Steps to declutter your house before moving
1. Get rid of items you never use
We all have a list of such items. We always convince ourselves that we will use them at some point in time in the future. The reality is that if you haven’t used such items in a while, chances are you probably never will. The key here is to muster the willpower to get rid of such items before your commercial movers arrive. Most people tend to have emotional attachments to certain belongings and getting rid of them can be hard. But it certainly beats carting around a huge ton of stuff you probably will never use.
There are several ways you can use this declutter home checklist to get rid of such items. A simple way of identifying and getting rid of such items is to follow a step-by-step procedure. First sort out the items that you know are not in usable condition. Get rid of them. Next, sort out the items that can be used but it is unlikely that you will ever use them again. These can be donated to charity. At the end, you are left with items that you really require and will probably use on a regular basis.
2. Get rid of expired products
This is another great way to minimize your load when using this declutter house checklist. Since residential moving companies charge according to weight, it helps to lighten your load as much as possible. Go through all the items in your kitchen and get rid of ones that are past their expiry date. There really is no point in carting them to your new house since you will be discarding them anyway.
The same applies to your bathroom items and cosmetics. To help declutter your house before moving, you can get rid of items that are past their due date. Not only are they extra weight but they may also prove to be harmful to you.
3. Reduce redundancy
Over the years, we all tend to accumulate utensils, appliances and gadgets that sometimes perform redundant tasks. Moreover, sometimes, we also tend to pile up gadgets and appliances that may no longer work but we’ve been too busy to throw them away. Getting rid of such items is a good way to declutter house before moving. Not only does it help you get rid of unwanted stuff before your commercial movers arrive, but it also helps you keep track of the appliances and gadgets that actually work and the ones that need replacing.
4. Get rid of furniture you don’t require
Furniture items like tables, chairs and showcases that are no longer required but take up room in your house can be given away. Empty cupboards and drawer sets in your current residence will certainly not prove to be of any use in your new home. You can also evaluate the availability of space in your new home to decide what furniture you can keep and what can be given away. This can prove to be quite important when you want to declutter house before moving.
5. Get rid of old tech
With the rapid rate of evolution of technology, this can be one of the important items on declutter home checklist. As we move toward a digital age that is rapidly making older technologies obsolete, the amount of ‘junk’ we tend to have too, goes on increasing. For example, we no longer have any use for audio tapes, video tapes and CDs since virtually everything has moved online. Files that can be converted and stored in a digital format should be saved on a hard disk since you are more likely to keep and use your hard disk versus your tape deck or VCR.
6. Get rid of old books, magazines and newspapers
With everything going digital, it is likely that you will find digital eBooks for your paperback copies. As part of your declutter house checklist, if and only if you aren’t one of those people who prefer to sit down with a paperback book, you can donate your books to a library after finding their digital versions. You can certainly get rid of magazines and newspapers since their digital versions are probably available online. However, if you plan to keep an article you require, you can always scan it and store it on your hard drive.
7. Donate your old clothes
Finally, as part of your declutter house checklist, give away clothes that are in perfect condition but no longer fit you or probably will not be used by you ever again. Clothes can take up a lot of space, especially if you are an avid shopaholic. Chances are you probably won’t require all the different clothes you have at your new home, which is why you could probably donate the usable ones to charity.
We hope the above declutter home checklist proves to be useful to you and wish you a happy decluttering experience when you plan your move with a residential moving company!
See also: How to Save Money When Moving House?
