How to declutter your home before moving
Moving home and not sure where to start? These tips to declutter your home before moving will make sure your ready for the big day.
Moving house can be really exciting, but also overwhelming! You might not know where to start, don’t worry I’m going to help you with each step of decluttering your home so when moving day arrives you will only take with you your possessions you need and love.
After moving over 15 times, I have learned lots of decluttering tips to make moving home more streamlined and stress free. These tips will make it way less stressful when it comes to moving day. Making a plan to help with moving home and decluttering is key to making your next move as easy as possible.
–This post contains affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.–
This post is all about how to declutter your home before moving
Why declutter your home before moving?
You might think that you don’t need to declutter before moving, you can do it when you get to your new home, or you don’t need to get rid of anything because your home is already organised.
I recommend you take stock of what you have and what you want to take to your new home, there is always some clutter you don’t want to take with you.
Believe me when you are setting up your new home you’ll be so grateful that you spent the time to declutter any items that you no longer need or that are broken.
1. Begin earlier than you think
Moving and decluttering always takes more time than you think. I recommend you start at least 6 months before your moving date. If you haven’t got that much time start as easy as you can. The earlier you can start the more organised and stress free it will be.
I know from experience things always come up when your trying to complete any task, so if you have time to spare it will make moving day so much more relaxing and exciting.
2. make a spreadsheet
Planning is key to a successful move. I love feeling organised and making a spreadsheet help you to keep track of where you are and what needs to be done. You don’t need to over complicate it. I like to have a column for each room and colour code it. You can then keep track of what has been decluttered, what needs to be done and whether you are keeping or donating items. You’ll also know when it comes to unpacking which colour boxes belong in which room.
3. work methodically
The easiest way is to take each room at a time and methodically working through each draw, cupboard or area of that room until that room is complete, then move on to the next room. This method works better than trying to organise and declutter the whole house at once! If you’re not methodical it can be easy to end up chasing your tail and not making any progress.
If you have one, starting with the garage is the best place to start. Then as you finish and need somewhere to store items to be donated you can you can put the boxes there until you are ready to get rid of the items. Or if you don’t have a garage you can store them in one of the rooms that you clear.
4. know your space
Knowing the size of the house you are moving into will give you an idea of how much space you have for your belonging. You may be down sizing and not have as much space as you currently do, therefore know you will have to keep things that are sentimental or useful.
5. gather supplies
To make it easier, firstly get lots of boxes, packaging tape and markers. I find it easier to work through each area if I have previously labelled each box and know what is going into each box. Great place to get boxes for free are garden centres or DIY stores.
6. ask for help
If you are short on time, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Getting family and friends to help out will make the process so much quicker. They will also help you decide what to keep and what to sell or donate when you can’t decide.
7. donate or sell
Once you have methodically gone through each room and worked out what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of. I recommend making two piles. One for items you want to get rid of and one that you want to donate.
There are so many places that you can donate or sell things that you no longer need. Make sure the items are not broken and not stained. I guarantee you’ll feel so much better once you have donated
This post is all about how to declutter your home before moving
(Related post: First Home Checklist)
