How To Declutter Before A Move
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Decluttering before a move is an important part of making the transition to your new home easier. We’ve consulted with some of the best moving companies in order to provide you with the best advice.
This blog post will help you declutter and organize your space so that it’s easier to pack up when the time comes. The idea behind decluttering is not to make a perfect space but rather to remove anything that no longer serves a purpose. Furthermore, the less you have for the moving company to move, the cheaper your move will be.
There are many ways you can go about this process: from throwing out items to donating them or selling them for cash. In order for these decluttering methods to work best, be sure to take good care of what you’re keeping by organizing everything so it’s ready for you or the moving company to pack.
To get you started on decluttering your home, here are a few decluttering tips:
Start with 15 min a day: Depending on how much time you have before the moving company arrives, even if you can devote 15-30 minutes per day to decluttering your home, you can gradually gain momentum and be done in no time at all.
Organize an area in your new home that you can designate for decluttering: This area will allow you to be more organized and prevent items you want to keep from becoming mixed up.
Create three boxes. Donate, Sell and Trash: Staying organized is essential for successful decluttering. For instance, once the “donation box” is full, drop it off and begin a new donation box. As for the box of items to be sold, you can quickly start posting them online or wait until you have all of your items to sell and have a garage sale. And last, for your “trash box”, get these items on the curb for garbage day as soon as possible and start a new box.
Begin with visible items. Take a walk around the house. Even if you have items displayed throughout the house, on the kitchen counter and the kid’s toys, there may be items that you know will not fit in your new home or that the kids no longer play with.
Clothes, shoes, and other items that can be worn: This is always a difficult step, especially when sentimental items are involved. The key to this step is to ask yourself three questions:
- Have I worn in in the last year? If not, get rid of it.
- Do I still fit into this item? If not, get rid of it.
- Do I still need this item? If not, get rid of it.
If a year has passed and you haven’t worn that pair of shoes, coat, or pants, chances are you won’t wear them in the coming year as well, so hence there’s no need for them to take up space in your new home. The same can be said for items that don’t fit. Many of us promise ourselves that we will fit back into those jeans, but it rarely happens, and if it does, the style is out of date by the time we do.
Be ruthless, and enlist the help of a friend if necessary to make those difficult decisions. Clothing and shoes can take up a lot of boxes, so the better you can do in this area, the fewer boxes the moving company will need to move.
The kitchen and pantry: The first step is to empty your pantry of everything. Don’t cut corners by only removing half of your pantry and rearranging the rest. Toss items that have passed their expiration date. Make a plan to use any items that haven’t expired yet, or donate them to The Food Bank.
The next step is to declutter the rest of our kitchen, including small appliances, dishware, mugs, and other items. You don’t need a never-ending supply of mugs and small appliances that never get used. Be practical and realistic in your approach!
Storage areas and garage: These are the areas that take the most time, so give yourself plenty of time. First, make sure you’ve cleared a space where you can easily pull items out and sort them. This area can benefit from a similar approach to that used for clothing. Has it been used in the last year, is it still working, and do I need it?
Because decluttering a storage area and garage can take the most time, it’s also an excellent time to pack up the items you won’t need until you move into your new home.
Finally, all the moving companies agree that using a systematic approach is one of the best advice in this entire procedure. A systematic approach is one in which you don’t put off making a decision because you think you’ll come back to it later. Messes are the result of unmade decisions, which in turn makes the task even more challenging.
Even though there are numerous blogs and articles on how to declutter, it is common to have difficulty getting rid of things. If you’re having trouble, enlist friends or family members’ assistance or hire professionals to assist you.
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