How to Declutter Before You Move

Declutter your home before you move easily with these expert tips

Moving is the perfect opportunity to declutter and start afresh. Whether you are moving from your home or office, it’s easy to organise the move so that your new property won’t be filled with old throwaways. Organisation is key to decluttering before you move. It will also save you money because you won’t be making as many trips. Start the organising process about two weeks before you move, so that it won’t feel like a massive effort.

Follow this simple guide to declutter your home or office by getting organised.

Gather the essentials

The tools you use are vital in the organisation process (this is serious stuff here people). If you’re calling for reinforcements, get enough equipment for everyone to help. We’re talking permanent markers, post-it notes, boxes, bubble wrap, Sellotape, sticker labels and soft tissue paper or newspaper. All these will come in handy in organising all your belongings.

Start with the big items

Your smaller belongings will take much longer to sort and you’ll lose motivation quicker as it will feel as if you haven’t made any traction by the second day. This includes things like dining room tables, cabinets, bed sets, boardroom tables, desks and office chairs. First, check if everything is still in good working condition – if it looks like you’ll be chucking it out or selling it in a month’s time, you might as well do it now. You don’t have to separate the big items physically, just label them with your trusty post it notes. It’s simple, the categories are; keep, toss or store (if you’re putting some things into storage). This shouldn’t take you longer than a couple of hours.

One room at a time

It makes much more sense to declutter and pack one room at a time. The rooms you use the least should be done first. More often than not, it’s the places you dread the most like the garage, outdoor shed, conservatory or study. The same process of keep, toss or store applies, however, this time you’ll have boxes with those labels on. Simply place the smaller items in each labelled box and keep the boxes in that specific room.

When to toss

The actual organising is the easy part, the most challenging part about moving is deciding on whether to keep something or not. Here is a simple list you can use as a guideline.

You should toss/give away an item when it:

• hasn’t been used/worn in the past year
• is breaking or broken
• has no use to you anymore
• could add more value to someone else
• has been duplicated (you don’t need two whisks!)

You need to be very strict about throwing something away. Of course, items that have sentimental value attached to them, you should keep. However, if the item does not tug on your heartstrings anymore and you’ve agreed with at least one of the points above, then it’s time to go.

It takes a lot of determination to declutter a home or office, but you’ll feel so much lighter after you’ve rid yourself of dated belongings that take up unnecessary space. The last thing you want is to feature on a show about hoarders because you didn’t have the will power to throw things away. Clutter is not a good look. So, declutter whenever you can, it leads to less stress and a healthier environment to live or work in!

After you’ve decluttered and everything is packed, call that vehicle rental company and start your simple, decluttered move.