Dejunk and Declutter Before Moving House

When moving house it can be incredibly tempting to just throw all your belongings in boxes and sort it out once you arrive at your new home. However, the most successful home moves will involve thoroughly de-cluttering your house prior to moving day.

Not only will this make settling in to your new home much easier, but it will also save you time, money and energy on moving day – three things that will already be in short supply! The fewer items you take with you, the quicker it will be to pack and load them and it will also mean you require a smaller removals van, reducing your removals costs.

A clean, clutter-free house will also be much more attractive to potential buyers, ensuring your property is sold and off the market as quickly as possible.

So before you begin to pack away your furniture and belongings, follow our three simple tips to successfully dejunk and declutter your home…

#1 Make A Plan

Before driving straight in, the first thing you should do is make a plan. Trying to tackle everything at once will be incredibly frustrating – as well as exhausting – and can lead to a less thorough process as you get progressively bored.

Instead, it is much more effective to pre-plan days in advance and work on one room at a time. You can then allow yourself time to thoroughly evaluate each item within it and avoid rushing through everything in one whirlwind weekend.

#2 Get Prepared

Once you have planned a schedule for each individual room, it is time to purchase your packing materials. Don’t attempt to declutter your home with just a few bin liners and a couple of carrier bags to hand; make sure you have all the items necessary to perform efficient and effective organisation.

Your packing material shopping list should include: boxes and bags to store both the items you wish to keep and the items you longer want, as well as labels and marker pens to ensure you know what’s within each box or bag and whether you are keeping it, donating it or throwing it out. In addition, if you are sorting through sensitive documents, it is recommended that you use a shredder before throwing anything away.

#3 Be Ruthless

This is the key part of the de-cluttering process – be ruthless! It’s easy to impose value on objects that don’t warrant your sentiment or resist throwing it out ‘just in case’ you ever need it. However, in reality, a good rule to live by is you haven’t used it in the past six months then you’re not likely to use it again.

However, this method does require a bit of common sense. Old documents, for example, may need to be kept and the winter coat that you haven’t used throughout the summer will come in useful again once the temperature drops.

Go through each item you own and ask yourself if you honestly need it, want it or use it. Then, based upon those answers, you can divide your belongings into the items you want to keep, the items you can donate and the items you need to throw away. You can then begin packing them up accordingly.

Once you have de-cluttered your home, the removals process can begin. The professionals here at Harradines offer a comprehensive removals and storage service, ensuring your move is as smooth and stress-free as possible. We even offer a complete house packing service if you so require, making sure your belongings are packed and loaded safely and securely.

For more information on our home removals service, simply give the experts at Harradines a call today – 020 3124 1811!