Home Downsizing: 3 Tips to Cut Down on Clutter
Moving to a new house is one of the most stressful events people will experience, and it can be made even worse when downsizing. All of a sudden, your storage space is cut in half, but you still have all of your possessions? This can be an overwhelming situation to encounter; boxes with nowhere to go, clothes with no space to hand, and so on.
In this situation, decluttering is a must. It’s a challenging task, parting from some of your belongings, but it is essential if you want to simplify moving to a smaller home. This will enable you to move through your house with ease, instead of toppling boxes stacked on top of each other with every move.
To learn how to cut down on clutter when moving to a smaller home, continue reading.
Begin Before Moving
The first aspect of decluttering during a move is beginning well before the move even begins. This means as soon as you know you want to move, you should begin sorting through items you no longer use or want. Although this can seem premature, it will set you up for a much easier moving process.
By doing this, you can space out the keep-toss-donate decisions to avoid rushing through the process. Items you keep do not have to be kept in the house, either; you can hire a storage unit to keep particular items, like Christmas decorations or garden furniture, for a reasonable price. For example, Centron Self Storage allows you to calculate the unit size you require before renting, which can reduce hassle and save you some money.
Choosing one day a week that you dedicate to decluttering will allow you sort through items slowly, instead of being forced to make choices quickly and without much thought. You can be consistent as you decide what to keep and choose how you will rid yourself of the items you no longer want.
Not only will this benefit you, it will also make your home look more spacious to potential buyers. This might mean the sale is quicker, allowing you to proceed further with the move. You’ll have less items to pack up when the time comes, too.
Sort Large and Small Items Separately
When decluttering, it can be tempting to only focus on the small items; after all, these belongings can be easier to get rid of quickly. Clothes, collectibles, and the like can be boxed up and donated to charities, while bigger possessions can be difficult to transport.
Sorting items by size will allow you to get images of objects you want to sell on sites like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Vinted, etc., especially if you are offering to post items. This will allow you to book collections for items that you cannot sell or donate, such as damaged furniture. Your local charity that offers to collect donations can be arranged shortly before you downsize.
When you rid yourself of several items, you will save money with less moving boxes and vans required. This makes moving easier, and it will make unpacking your new home a simpler process as well.
Use the 80/20 Rule
This rule explains that most people only use 20% of their possessions 80% of the time, including clothes, kitchen gadgets, and other knick-knacks. Using the 80/20 rule can help people be ruthless when decluttering; if you have duplicates of certain items, then you can keep the most treasured ones and clear out the rest.
When using this rule for clothes, remember to look through the items you wear in each season. Some items will be better suited for fall and winter than spring and summer, so think year-round before throwing out heavy sweaters when decluttering in summer or shorts and dresses in winter.
