Decluttering to move...

[lucysmam]

Give me your top tips here please!

Thanks

Bump!

Anything you've not used or worn for two years, get rid of. Things you've hung onto for sentimental reasons, can you take photos, get them made into other things? Sell things but recognise you won't get much for them, give things to charity. Give things away.

Use decluttering as a way of organising things and box stuff up logically. It will make moving and unpacking easier.

Room at a time, I aimed to get four bags a week out to the charity shop and do a tip run periodically. Oh and list ten things per week on the Olio app.

Take it step by step. Tackle one thing at a time!

your wardrobe
kids clothes
pick a cupboard or drawer etc.

Go digital - get rid of all CDs, books, DVDs (how many do you really use over and over?) Use the library instead.

Pace yourself - you can only take so much to the charity shop/dump at a time so e.g. do as much as your car boot can hold at a time. Otherwise you’ll just be cluttering up your hallway or garage while you catch up with getting rid of it all.

Make it a lifestyle habit in future - regular declutters. Always have a charity bag on the go so you can chuck stuff in there regularly and take it when it’s full. Clear your wardrobe out every season or when your body changes shape etc.

Stop buying stuff! That’s the biggest tip. You probably don’t need it. Consider every purchase - how will you dispose of it at the end of its life?

My Mum put her moving on hold for so many years with the mindset of organise before moving. Then the whole lot got shipped organised and pretty much has remained in boxes ever since.

In some ways why not just pack the whole lot, hire a skip at the other end and deal with it then. I know it sounds arse about face but nesting in the new place will probably be more fun.

I have been decluttering like mad ready to move. Two places where I made a difference were the coat rack and the airing cupboard. There were several coats that are too shabby to wear now, so out they went. I sorted all the towels in the airing cupboard, looking for slightly frayed/worn ones, and filled two bin bags! The dog rescue place were very happy to accept them.

Other tips, sort out your saucepans, crockery etc. I had far more saucepan lids than I actually need, I think they have just accumulated over the years. Likewise flower vases - I have just kept a couple of sizes.

Oh and do the attic first!

@SwanFlight yes, I see what you mean about doing it in the new place being more fun - I was thinking about decorating & little things earlier. Like, I need to replace the frame that my favourite photo of dd2 is in (broken), but actually, I'll wait now until we move and decorate the room it'll be in.

I might start with a list - organise my mind a bit. One cupboard/drawer/space at a time. Doesn't really matter if it's not all done by the time we move.

I think I just need to feel in control maybe 🤔

I made an epic list, room by room, listing all of the individual things that needed to be sorted. And I was ruthless. Fuck moving with everything THEN decluttering, why would you do that? So satisfying to a) take less stuff and b) stop the cycle of shoving things you don't need into places you'll never sort and b) only take things you want and need, and find them proper homes.

So for example, my living room:

-bookcase
-drawers in tv unit
-blankets
-ornaments/pictures

A list of everything that needs to be done. And then you can tick one thing at a time and feel very proud of yourself.

I just read an article today about someone taking up the minimalism challenge, which was to take one article in the home away, next day 2, next day 3 all the way up to 30 articles a day.
They did this challenge several times.
They said that no one in the family noticed anything was missing and that the items removed ranged from expired food and medication to toys and clothing.
I thought that was an interesting and perhaps less painful way of feeling that you are in control without being overwhelmed, and initially it wouldn't take too much time, and I presume you would have less trouble as the days progressed.
I suppose it depends on how much time you have to prepare for your move!

Don't agonise over things that can easily be bought again if you decide you made a mistake.

Chuck out your oldest towels, bedlinen, pillows, cushions, clothes etc and start using any that you keep "for best", for special occasions or for guests. Again, if you feel later you don't have enough, this is not a big deal.

Look especially critically at old technology that can be replaced with digital equivalents, books, CDs, DVDs, radios, small TVs.

Get rid of all mass-produced vases, ornaments, pictures, Xmas decorations, candles, and the like.

For sentimental items, prioritise keeping ones which are not likely to get broken in the move or wear out over the next few years. Keep them all if in any doubt and just spend time packing everything carefully.

Don't forget anything in the garden or garage. Those boxes of used screws that might come in handy, rusty, blunt, worn out tools, the lawnmower that doesn't actually cut grass.

People say get rid, but where will it go? At best you'll take it to a charity shop. And you could chip away with a box a week.

I know it sounds ridiculous to take everything and then sort, I've just seen the colossal stress put upon a person by thinking they needed to organise everything first. It stopped them putting the house on the market for years. It then all became organised clutter, clutter that is now parked somewhere tidily where it never gets used.

Of course it would be smart for you to do some sorting, thinning out as you box up. Good linens are actually hard to find. So I say hang on to your best bedding!

If I were to bin clothes that I haven't worn in two years, my wardrobe would be pared down to about 7 t-shirts and two pairs of trousers. Then again I haven't that many clothes.

Costs quite a bit to move stuff and then sort it out. Much longer to feel settled and at home too.

The areas that drive the most clutter / packing hassle are in my view, the loft, the garage/shed, kids toys and at an epic level the kitchen. We all have china and kitchen stuff we don’t use any more. Endless mugs! Outgrown toys, shoes, coats and detritus

Do the loft/shed/garage first otherwise they are likely to be forgotten on moving day. (I had to persuade DH that he didn't need to take "useful" offcuts of wood.)

Be ruthless. Start small and be organised when you’re doing it.
dont empty a whole room, its overwhelming and ends up in a guddle. Do the kitchen drawer by drawer/cupboard by cupboard.
go round the house methodically. I had a massive declutter last time I moved and I still have things in boxes never unpacked after 2 years. It’s on my to do list to have yet another clear out and sell/donate/bin stuff

We sold anything that could be sold, paid someone to remove clutter and did several tip runs. Downsizing concentrates the mind.

I see no point in paying for removal people to pack and transport stuff that you’ll get rid off.

Clothes declutter was ruthless, but it went to charity shops.

We sold some furniture and sold other furniture to the people buying the house. After we moved, we sold some more!

There’s no point paying to move stuff you want to get rid off, it’s just wasted money! Unless the move is very imminent you e got time to tackle some of it. Aim to do a little a week.

We found after decluttering ahead of moving, that we got rid of all the “definitely remove” stuff - outgrown kids toys and clothes, books, worn out things, things from the shed or garage that were beyond repair or no longer useful.

Then, once we’d moved, there was more to go as it didn’t all suit or fit our new house.

Watching with interest as I have a shit hole of a spare bedroom that I need to sort out before I can downsize.

I would declutter where you are rather than pay to move it!

I moved 3 times in 4 years and by the end I only needed one truck to move us.

I gave things away via Facebook and friends, gave to the charity shop, hired skips and went to the tip.

I started with my clothes and went room by room.

It's a process and it takes time. It can be overwhelming. I'm still decluttering now but it's not nearly as bad.

Yes and no. Sometimes brain space is far more precious.

Unless you need the money, give everything away. Facebook marketplace will shift all sorts in a jiffy and otherwise you spend oodles of time with people determined to haggle over £5

We moved abroad, money helped focus our minds as we simply couldn’t afford to use couriers/international movers, so I needed to be able to move everything in a few camper van trips. We weren’t taking our furniture with us, so that did make life easier.

We got rid of any clothing that didn’t fit/hadn’t been worn in a while (a limited amount of technical gear was excluded). We did similar with kitchen tech, not used on a weekly basis meant it went.

With kids toys we got rid of most things that aren’t regularly played with.

I don’t know how long it is until you move, we had the luxury of time so we could do one room per weekend as we also had easy access to a donation warehouse with parking and really good opening hours.

Your kids are older, get them to take quite a bit of responsibility for their rooms. We had a box method, each person was allocated a certain number of boxes and nothing more. It helps reduce again when you know you have to physically fit everything you need into a certain number of boxes. It also means things you need, but don’t need everyday are packed away and boxed during the sorting process.

This is so true. I gave away so much and it pained me a bit but I couldn't deal with the faff and kept remembering when I'd read Marie Kondo years ago. You've served me, thank you, now give someone else joy!