All that treasure/junk in the spare room, hiding in the garage, filling every corner of the loft, that you keep promising to sort out… Now’s the time! There’s no point paying to move it, only to have it fill up space in your new home.
Here’s some easy steps to declutter and clear out, before your move.
1 Room
You don’t have to tackle the entire house in one go! That can be daunting and stop you getting started. Pick one room at a time and spread the job over multiple days/weekends to make the whole task more manageable. “I cleared the spare room. I win, I win!”
6 Month Rule
Pick an item that’s up for debate, “Should I throw it, should I keep it…?” Have you used it in the last 6 months? Will you use it in the next 6 months? If it’s a ‘no’, let it go!
Fashion Police
Coats, cagoules, kaftans… Are you guilty of hoarding clothes? If you haven’t worn them in the last year (or three) there’s probably a reason. Free up space and let them have a new life with a new owner. “Fly my pretties, fly!”
Reduce & Replace
If some of your ‘treasures’ have been gathering dust for years, you could let them go now, on the promise that you can always upgrade and relace with a new and improved version at a later date.
New Lease Of Life
“But it’s still got life in it…” isn’t an excuse to not let things go. If you’re not using it, someone else will. Rather than consign items to landfill, give them a new life and new owner by donating them or listing them on sites like ebay, Facebook and Vinted. You could even make a few quid to decorate your new property.
Thin Line
It’s only natural to hold onto items of sentimental value. But there’s fine line between family heirlooms and crazy box of weirdness! Are you ever going to display it/use it/share it or are you just refusing to let go? Yes, that first baby onesie is a treasure, keep it. Stroking their first school bag while repeating ‘My precious.’ is slightly disturbing. Thin the herd!
Tough Love
Still struggling? Maybe it’s time to call in reinforcements. Rope in a friend to help, they’re more likely to make clear, calculated judgements on all those old suitcases full of ‘tat’, without being weighed down by emotional baggage.
Now pull on those rubber gloves, slip on that headband, grab your Walkman and Rocky III cassette and get to work!!!
“Gonna fly now… Flying high now… Gonna fly, fly!”
And if you own a headband, Walkman and Rocky III cassette, you definitely need to declutter.