Help me pack up my house!

[Peanutbutternutter419]

So we have finally decided that we are going to move house after 8years in our first home. We are in rented accommodation and LL is selling so we have a max of 6 months to move but I want to get a head start on the packing whilst on mat leave.

Where on earth do I start with packing up all our stuff? We currently don't have a garage or spare room so I can't pack things up and dump them in there and the house has to be presentable for viewings.

We have 2 DC and a hell of a lot of stuff has been accumulated through the years so I want to declutter as I go hence starting so soon.

Any advice/ suggestions would be great!

I'd start with clothes (like marie kondo recommends). Go through yours and dd's, charity shop any that are too small, duplicates, unloved. Then repeat for kitchen cupboard, cds/dvds/books etc.

If you have time then mk recommends taking everything off the shelf, or wherever, and only putting back the ones you love - it's surprisingly more effective than scanning across and pulling out ones you don't want.

You won't end up 'packed', (but without anywhere to put boxes and an uncertain timeframe that's a good thing - if you can live without something packed away for 4-6 months you probably don't need it - or it'll be annoying to realise you need something that's in a box somewhere) but when you do need to pack it'll be quicker as everything on your shelves and in your cupboards will be things that you really need and want to take with you.

I started with out of season clothing, extra pillows, wall decor, and decorative nick nacks.

Definitely start with clothes, and bedroom "crap".
I had 2 bin bags for each room, 1 for clothes/shoes to be binned and one for the clothes bank.
Then I went through general clutter and went on rule of: "have I used it in the last few years?" And "am I likely to use it in the next year?" - if the answer to both questions was "No" it got binned. I eliminated a lot of junk!!!

Declutter instead and when you come to move, pay a removal firm to pack for you. Worth every penny and you live normally with far less stress than packing yourselves.

Employ a moving company! Best thing we ever did, I always moved myself in the past but after moving when I was 7 months pregnant (I packed, OH moved) I couldn't face doing it with a 1 year old in tow.

So, we paid about £500 for some lovely chaps to come in, they packed our old house up in a half a day their only request was that we take the cot apart as they can be a pain. They packed, labelled and got everything loaded and unloaded in a day, they even reassembled our bed at the other end.

We plan to move again next year and I will most certainly be getting a remove company again.

The house does not have to be presentable for viewings, not your problem. I imagine you don't want to live with boxes for six months .

Time for a massive charity and Chuck session. You can rent storage if need be, but if you don't need something for six months think hard about whether you need it at all.

If thats your lot for kids everything outgrown can go for a start .

Thanks all, I have started on the clothes as advised. Got all our summer stuff out the loft and sorted the lot...I have 5 charity bags full from me, DH and DS! Has taken me all day but I feel amazing knowing it is all out of the house! I has freed up 2 very large storage boxes too which I plan to label one each for me and DH and all photos and keepsakes from up loft and around the house can go in there. I have to be strict and make sure we do not keep anything other than what can for on our box.
Feeling great to have started...please keep me going!!
R.e. The moving company...I would do this but I am really controlling that I would probably end up telling them they were doing it wrong!

wow - what a productive start! You are the declutter goddess

the idea of one box each is a good one. We don't have to live with nothing but we can all do with reducing.

At least you recognise it OP but they know their stuff and will do it far more quickly than you can.