Store as much as you like for as long as you like
Store as much as you like for as long as you like
I don’t know about you, but we love a good clear out. And there is no better time than when you’re preparing for a house move. As you pack away your boxes, it’s the perfect time to rationalise, and finally get rid of some of the junk you’ve been hanging on to, but don’t want to take to your new home. It means you will have fewer boxes to carry, and by only taking what you need to your new house, you will pay less for the move in the long run. If it’s almost time for your move and you want to shed as much stuff as you can beforehand, then keep reading!
First off, set yourself up for decluttering success by creating a game plan ahead of time. This is mainly a schedule of when you want to tackle each room of your house. Set yourself an appointment to declutter, and make sure you stick to it. But be realistic in your estimates. Some movers will be able to blitz through their entire house in a single weekend, while others may only be able to handle one room a week, or an hour every few days. Find what timeframe works for you. Another thing you should remember is that when you start to get fatigued – stop. Take a break and don’t let yourself get fed up or overwhelmed by the process. If you do that, you’re more likely to give up. Choose an amount of time that you’ll be able to use to make good decisions and manage the work with as little stress as possible.
When you’re trying to work out where to focus your efforts for decluttering, start with the rooms you spend the least amount of time in. The reasoning for this is simple. The rooms that you spend all day every day in might be full of clutter, but most of it is probably clutter you use. It’s the rooms you almost never go in that end up harbouring all of the junk you can easily get rid of before the move. They become a haven for the od bits and pieces you’ve used once and never looked at again, and the culprits are always the same. The spare bedroom. Under the stairs. The shed. The garage. That one cupboard you’d rather not think about. We all have a space like that in the house, so that’s the best place to start. But remember to also set aside a little more time to handle these rooms. They are more likely to contain emotional keepsakes as well, which will take a bit more time to sort through.
You will be able to get the vast majority of your decluttering done before you move, especially if you’re organised. But the decluttering doesn’t stop once you’re in the new place. As you unpack into new spaces, you will find more and more things you can get rid of. This could be because the space is different to how you imagined or where you came from, so you don’t need some of the things you brought. Or it could be that you got tired or ran out of time at the end of packing, so you just started throwing things into boxes. This is one of the reasons you should declutter at the other end too. If you’re planning to buy new things to fit into your new home, make sure you donate older things to stay organised and uncluttered. A good rule to follow is that if you bring something new in, then you take 2 things out. This will help you stay decluttered in your new space.
Of course, sometimes you don’t want to get rid of things, but you don’t really have space for them in your new house either. When that happens, we’re here to help. We provide a range of self-storage solutions perfect for any house move. Whether you just need space for a few boxes of keepsakes, or a full sofa suite that just won’t fit in your new living room but you can’t bear to part with. With centres across the country, we help you keep your home clear of clutter, without having to throw things away. To find out more, just get in touch with one of our centres today.