, wiping down cabinet faces, and endless vacuuming, and instead share some curb appeal updates. First up: fresh mulch.
It took three trips to the home center to get enough mulch to refresh our planting beds. I don’t usually choose the color-enhanced variety, but it was on sale and promised longer-lasting color—perfect for creating a crisp, well-kept look for potential buyers. By the end of the day the yard felt noticeably brighter and neater.
We’ve also been reseeding bare patches of lawn that suffered in the heat. The results have been better than expected, especially since our county is under emergency water restrictions. We seeded and simply waited for rain—no sprinklers or fertilizer—so recent showers made a big difference. Bare soil plus seed plus timely rain seems to be working in our favor. Now I just hope that light mowing to maintain a neat appearance hasn’t set those tiny sprouts back too much.
When I’m not mowing, I’m blowing acorns off the driveway. Oak trees around the house drop a steady supply this time of year, and the driveway collects them fast. I blow them to the back corner and gather them up—an oddly satisfying task that I suspect the local squirrels appreciate far more than they let on.
Keeping the house ready for showings is tiring, but it’s also nice to live in a nearly spotless home most of the time. We’re hopeful that the extra effort will pay off when a buyer walks through the door. For now, it’s back to making the bed and keeping everything looking welcoming.