You know what I hate most about selling a house?
Having people look around your home with such a critical eye!
It’s obviously the right thing to do as a house purchase is the biggest purchase that most people make in their lifetime so they want to be sure it’s right for them and as a buyer, I’m absolutely the same.
As a seller though, the feeling that people are judging your home and picking out faults is something I hate. 😁

I’m not a ‘home like a showhome’ kind of person but I do like a tidy house and during the month between the for sale sign going up and accepting our offer, the house was spotless pretty much the whole time as we had lots of viewings, some quite last minute and we never wanted to say no in case the people who wanted to view were the ones who ultimately wanted to buy it.
So the day we accepted the offer on our house, there were a few things I did…
Celebrating the Little Things
The first thing I did was bring back the fridge magnets! We always buy a fridge magnet from anywhere we go on holiday, so our fridge is usually pretty colourful with our collection. The estate agent recommended that we put them away during the selling process as they said it would make it harder for potential buyers to imagine themselves in our home.
Our collection makes me smile, so having them back felt like a tiny celebration — it was good to see our kitchen looking like ours again.
Cleaning for the New Owners
Next up, I gave the oven the clean of its life. 😁 I noticed a splash of food on the hob, wiped it away, and before I knew it, I had the Zoflora spray and Mr Muscle out. It wasn’t even particularly dirty, but I wanted to leave our buyers (who are moving into their first home) with an oven that sparkled. It was my way of saying thank you for giving us the chance to buy the house we wanted.
Starting a Moving House Folder 📂
I also set up a simple moving folder. Into it went all the important paperwork — solicitor letters, contracts, ID copies, and even removal quotes. I added a checklist of people we’ll need to notify about our new address and a rough budget for moving costs. Having everything in one place makes me feel much more organised and definitely less stressed.
Ordering Boxes and Packing Early 📦
Still buzzing from the excitement, I jumped on Amazon and ordered a big stack of packing boxes. Learn from my mistake though — don’t be fooled by “extra large” in the title, because ours definitely weren’t! Thanks to Prime, they arrived the next day and I had my first box packed within 24 hours of accepting the offer. A few boxes later and I’m slowly making progress without it feeling overwhelming.
Creating a Pinterest Board 📌
And of course, I couldn’t resist setting up a Pinterest board full of moving inspiration. From storage hacks to decorating ideas, it’s become my little corner of excitement for the new house. It’s a fun way to plan ahead and keeps me motivated when the to-do list feels never-ending.
Selling a house comes with such a rollercoaster of emotions, but doing these small things straight after we accepted our offer helped me feel grounded and prepared. Little steps like these make the whole moving process feel less daunting — and a lot more exciting. 😀
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