Decluttering before a major house renovation

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I am planning a major house renovation which will mean moving out and putting most things into storage. I am thinking of trying to declutter as much as possible before this happens.

Has anyone done this? Hoping to get rid of at least 30 to 40 per cent of my things - clothes, books, kitchen stuff, etc plus a few bits of furniture.

Yes just done this! I don’t think I managed 30-40 per cent though. But probably reduced our storage stuff from 4 or 5 containers to 3.

A few bits of larger furniture went on gumtree or to family and friends. Some items I donated to the British Heart Foundation.
Some items will be housed with family rather than in storage (art, plus items they’d like to use like heaters and pressure washer)
Smaller stuff, like clothes or kitchen items, I let go of anything I hadn’t used for ages (bin or charity depending on condition).
Also got rid of things we wouldn’t need in the post renovation house, eg our kitchen bin that will be replaced with a built in one.
Didn’t buy anything new, except for essentials and presents, for the best part of a year before we moved out!

Thanks Minipie. Good tip about using gum tree - I might use that to advertise a few bits of larger furniture that I want to get rid of. Even a small amount of money for them will be good. I am also going to try not to buy anything from now on until the house is finished!

Read Marie kondo "the life changing magic of tidying". We've got rid of sooooo much stuff using her methods. Like the equivalent of about 40 bin bags of stuff and we're not done yet

RangerLady - yes, I am going to try to put her principles into practice! I am trying to be really brutal with clothes, which is hard, as some of them are very nice - but I just don’t wear them. Books will be easy. Might try to halve things like towels, sheets, crockery, vases, etc.

I got rid of loads of stuff after selling the big family home then the house I was buying collapsed (literally) so I put my stuff into storage and rented a furnished flat for 10 months. When I moved into new house and unpacked i couldn't believe the stuff I'd stored. I'd done without this stuff for nearly a year and hadn't missed it so I ruthlessly rehomed/recycled a lot of it.

We didn't do enough before renovations (we didn't move out and simply ran out of space) ended up throwing out stuff after we finished! Gumtree, freecycle and eBay are good options or a small skip can be a good solution for rubbish (I'm sure we spent more on petrol going to the dump than the cost of a skip)

Be ruthless, I am constantly decluttering and the other day I thought of something I had regretted decluttering. And now a few days later I can’t remember what it was so it can’t have been that important! Most of us have got far too much stuff.

I've heard plenty of stories of people being messed around by potential buyers on Gumtree and Facebook. We used eBay to sell unwanted furniture - 10 day auctions ending on a Sunday pm worked well. Buyer collects, payment on collection only. Starting price 99p with no reserve.

Anything of value will have people contacting you asking for a BIN price or making you offers. We took the view that it was better to get something for the stuff we didn't want and to not have the hassle of disposing of it. Plus the ts and cs offer you some protection.

We have a set of matching bedroom furniture to a charity because we needed it gone and it came with the house rather than being ours.

With regard to your clothes. You said something like - you will have trouble getting rid, you like them but don't wear them.
Right then, listen up. You have emotionally attached yourself to those things ( probably more then just the clothes) If you seriously want, or more to the point need to downsize the amount of stuff you currently own try to detach those emotions. Look upon every item you own as a want or a need . As a clothes example, you have 20 jumpers, you love them all, but in reality, you don't need 20 so keep just 5 or six . That works for everything.
Also when it comes down to other stuff (non clothes)
Don't keep if broken
If it might be useful one day( that never happens)
If someone bought for you, but you have never used.
If an item hasn't been used for past few years.
If it could be handy ... one day.
Good luck !

Thanks for all the tips!

VictoriaBun - what you say about emotional attachment is so true!

Feeling really inspired to declutter!

Another way of letting go of nice things you don’t use is to think: am I the best owner for this item?

I like the idea that the jumper/skirt etc that wasn’t quite right for me, is going to be perfect for someone else who finds it on ebay or in the charity shop. They are the right owner for it. I hate waste so I much prefer that idea to it sitting in my wardrobe giving me puppy dog eyes.

It might be useful one day... ahhh that’s my mum’s mantra! She can always envisage a possible use no matter how obscure the item, eg “This would be great if you ever have to go to a costume party dressed as an Elizabethan ghost”. Needless to say none of us ever did...

Good food for thought minipie!