We all love to put our personal stamp on a place and decorate a home accordingly. But what about when you need to un-decorate a home when you are moving?

The next tenant or owners don’t want to move in to see your stuff everywhere, so make it easier for them to settle in.

First, Clean Everywhere

No one should have to move into a home that is filthy. Of course, your landlord shares the responsibility of cleaning a vacant property, but you don’t need to make it harder on them. Plus, it’s just embarrassing to leave a home dirty when you move out, and it doesn’t say much about your character. If you don’t have the time or energy, then hire local house cleaning services that would be more than happy to give the apartment or house a once-over ready for new tenants.

Un-Decorate A Home With Filler

It is surprising how many holes, gaps, and cracks can appear in a home over the years. The homeowner should have these done when you move in. But it is polite to fill in any that appeared after you moved in or were caused by you.

For example, if you just had to hang your guitar collection over your bed, there would be some rather large holes there. Check around the home and fill in any gaps you see. With some squeezy plaster filler, you can get very cheap.

A Lick Of Neutral Paint

Most landlords are fine with you painting the walls and making your place feel like a home. But it could be in your tenancy agreement that you have to return the place to an acceptable condition when you move out. If you don’t, you will lose any deposits.

So while you might love to relax beside a lime green feature wall, the next tenant probably won’t. All you need to do is give the walls a quick paint with neutral colors so the next tenant can do with them what they want to.

Remove Stuff From The Walls

Further to the walls, it helps to remove everything before at least moving out, especially if you are going to paint them. This involves more than you think, so try checking for these:

  • Carefully examine the walls for pins, screws, and nails and remove them all.
  • Take down any personal photographs or stick them on posters and images.
  • Remove shelving that you have put up while you were living in the home.
  • Remove any extra wall decor fittings, including skirts, and below the ceiling.
  • Don’t leave unfixed lighting, such as string LED lights, on the walls.

The walls should be bare and clean when you move out. This makes painting and decoration easier for the next tenant and shows a positive attitude, goodwill, and respect on your part.

Pay Attention To The Kitchen And Bathroom

You should always clean a home before moving out as part of the un-decorating process. And even a quick clean shows some respect. But it helps to pay attention to high-traffic areas that are prone to germs and bacteria, such as the kitchen and bathroom.

A new tenant shouldn’t have to move into a grimy and disgusting home. Of course, the landlord will typically have these cleaned, but you can make it easier on everyone by doing your part of the cleaning as well.

Remove Lighting When You Un-Decorate A Home

Lighting is one of the best parts of home decor and can really set the tone of your home. But you may have added lighting over the years, and this isn’t how the home originally looked. Therefore, you may be in breach of your tenancy agreement.

So always remove any lighting fixtures you added, and install the original ones back in. Of course, you can discuss this with the landlord, as they might be happy to leave the lighting as it is, but it is polite to check first.

Check For Personal Items

The whole point of un-decorating is to remove your personal stamp from the home to make it easier for the landlord to get new tenants in and for new tenants to decorate how they want. And that means making sure there is nothing personal left in the home.

Artwork, clothing, and, of course, letters and documents should all be removed. This is also safer for you because you never know who will move in, and they could use your personal data for illegal purposes.

Summary

You must un-decorate a home before you leave if only to be polite. Cleaning the place makes it easier for the landlord and new tenants to settle in. You should pay attention to walls, painting and filling them in as you go, and never leave anything personal in your old accommodation.