Decluttering your home before a move
April 1, 2022
Decluttering your home before a move
A move is a perfect time to declutter your home. Decluttering, room by room, while you are packing can save you and your movers valuable time and means fewer boxes to move. Taking the time to declutter while you are packing gives you the chance to weed out things you don’t use, that are broken, or that you don’t remember even having in your house.
Instead of trying to do the whole house at once, it’s best to take it room by room. Have a box for donating, disposing of, and packing. As you are going through each room, consider how often you use each item and whether it has a place in your new home.
If you work better with a checklist, there are several you can download online or make one for yourself for every room in the house. Checklists can help keep you on task, but if they tend to unnerve and stress you just take it room by room.
Bathroom
Start with your towels, washcloths, and hand towels. Throw out any that are tattered, torn, or have holes in them.
Go through your medicine cabinet and get rid of any outdated medications. Local pharmacies and police stations usually have a designated drop-off for old or unused medications.
Toss any old make-up that you no longer use or need. Make sure your make-up brushes are still in good condition and clean.
Look through your hair styling supplies. Do you still use all the curling irons, flat irons, and hair dryers? A lot of homes have 2 or 3 curling irons or hair dryers, if you don’t use them all, this is a good time to get rid of the extra ones.
Kitchen
Go through your dish towel drawer and get rid of any that are tattered. Do the same with placemats and table cloths.
Get rid of any old canned goods or food in your pantry. If you purchased food that you later decided not to eat, and it is not expired, consider donating it to a local food pantry.
Cookware, utensils and small appliances tend to gather over the years. Go through and sort out any duplicates. Do you need 5 wooden spoons and 6 baking trays? If the answer is no, put them in the donation pile.
Check your appliances to make sure the cords and wiring are not corroded and they are still safe to use. If not consider recycling them and replace with newer, safer models.
Donate any containers that have no longer have lids and those lids that no longer have containers.
Go through your coffee cups and water bottles. Decide which ones you use and which ones are just taking up space.
Get rid of or donate any cookbooks that you no longer use to cook meals for your family.
Living Room
Throw away or donate any magazines that you have already read. Go through your bookshelves. If you are not attached to or going to read, a particular book again, consider donating it to your local public library or local school library. There are a lot of online places to donate or sell used books as well. Do the same with your videos and DVDs. If you aren’t watching them again consider donating or selling them to a local used DVD store.
Go through any video game systems or controllers you no longer game with and donate them to a local hospital or sell them to a local gaming store.
Blankets are another item that can get cluttered. Go through your blanket stash and keep the ones that you love and use the most. Blankets can be washed and taken to local shelters or donated.
Bedrooms
Start with your closet. Anything that you don’t wear frequently or haven’t worn in the last year can be taken to a local shelter, donated, or sold online. Shoes that are in good shape that you don’t wear can be donated or sold too.
Bedrooms are also usually full of books. Go through books and keep any that you will read again and donate the rest.
Go through your sheets and bedding. Get rid of anything that is tattered or old and replace it as needed. If you haven’t replaced your pillows in several years, now is a good time.
Jewelry is also something we tend to accumulate a lot over the years. Go through and donate any jewelry that you don’t have an attachment to or that you do not wear often.
If you have children, toys and stuffed animals are big areas to declutter. Have your children help go through their toys so they know what is being donated. Let them know they are making room for new things. The same with their stuffed animals. Let them go through and keep the ones that mean the most to them.
Pet beds and toys
Animal items can get cluttered too. Get rid of any expired pet medications, you can take these to local pharmacies and police stations to be disposed of properly
Go through pet bedding and get rid of anything that is torn or shredded.
Pets can accumulate toys just like children. If your pet doesn’t like or play with certain toys, now is a good time to get rid of them. If they are still in good condition consider cleaning them up and donating them to a local shelter.
One room at a time
Contact your local pharmacy or police department about disposing of old medications. Your local dump or waste management department can tell you when your local hazmat days are for disposing of cleaning supplies, old paint, or anything toxic.
We all accumulate more than we need over time. That is especially clear to us when it’s time to move. Start room to room and take it one item at a time. Consider what you can donate that might help someone else.