OPTED Magazine

We all have too much stuff.  Think about the last time you used half (or even more) of the things in your home and you’ll find the majority of what you own are “extras” that are taking up space.  And most of us aren’t living in mansions, let’s be honest, so space is limited — everything you brought into your home now has to be lugged to your new one when you move.  Why not take this opportunity to declutter your possessions?  It’s the perfect time.

My declutter strategy when I move

It’s important to keep an open mind during the “declutter while you move” process.  For instance, if I find a box buried in my closet with the contents untouched for years, my default response is that everything in that box is history.  It can be trashed, donated or sold.  If I REALLY wanted what was in there, it wouldn’t be in the back of a closet untouched.

I begin by moving room to room, just as I mentioned when discussing the idea of an organized move.  I give myself an afternoon, or a room a day, and apply a critical eye to every object.  How much of what I see is there because I have no place for it?  Is this a necessity, do I love it, can I live without it?

Another great piece of advice as you declutter during the moving process: imagine your new home with your ideal interior.  I imagine clean, open surfaces on coffee and end tables; bookcases with books on them and not the assortment of other junk that collects there; and cabinets and drawers with dividers and objects not spilling out when they’re opened.  I take that visual and imagine what is necessary to get me to that place — and in almost all cases, it requires me to own less stuff, less junk, less trinkets.

My critical eye gets me in trouble sometimes.  For instance, if something is broken or outdated, my mind tells me “Save it, it’s a new craft project!”  It’s definitely one of my stumbling blocks in the decluttering process.  I’ve had to also train myself to let go of something when it’s time has come and also be realistic about my time for craft and repair projects.  Usually all it takes is a trip to my craft room to see unfinished ideas and projects that I still need to complete in order to get my trashing and donating objects left and right!

Steps to aid the decluttering process

Everyone has different levels of clutter and also different moving situations.  You may be moving with your family, or moving in with your boyfriend/girlfriend.  Whether it’s a quick, one day in-town move or a cross country move, different strategies apply.  There are a couple tips for helping to facilitate the decluttering process:

• Tackle duplicate items — if you’re moving in with a significant other and you have duplicates of the same item (DVD’s or CD’s come to mind) take this opportunity to sell or donate the extra items.  There are two strategies for this.  I recommend making a visit to each other’s homes BEFORE the move, and pulling out what might be duplicates ahead of time.  Once all of it gets into the house, you can get caught up in “life” and not have time to purge.
• Hold a garage or yard sale — as you declutter and collect items you no longer need or want, group them together in one spot of your home for a pre-move yard sale.  You’d be surprised what someone would buy!  If you hold the yard sale before you donate items, you may end up getting more cash and whatever you don’t sell can be taken to a donations center.

No matter what your declutter strategy is, make time for a purging during the moving process.  You’ll be filling your new home with updated items and you’ll be glad you cleared out your old stuff!

This week is “moving week” on OPTED Magazine and this post is part of a 5 article series.  Check out the previous post on how to avoid moving scams.

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