Decluttering Before A Move: Tidying Up Without The Stress
By: Suzie Wilson – Happier Home
Here’s the deal….
Decluttering your home is an often dreaded but necessary task, since it comes with a lot of planning and hard work.
Not only do you have to go through all your belongings to get them organized and pared down, you have to make difficult, possibly emotional decisions about letting go of items you’ve had for years.
You’ll be tidying up and ready to move in no time!
When you’re getting ready to move, this process can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t plan ahead; you may already be stressed by the move itself, and cleaning and decluttering can take a while to complete.
Start by making a list of all the things you know you can cast off :
- old appliances
- clothing that hasn’t been worn in years
- books and movies that can be streamed — and begin with those first to get them out of the way.
Make a plan 1st!
Next, recruit a friend or family member to help you go through everything.
Sort items by where they’re going:
- donations,
- trash,
- keep,
- and sell.
You might even consider having a garage sale before the move in order to earn some extra cash; this will come in handy on moving day, when you have to worry about tipping the movers or picking up lunch for people who are helping out.
You can also sell items online or through a second-hand app like Vinted or Decluttr, although it’s important to keep in mind that if you go this route, you’ll have to deal with shipping out the items while also taking care of moving tasks.
If you’re feeling a bit buried at this point, here are a few tips on how to declutter before a move and keep things stress-free.
Here’s what you need to do…
Make some room
Part of decluttering your home is making room and getting organized, and if you don’t have much space to work with, it’s important to work with the area you do have and maximize its potential. This might mean finding furniture that doubles as storage, or using vertical shelving to make the most of your wall space. If you can do this, you won’t have to give up the things you really want to hold onto when you move.
Remember that closets and cabinets aren’t your only option when it comes to storage; you can buy bins to store under your bed, or use an old steamer trunk to hold extra blankets.
Go digital
There are so many ways to go digital these days, it would be a shame not to take advantage of some of them.
If you have a large collection of movies, music, or photos, you can store them on an external hard drive or in the cloud and put the physical copies into storage, donate them, or sell them. You can also give them to family members, especially if they have fond memories attached to an occasion.
Not only will this help pare down your belongings before the move, but it will also help you keep things neat in your new place as well.
Ask for help
If the task of decluttering is an extra-big job — for instance, if your garage is full of cabinets and drawers that have years’ worth of belongings inside – -don’t hesitate to ask a friend or loved one for help. This will help make the job go much faster, giving you more time to focus on other moving-related tasks.
Get organized from the beginning and have all the supplies you need —
- boxes,
- trash bags,
- and a large black marker
— handy so you can clean up and keep things neat during the entire process.
Get it done before you start packing
Here’s the deal…
Unless you have severe time constraints on when you have to be done prior to the move, it’s important to declutter and tidy up well before you start packing; otherwise, everything will be a bit more complicated, and you’ll end up with an overwhelming amount of tasks to complete.
Not to mention that you’ll just be moving clutter from one home to another.
Keep stress to a minimum by doing one thing at a time, and give yourself plenty of space to finish everything.
The bottom line is…
Decluttering before a move can be exhausting, but if you start with a good plan and stay organized, you’ll be able to get it done without tiring yourself out.
Start early, ask for help, and think of ways you can keep certain items without having them take up physical space.
By preparing well, you’ll be able to tackle the job in no time. Tidying up is easier than you think!