Tips for Preparing & Decluttering Your Home Before Moving
Moving can be a real headache! It comes with a mile long do-do list: pack everything into boxes, hire professional movers, change your mailing address, update documents… but before any of that, you have to do the dreaded task of decluttering your current home or what we like to call “thinning down”? items that no longer serve a purpose. The definition of decluttering is:
Verb
For the sake of the article, when we reference decluttering your prized possessions we do not necessarily mean to remove a mess, but we are using it in the sense of organizing and prioritizing your belongings. And let’s face it, sometimes that means removing.
Why is decluttering difficult?
One professional organizer says the average American household has 300,000 items. Although plenty of people refute that figure, it does drive home a point: we own a lot of stuff! And while the physical chore of going through thousands of items can feel overwhelming, decluttering a home is also emotionally and mentally difficult.?
For one, there’s the emotional attachment we get to our possessions. How do you get rid of the shoes your child took their first steps in? Or the mountains of art your kids bring home from school??
Then, there’s the fear of regret - what if you get rid of something and suddenly need it? This is why many people have boxes of old charging cables, rooms filled with crafting supplies, and random junk drawers in their homes.?
For some people, decluttering can make them feel guilty. How do you get rid of a thoughtful gift that someone chose for you? You might feel like throwing away an item that someone gave to you will make someone else feel bad.
We also all live very busy lives and it can be tough to find the time we need to trim down our belongings and declutter our homes.?
If you fall into any of those categories, pay attention. We have some useful tips for decluttering before moving.?
How to start trimming down - Step 1?
Take a room by room approach. The easiest way to declutter a home is by going one room at a time. Start with a space you use the least, like a guest bedroom or extra bathroom. Small spaces like a kitchen pantry or linen closet are also good places to start. Make a list of all of the rooms in your house and prioritize them. Give yourself ample time for each space, allowing extra time for the most daunting rooms. If you walk in and feel overwhelmed, step out and try working in another part of the house.?
Enlist the help of friends or family. If you’re the type of person who has an emotional or mental attachment to items, you might want to call for backup. Enlist the help of family and friends who will support you in your decision making. Let them know why you are struggling to declutter your home and ask for their guidance. Sometimes you just need a friend to tell you that keeping several boxes of decade-old clothing is a bad idea.?
Set a timeline. Time management is a huge challenge for a lot of people when decluttering their home. Setting a timeline and sticking to it will help you get organized in a timely manner. Think about how much time you can devote to each room or how much time you can devote to the project of decluttering each day and then give yourself a deadline for completion.?
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Sort into categories - Step 2
Once you have a timeline and a plan in place, you can begin tackling the real work of the project: figuring out what to do with all of your stuff!?
Create Keep, Sell, Donate boxes. One way to go about it is to sort everything into one of three categories: keep, sell, donate. It sounds cliche and if you’ve ever watched an episode of Hoarders, you know that for some people this is much more difficult than it seems. For each item you pick up, ask yourself: Do I need this? When was the last time I used this? Do I have any immediate plans for this? If the answer to those questions is “no,” then it is probably time to part with the item.
Digitize old photos and home videos. Items that hold sentimental items are the most difficult to part with, understandably so. One modern way to keep all of those items without them taking up physical space in your home is to digitize them. Take photos of kid art work and save it in a special folder, scan and archive old family photos, and turn old home videos into digital files (there are companies that can do this for you). If you just cannot bare to part with the physical version of the items, separate them into organized boxes, folders, or scrap books and put them in a larger box labeled for storage.?
Set limits with multiples. How many pairs of shoes or freebie t-shirts do you really need? Pick a number and stick with it. Tell yourself you’ll pick your 5 favorites or 10 favorites and donate or sell the rest. This trick works for all kinds of items in your house, not just clothes. If you like to keep old electronics or cables, limit to just one of each item (ie: 1 extra coax cable, 1 old cell phone, etc). If you like to entertain, decide how many placesettings you need of each item. If you have freebie drinking cups, water bottles, extra wine glasses, etc. filling up your kitchen cabinets, only keep the ones you use regularly.?
Try the Marie Kondo method of only keeping what “brings joy.” The queen of minimalism herself, Marie Kondo, had people purging their homes like crazy a few years ago. Although Kondo has since admitted that she doesn’t always focus on “tidying up” the way she used to (parenthood will do that to ya!), the KonMari method is still a useful tool in understanding how to select items to sell or donate while also respecting the reasons why they were in your home to begin with.?
Label boxes clearly - Step 3
Label each box of items as you go. The boxes should be clearly marked to include the room they came from and itemized so that you can find each item quickly. Just writing “kitchen” won’t help you find the party-sized inflatable cooler that you inevitably kept when you have 4 boxes labeled “kitchen.”?
Store keepsakes safely - Step 4
Congratulations! Now that you’ve successfully decluttered your home, you’ll need to figure out where to store the boxes full of “keep” items that don’t have a place in your home until you move to your new house. This is especially important if you’re trying to sell your current home because you want your potential buyers to see the place as a clean slate.?
Temporary storage units. Renting a temporary storage until isn’t a bad idea if you have a lot of boxes or larger items that don’t have a space in your home.?
Under bed boxes. For smaller items that you still want easy access to, under bed boxes and shoe boxes can work well. This is a great place for keepsakes and seasonal items and decor.?
Aesthetically pleasing baskets and boxes. Smaller items can sometimes become part of the decor. You can hide extra TV remotes, batteries, or even blankets and pillows in home decor style boxes and baskets. This is sometimes a more expensive option and might not be the best option if you’re planning to move, since the designs might not match the decor of your new home.?
Final Tip - Hire a professional
If budget isn’t your issue but a lack of time is, then hire a professional organizer to handle this for you. They can work with you on identifying the types of items you’d like to keep while doing the heavy lifting of sorting and organizing for you.?
We hope you’ll be able to take these tips for decluttering before moving into consideration before you start your next home adventure. For questions related to moving or real estate, contact the Teston Team.?