There are many reasons why swapping homes becomes increasingly popular. Obviously being free accommodation means that it is an extremely budget friendly way of traveling. It also gives you the opportunity to enjoy all the space and convenience of staying in a real home rather than in cramped expensive hotels. The vast majority of our home swap offers are very welcoming and comfortable places to spend your holidays - with some homes even truly luxurious.
To make sure your own home swap offer stands out spend some time tidying and de-cluttering your home before taking the photos for your home swap listing. Also make sure your home is extremely clean and clutter free before welcoming your exchange guests to your home.
Here's some tips to help you declutter:
(1) One room at a time
Sometimes it can seem an overwhelming task to clear the clutter from your home. The best way to approach the task is to take baby steps and focus on one room at a time. You'll be surprised how quickly you'll be able to make a big difference.
(2) Be effecient (and a bit ruthless!)
Look around your room and try to be effecient with your decluttering. Most of us have items that haven't been used for years such as wardrobes full of old clothing. Try to be honest with yourself and decide whether you really want to keep the item. If doing a really big tidy up then it can help to make several piles:
- Items to keep - put these away tidily in their correct place.
- Items to throw away / recycle - items that you know you will likely never use (do you really need last months newspaper?)
- Items to take to donate to the charity shop / sell on ebay - if your wardrobe is bulging with clothes that's not been worn in years then it might be time to pass these items on to someone that will get more use from them. A general rule you could use is - if you haven't worn it in over a year then get rid of it!
- The 'lets think about it' pile - it's always hard to be totally ruthless when decluttering and so allow yourself a pile where you can put of deciding the fate of these items (but don't let this pile get too big!).
(3) Put your things where they belong
After you figured out what to keep you can put the items in a suitable place. Usually a home gets messy when we start putting items in a wrong place to just store them there “temporarily”.
(4) Take photos of your new tidy home
With your home now decluttered, clean and tidy - take photos to upload to your home exchange listing. Your new tidy home will make a massive difference but be sure to frame your photos to make the best of your home - make sure that you have good lighting and when taking photos of rooms it is often good to take wide angle shots.
(5) Keep up the good work!
This bit is easier said than done. Now that your home is clean and tidy - don't let the mess creep back in! Feel proud of your decluttered home and try to keep it that way.
____________________________________________________________
Looking for a home exchange vacation? Visit the Home Base Holidays website (www.homebase-hols.com) to browse thousands of attractive home swap offers worldwide.
