Preparing for the Move: the Guide to De-clutter

Home moves are complex and involve a variety of tasks that you have to take care of – some of them you would not even expect are involved in the process. Of course, the first thing anybody is going to tell you is to find a man with a van who you can trust and can afford, but home moving is not only about coming across the perfect property to relocate and the man and van company that is going to take your goods to it. Most of all, it is about planning and preparing.

The most important thing you have to do is decide what you are going to take in your new home. If you have lived in your current place for years, chances are you have accumulated a lot of useless stuff that you are anyway not going to need in the new life you are going to live at the location you are moving in to.

That is why you should start de-cluttering your place at least a month before you pack your things and go. De-cluttering in the best way to decide what to get with you and what you will not, and will give you a better impression at what you actually have in terms of furniture, decoration, appliances, books and other personal items.

De-cluttering is however a much tougher job that one might suspect, which is why you should be acquainted with the basics, which are as follows:

• You should be methodical. Start one room at the time and do not move to the next one until you are finished. Get the kitchen in order first, and then move to the living room, the bedroom and other areas of your current home. Leave the cellar and the garage for last, because they are usually the hardest places to de-clutter and you would use the energy and skills you have accumulated while tackling the rest of the house.
• There is the so called 12 month rule, which basically states that any item you have not used in the past year you are not going to use in the year to come too. So just get rid of those pieces the moment you see them – you can throw them away, but you can also sell them online, give them to a friend or make a donation.
• Selling items online is the best way to both get rid of unused objects and make some profit. It is quite easy, especially in the times that we currently live in. Ebay offers great opportunities for online sells, but so do a variety of other places on the web – just look them up.
• Be environmentally responsible. Those items that you are not sellable, or usable for that matter, should be disposed of properly – meaning that you should recycle whatever can be recycled at the proper places. If you live in London that is easy, because every borough here has at least one recycling depot on its territory.

Related:

The Parking in London Guide Moving Guide for Seniors Preserving your sanity when moving – a guide