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Tips for a Move-in Ready Home

Get Your New Home Move-in Ready

 

So, you found a new home! Congratulations, the hard part is (mostly) over. Now you just need to pack, move, unpack, fill out your change of address forms, meet your neighbors, figure out your new route to work… that’s all. But, before you bring in all your boxes and begin to unpack, there’s something you should do first. While your new home is completely empty, you have an excellent opportunity to do a deep, thorough cleaning of your new space. This is your chance to make your home more yours and clean away any remnants of the previous owners. Following is your move-in ready cleaning checklist so you’ll house will seem brand new when you finally start unpacking and living in your new home.

1. Bathrooms first. I always like to start with the toughest job because everything is downhill from there. First, the fastest and easy way to make the bathroom all yours is to replace the toilet seat. Be the first one to sit on that throne. It’s a cheap and easy fix to make your bathroom feel brand new.

 Next, clean everywhere, especially behind things. Take the time to scrub behind the toilet and pull out the vanity if you can and do a good thorough cleaning behind there, too. Wipe shelves inside cabinets and inspect drawers for any leftover items from previous owners. Clean those, too.

Finally, hands and knees it in the tub and/or shower to really get at that remaining soap scum and don’t forget the floors.

2. Tackle the Kitchen. Here you’re going to do the type of cleaning you don’t do every week. It’s not going to be fun, but it is going to pay off in the long run. Take apart stove top parts- burners and knobs. Get in the fridge and remove shelves and drawers. Place everything in a large tub and let soak while you take care of all surfaces in your kitchen, including the sink and inside the refrigerator you just emptied.

Meanwhile, turn on your stove’s self-cleaning function and let it do its magic. You’ll likely still have to scour the glass window of your oven door, but that should be it.

As in your bathroom, pull all appliances away from the walls and get at it behind these where who knows what from the previous owners may have fallen through the cracks.

Again, use a damp cloth to wipe down all shelving and inside all drawers. These are often missed or neglected by those moving out, and you want to start fresh. This is also the time, after they’ve dried, to apply shelve paper and place drawer dividers and such. This way, you are ready to unpack your silverware and dishes when your moving boxes arrive.

3. The rest of the house. Here you want to look at the walls. Do a spot check to see if they need to be cleaned. If dirt comes off onto a clean cloth when you swipe the wall with it, that means you need to clean. In most cases, you will just need to dust.

Next, dust doors and disinfect easily forgotten, yet germ ridden doorknobs.

After that, tackle the windows. Don’t neglect the space between the screen and the pane where all sorts of grim, dirt and critters end up coming to die.

Then, onto often missed light fixtures, wipe and dust those. Remove any bugs that call this their final resting place.

Finally, floors. This is your chance to sweep and vacuum everywhere unencumbered by furniture. Depending on how much you trust what the previous owners told you, you may want to rent a carpet shampooer to do the job with your carpets. If not, vacuuming will do. For any non-carpet floors, sweep and mop.

We all want our new home to feel as though we’re the only ones who’ve ever lived there even when that’s not the case. There’s simply nothing like moving into a new home and knowing that it is spic and span before you lay your head down in your new bedroom. But, if all of that sounds like a lot, and let’s face it, it is a lot, consider hiring All Star Cleaning Services to do the job for you. Contact our cleaning crew in Fort Collins, Colorado to have your home looking move-in ready in no time.