De-cluttering before moving house

Are you having a sort out before your move?

There are many positive reasons for de-cluttering your property especially if you are trying to attract potential buyers.
Particularly when you are selling your property it is important to show the potential buyers a fresh, clean and spacious environment so they can imagine themselves living a life in your home.

We know from experience that moving will allow you to view all your possessions from new to old and many items you forgot you ever owned or simply never use.

With that in mind we suggest that you should really take advantage of this situation to have a good old sort out! “Oh but I might need it for…” well if you said this last year and the year before that then you probably might not need to use it at all. Obviously you need to decide how important the piece is before you decide to give it up and whether it is just a clutter item or it will have a function in the new property.

Especially during a down size move de-cluttering is particularly important to consider. The basic principles to work from here are; you have a smaller capacity in the new property and you need enough space to think and move around in. The psychological impact of moving house brings much relief once you are finally into your new property. The added pleasure of a sort out can really help to extend a clear mind set as you begin to function within a household that you use rather than living amongst possessions that you have no use for.

Here are Amor Removals top ten tips for a de-cluttered home:

1. Set aside 2 hours at any one time.
2. Break old habits; resist the freebies or the buying for the sake of the current deal this will just be adding to your clutter.
3. Where do I start? Start with something small and achievable like a draw or a cupboard.
4. What tools do you need to de-clutter? Bin bags, strong handled bags (not too big so you don’t fill it up too much), a timer for your 2 hours de-cluttering rule.
5. Listen to some uplifting music whilst de-cluttering to get you in a positive frame of mind.
6. Try and reduce the nostalgia attached to items and make quick decisions when categorising.
7. Categorise your clutter into piles, for e.g. Donate to charity, Recycle, Sell, give to Friends.
8. Dump duplicates, think along the lines of, “Before you bring something new home, think what you’re going to do with the one you already have”.
9. Once you have an amount of clutter ready to go, make sure you organise a lift or a handyman to help off load the items to where it needs to go. Be strict with friends let them know that they can have the items but they need to go by a certain date.
10. Be persistent – don’t stop until all the clutter is gone and you will feel all the rewards and long term benefits.

Have you got any tips for de-cluttering your house when moving? If so, let us know in the comments.