Hit the Ground Running

We returned from California to Hawaii, and hit the ground running. The realtor arrived less than 24 hours later. We chose the hoity toity agency that insists their homes meet certain criteria. She helped us move our furniture, stage our home, and make a list of what needed to be done in the next 48 hours before the broker open house preview.

We got crazy. We sold things left and right on craigslist. We donated stuff. Then, we moved things into the garage. My kids were limited to one laundry basket of toys that could be plucked up and put into the garage at a moment's notice. I pulled out fancy shmancy linens that my kids haven't touched or ever soiled. The high chair was stashed, the trash cans disappeared, and the floors, walls, and doors were scrubbed. The mailbox's wooden pillar was repainted. We hired three people off craigslist to pull weeds and tidy our yard. They were done in an hour. But that was three hours of work time we didn't have.

Hubby power washed our vinyl fences, our brick wall, our sidewalks, and our futura stone lanais.
We stripped everything from the front of the fridge, we scrubbed the cabinet faces, sink, appliances, and chairs. The floors were swept, mopped, and swiffered. Almost everything came off the top of the cabinets, except for a few decorative pieces. Hubby used a razor and three cleaning products on our granite.
The rugs were rotated. The rug that was in the dining room was moved to the living room. All of the books were moved from the floor around the computer, and furniture was shifted.
The handrails and window ledges were unsoiled. The air vents were dusted, and Hubby shampooed the bedroom carpets. We moved 1/3 of the books off the bookshelves so they looked uncluttered. We bleached the bathrooms, and sprayed tons of air freshener everywhere.
Furniture was moved over and over until the realtor was happy. For the broker preview and our one open house so far we blasted the air conditioning at a ridiculous 63 degrees. My house smelled so beautiful. Sniff sniff! I loved the way the ten cleaning products blowing through my house melded so well!

Our backyard was stripped of anything in primary colors. (Read: all things children.) The slide structure was given to the stranger who bought the weight bench. His little girl was in his truck. Wouldn't she like a slide structure? The wagon, the toys, and children's tables were all moved to the garage. See the two sliding glass doors? One is in the corner and the the other is on the right. We can only open one because the beige couch blocks one slider.

So now the hardest work is done, and we wait. House for sale, anyone?