Snooze2978

Back in 2007 I decided to put my house in Florida up to sell. I packed up my entire sewing room which took up the 2nd bedroom as my realtor said I should put it back as a bedroom. Well, it took 3 years to sale as the market dropped about that time. I got bored waiting and started purchasing a basic sewing machine, totes, fabrics, etc. You know the drill. Kept it as organized as possible during that time.

In the packing process and being in Florida with water problems (hurricanes, humidity, etc) I packed all my fabrics, threads, stabilizers, etc) into plastic totes for protection. Machines went back into thru original boxes. Once I moved and got unpacked, I found no problems with anything from my sewing room. It was in other areas where I found damages. So much for using a professional moving company.

tropit

My DH and I sold our house a couple of years ago. I'm also a real estate broker, so I've been on both sides of the fence. My advice is to definitely pack it all up. Get rid of as much clutter as possible. You may want to keep one project aside, so that you can work on it and then easily stash it away when people come to view the house, but other than that...put it away. You want that room to look nice and large, as well as clean and inviting. You'd think that people can imagine it "clean and tidy," but you'd be amazed at how many people can't. It may make a big difference in your offer price. Good luck!

~ C

lots2do

Thanks again! Am starting to sort and pack tomorrow. Have a good weekend, everyone!

tuckyquilter

I'd leave one sewing machine in sight, with a lovely quilt draped across the table. AND don't forget to bake yeast rolls (frozen kind) the day of open houses!! Nothing says "you're home like warmth and fresh bread". I sold my house for full price in one day doing this. LOL

AUQuilter

Two years ago we decided that we would retire and move to another state. Like Nona, I made up projects bags/containers to do while waiting for new place to be done- all easy projects and a queen quilt kit, too. Put that in trunk of the car. Then I really got busy packing up contents of dressers, emptied bookshelves in basement and even an old 4 drawer file cabinet. Now I had empty space ...so I filled it with those SpaceSaver vac bags full of fabric. I boxed up patterns, books and other things and put them on garage shelves and the emptied bookshelves. I had an over abundance of fabric but I left the walk-in closet like it was as it was neat and colorful (stacked by color). Even stored a few totes (maybe 10 or less) in my neighbor's garage. I didn't clear it all out just thinned the herd and tamed the strays! If your house is tight on space, I would box or tote it up and put in storage. Storage is much cheaper than your home not selling due to perceived clutter of sewing stuff. One tip if you have carpet and don't want to run vac every time you show house- especially where you are sewing. At Target, you can get a broom size lint roller thingy (http://www.target.com/p/evercare-lin...&term=evercare) that will pick up pet hair and threads... it was great to tidy up the rooms without hauling out the vac. It is a big lint roller on a stick handle. I have also broom swept my way out of carpeted rooms. Good Luck!

Nammie to 7

So many wonderful suggestions from this group! Good luck organizing, and purging your home. Hope it sells quickly!

slk350

Just checked in here after a week or so. We are in the process of getting our 3000 sq. ft house on the market. Down sizing to a 1342 sq. ft twin villa. OUCH !! I'm keeping my sewing room as is, with taking some of the stuff out that I won't need. To me it will look like the new owners can use it as a sewing room, craft room or an office. I have a lot of non quilting fabric in plastic bins that I will put in storage. Also removing my grandsons crib (I used to baby sit him until Nov). I put as much of the stuff into the closet. I had made plywood shelves to hold all the bins of fabric. The room is pretty organized despite all the stuff in it. My adult son and grandson live here also, so even more junk. We are putting a lot of stuff in storage. The worst move was moving from Mass to Fl in 2001. So much stuff after 15 years in one house with 3 kids. Where are you moving in Fl ? I'm in Ft. Myers. Good luck with all your packing.

Whigrose

My stripes run differently I guess.

We sold our family home last year. While the house sold itself, it was the converted master bedroom into sewing room that clinched the deal. At the showing (the one and only!), the prospective buyer told her agent who in turn told our agent, ' if this room is this organized and taken care of, I won't need to be concerned about how 'she' took care of the house'. Full disclosure - I am a bit of a neat freak and everything has a place. And I like my colors in groups running from red to orange to ... OCD? maybe, but I'm happy in my place

But, I would start packing and putting stuff into storage. It takes way longer than you ever thought it would. And it will be exhausting.

Good luck.

Best,
deb in Maine

mommaB

I was also worried about mice/bugs in my bins I had to store in the shed. I shrink wrap the lids on! It keeps everything tightly closed. even the huge rolling bin I store the Christmas tree in. I found the latchable lids popped off pretty easily and usually just about the time I had the bin over my head to slide it on the shelf! I get 5-6 inch wide shrink wrap at one of the office supply places. Love it

lots2do

Wow! More great ideas! I am getting more excited about this process than I thought I'd be. Spent this long weekend going through things and sorting. Have a few more bags to drop off at Goodwill tomorrow. We are moving to the West Coast in the Clearwater area but not until next fall....will be in Maine for the summer. So we'll have a mini-move and then a major move.

Love the idea of a giant lint roller and the yeast roll idea, too. Projects in the car sound like a good way to handle them too.