Decluttering The Barn- Getting A Horse Property Ready For Sale
So my husband and I have been actively getting our house ready for sale. This has not been an easy task. We have lived in our home for 12 years. 12 years of accumulating stuff, and then storing it away. Out of sight, out of mind right? But when you are getting your home ready to sell potential buyers will see all of that stuff, aka clutter. Thankfully we have time, we have not found our dream home…yet. But when we do, we want to have out house ready to list on the MLS. And getting a horse property ready for sale is a much larger project than a suburban tract home.
That means we need to declutter, and stage our home for potential buyers. So I decided to start by decluttering the barn, which is the first step of getting a horse property ready to list for sale.
First Things Next
Decluttering a large space that has been filled with junk is no easy task. But it can be done, if you don’t let the job itself overwhelm you. I am a list maker, so I start by making a master list of projects that need to be done. Then I break it down into smaller tasks. This way I feel that I am getting stuff done! There is just something so satisfying about crossing things off a list. It may just be me, but when I have a list that has every task crossed off I feel as if I have done a good job.
But back to the barn. This was a list of projects all on it’s own.
This barn was a catch all for everything we no longer needed or used. When we organize a room in our home, the excess first moves into our garage, and then would find a permanent home in our barn. Over the years, this has meant there is less and less space in the barn. And instead of making good use of the space, I found that we were running out of room! And there is a lot of space in that little red barn. It is 20 x 10 with a loft.
That means the barn is about 260 square feet. It isn’t set up to be a barn, but it is set up for storage, or as I use it, a feed room. I love this little red barn.
But with all of the clutter, the barn looked small, and wasn’t being used to the best of it’s ability. So the first task of my decluttering process was to get rid of the junk. Then I would have a clean slate and I could determine the best way to use the space. I didn’t even come up with a plan. I just started moving everything out of the barn. This could be a daunting task, but I plugged in my Iphone, and had a good podcast (on how to stage your home for sale) to listen too while I stayed focused on cleaning out the barn. And if you are looking for a great website with TONS of ideas on home staging, you should check out Cindy Lin’s website, Staged/4 More, it is really helpful!
Keep, Donate, Or Trash
Once most everything was out of the barn, then came the task of sorting through all of the stuff. This task was made easier by the weather. There was a rain storm coming in, and I had no choice but to work fast. The faster I moved, and went through crap, the better. I did keep some sentimental items, like my kids first outfits, and things like that. But other stuff was put into a long pile of crap that needed to be gone.
Some of it was good enough to be donated to a thrift store, but the majority of the stuff was garbage. And even though I feel horrible about adding this to a landfill, I would feel worse by keeping it, and storing it for eternity. I had to make peace with myself, and be ok with it. This was also made easier because we rented a roll of dumpster for $300.00, which was the best decision I could have made to get rid of the garbage in one decluttering session.
Yep, shameless plug for Bin There Dump That. A roll off dumpster company in Parker, Colorado. They are fantastic! And if you live in there service area and are needing a dumpster, you should give them a call. They are great!
Reclaiming The Space
Now that I had a clean slate, I could determine the best way to use the space. And this is where the fun began. My husband made a permanent ladder for the loft. The loft continues to be storage. But the rest of the barn can be used for a feed room, and an extension of my small tack room.
I re-purposed some furniture, partially for sentimental reasons, partially for storage.
I hung up some lights and put the remaining stuff in places where I can see what I have. I still need to go through my horse spray bottles, but hey, one project at a time.
Selling The Space
At the end of the day, I am creating an image. After all, I am getting the space ready to be marketable. I am packaging the barn for sale, so I want the space to appeal to buyers. The barn is a product being marketed for sale. I want someone to be able to see themselves living here, and having plenty of storage, and space available for what they want to use it for.
I am marketing space, as well as a lifestyle. And I don’t want to sell a hoarder’s lifestyle, right? I want to portray there is ample space for feed storage as well as extra space to store whatever. And now there is plenty of space for me to show this.
And the bonus is I will have less stuff to move when we do find our perfect home. If you want to see a video of the entire process, you can watch it here. Or why not subscribe to my YouTube channel, The Budget Equestrian, so you can watch all of my videos related to getting a horse property ready to sell!
Lesson Learned
I think the biggest lesson I learned from this project is I don’t need to hang on to stuff. Yes, at one time all of this crap was new, and useful. But over time, it has been replaced. And walking out to a cluttered barn was weighing on me. I saw all of the money I have spent, and all of that stuff has ended up out here, in my barn.
I have realized I don’t need so much stuff. I work really hard for the money I earn, and the stuff I have bought is no longer useful, and is weighing me down. By reclaiming the space, I am determined that I don’t need ‘things’ to make me feel good. I need my family, not stuff. And this project will really make me think about a purchase before I make it. Because I don’t need things to fill up my barn. By clearing my barn, a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. And I hope I can continue this process with the rest of my clutter clearing journey. Time is too valuable, and by spending that precious time figuring out where to put crap is wasted time. And I have a lot more fun things I could be spending those precious moments doing, instead of wasting it on material things that will eventually end up filling a barn.
