Selling: Presenting A Kitchen

Clean and De-clutter
Keep An Eye On Details

Your kitchen is the one room that's more likely than any other to clinch a sale. Good kitchens help sell property, bad kitchens can wreck your chances. Whatever the state of yours, there are ways to present it in the best possible light.

1 Is It Dated?

If your kitchen is old fashioned, it's worth coming up with ideas to bring it up to date. That might mean buying new handles for unit doors, for instance, which are easy to change and an inexpensive way to give kitchen units a lift. Choose handles that are similar in size and shape to your existing ones so that fitting them does not leave holes or marks. Replace damaged or missing cupboard doors, and consider giving worn units a lick of paint to spruce them up.

2 Declutter

The kitchen needs to look as big as possible, so declutter it as much as you can. That might mean packing away some of your recipe books, clearing the majority of the surfaces and running down your food stocks. It's also worth looking at replacing bulky or old fashioned window treatments with sleek blinds and clearing windowsills of anything other than the odd pot of herbs. Bear in mind, if it's clear, it's easier to clean, too.

3 Clean It

Just as the bathroom needs to be sparkling, so does the kitchen. Remove grime and grease from cookers and worktops, ensure cupboard fronts, taps and appliances are gleaming and wash the floors and windows.

4 How Does It Smell?

Kitchens should smell fresh and clean, so use your sense of smell. Even with extractor fans, kitchens can harbour odours, especially from fish, curries and other strong-smelling foods. Opt to go out or keep your cooking bland if you have visitors the next day.

5 Clean Out The Cupboards

Good kitchen storage is a must for most of us, so expect people to open cupboards and drawers - which need to be neat and tidy. If your kitchen has clever hidden storage, be sure to show if off, too.