Moving soon and have far too much stuff in your house? Here is the absolute best way to declutter before moving.
Moving house can feel really overwhelming and it can be 10x more overwhelming if you have a ton of stuff to take with you.
It is definitely a good idea to declutter before moving rather than packing everything up, bringing it to the new property and having to sort it out there. You'll have enough to do when you arrive at your new home !
Think of decluttering as a way to help you have a fresh start. It will help you feel more organised and ready for a new beginning in your new home.
Here are 8 top tips we'll cover in detail to help you declutter:
TIP 1: The Simple Decluttering Plan
TIP 2: Get The Bags And Boxes Ready Before You Start
TIP 3: Declutter One Room At A Time
TIP 4: Pick Up Everything Off The Floor First
TIP 5: Start In The Corner Of Each Room
TIP 6: Organise Your Stuff Into 3 Categories
TIP 7: Purging Possessions
TIP 8: Don't Wait For Motivation
This post is all about the best way to declutter before moving house.
TIP 1: The Simple Decluttering Plan
Decluttering your house before a big move can feel like an enormous task, especially if you've been holding onto clutter for years ! That's why you should always spare just a few minutes to write down a quick decluttering plan.
So what exactly should you include in your decluttering plan?
HOW MANY ROOMS do you need to declutter?
Do you have 5 rooms that need sorting out? Maybe 20?
You should have a clear idea of how many rooms need decluttering, so you can pace yourself. Declutter one room at a time. Trying to do them all at once will just leave you feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.
HOW MUCH TIME do you have left before moving day?
We always recommend starting as early as possible when it comes to decluttering. You can even start several months before moving day- the earlier, the better !
Regardless of how much time you have, you should note down exactly how many days you have left. This will give you an idea of how much you can space out decluttering each room.
For example, if you have 8 rooms to declutter and 2 months to go, you can get away with decluttering only 1 room per week ! You may prefer to do all your decluttering in one weekend if you don't have much stuff, but starting early will at least give you the option to pace yourself.
Write down the EXACT DATE you will declutter EACH ROOM
Research has shown that actually writing down your plan on paper, rather than just thinking about, will make you more likely to actually do it. You also get the satisfaction of being able to cross it off your list.
However, the catch is you need to be specific. For example:
Declutter Before Moving Plan....
- Saturday 16th April- Declutter the main bedroom
- Tuesday 18th April- Declutter the kitchen
- ...etc
DON'T OVER PLAN
You can plan all day everyday, but it means diddly squat unless you actually get up and implement your plan.
Spend just 10 minutes writing down your plan and you're good to go. You don't need some grand fancy plan to become a pro at decluttering.
TIP 2: Get The Bags And Boxes Ready Before You Start
Before you start decluttering, make sure you have the following items so you have somewhere to put all your clutter:
- Storage boxes
- Bin bags
- Recycling bags
- Labels
- Marker Pen
TIP 3: Declutter One Room At A Time
We mentioned this earlier in the decluttering plan, but given it's such an important point, we thought it deserved its own title :). Finish one room properly first before moving onto the next to help you feel less overwhelmed.
TIP 4: Pick Up Everything Off The Floor First
Put any rubbish lying around in the bin. Any loose items or clothes on the floor, pick up and put away. You could even shove these items on a counter. They don't have to be put away perfectly, but you'll want to get your floor clear.
Having a clear floor means you 1.) avoid tripping over anything, 2.) have space to move around and 3.) you'll be amazed at how much of a difference it can make to the room looking tidy.
TIP 5: Start In The Corner Of Each Room
Work your way through each room in a logical order. Pick a corner at the back of the room and start making your way around to the front.
If you jump all over the place, it may feel like it's taking forever to get anything organised. Once you've finished a small section of the room, you'll begin to feel like you're making progress and hopefully keep going!
TIP 6: Organise Your Stuff Into 3 Categories
For each item, decide which one of the 3 categories it falls into:
CATEGORY 1: Stuff to keep
This category includes:
- Items that you absolutely need (i.e essential for you or your family)
- Things you really like AND use regularly
- Any sentimental items that would make you extremely sad if you got rid of it
These items can stay put. No need to put them into a separate box.
CATEGORY 2: Stuff for others
This category includes:
- Items that you don't want but could have value to other people
- Things you like but you never ever use. They've started to collect dust because you've barely touched them
Be strict with yourself on this one. Just because you like it doesn't mean you should keep it. If it's just sitting there with no use whatsoever, it's time to go.
You should also think about how much space you'll have in your new home. If you're downsizing, you'll need to be extra strict and get rid of more stuff.
For items in this category, you have a few options of what you can do with them:
- Share them with family, friends or neighbours
- Give away to charity shops
- Sell your items to make a bit of extra cash !
If you're doing all three of these things, then it's worth splitting out these items into 3 separate boxes. You should label a box for sharing, another for charity shops and one for selling.
CATEGORY 3: Stuff to bin or recycle
This category is pretty simple. These are items that are so bad that you don't want them anymore and nobody else would either ! They have no value left to anyone.
In other words, they're complete rubbish. Put them straight in the bin or recycling bag.
TIP 7: Purging Possessions
Now you have your items split out into your 3 categories, it's time to get rid of everything you're not keeping.
Giving to charity
If you're giving stuff away to charity, a few things you'll need to be aware of are:
- Charity shops – Check whether they are taking any items at the moment because they can sometimes get overwhelmed with donations
- Charity furniture shops – Call them to check whether they could make use of your items and if so, they can arrange a date and time to come and collect them. For example, The British Heart Foundation offers a free collection for unwanted furniture, homeware and electrical items
- Charity collection companies - these companies might come round to your area once a week or so to collect clothes / bedding /books etc. for charities. If you'd like to donate clothes, you can try collection 4 clothes
- Local churches might hold jumble sales where you can donate items to help raise some money for the local church
Selling items
If you'd like to make a bit of extra cash, here are some great ideas of where you can sell your stuff:
- A car boot sale
- Garage sale
- eBay
- Etsy
- Facebook Market Place
- webuybooks for selling books
Throwing away or recycling
If you have some rubbish you'd like to get rid of, there are several things you can do:
- Go to your local dump or recycling centre. They have clothes, books, shoe banks where you can deposit your items
- Some dumps operate a recycling shop where you can leave your items for other people to take or purchase for a small fee
- Some large supermarkets have recycling banks in their carparks
- Scrap metal merchants will usually collect any metal items – sometimes free of charge and sometimes for a fee
- Hire a skip
TIP 8: Don't Wait For Motivation
There will be a lot of advice out there trying to motivate you to declutter before moving. That will work for some people but not everyone. The truth is if you have a deep hatred for organising and sorting things out, you will probably never feel motivated to declutter.
Don't sit around hoping you will one day become motivated to start. Just get up and do it! Put your favourite music on, take regular breaks, and don't let yourself get hangry.
You could also ask family and friends to help you declutter one weekend. Make it a fun day and go out for a meal together when all your hard work is done.
Remember, the sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish. Do a little bit each day and it'll be over before you know it.
This post was all about the best way to declutter before moving.
If you found this helpful, you can view our upcoming content on our coming soon page to see what's next !
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