Clearing clutter by evaluating your stuff before a move
No one likes the process of moving, but it is an excellent chance to evaluate all the stuff that you have. Since my wife and I are downsizing our living space by one-third, we had to get rid of quite a lot of furniture and other odds and ends. (Just a quick note: People go for furniture like mad on Craigslist. Last week, we sold seven separate pieces of furniture in the span of six hours.)
We’ve hauled bags and bags of clothing and other miscellanea to our local Goodwill and it has been quite therapeutic to get a lot of it off our hands. Nothing motivates you more to clear then clutter from your home than boxing up all of your belongings. It does overwhelm you, but it will motivate you to curb your accumulation activities for the foreseeable future. I know it has had an effect on our outlook. The accumulation will have to be curbed quite a bit if we are to enjoy ourselves in our new, smaller home.
As we rid ourselves of items that we have absolutely no use for, the weight has literally and figuratively been lifted from our home. It is a great feeling. If you have experienced this, you know what I am referring to. But, if you have not and are holding on to things “just in case,” you may need to evaluate what exactly it is that you are keeping and why.
A lot of things we got rid of had emotional attachments or sentimental value. Since many of these items were stored away for so long, we got by without even knowing that we still had them in our possession. Honestly, it was quite easy to get rid of some of these items because we had forgotten about them. I had the hardest time parting with things that were gifts. Gifts that we never used or wanted in the first place. I felt guilty getting rid of some of this stuff, but I’ve found that the guilt was short lived and holding on to something only to store it away wasn’t treating the object any better.
If you are moving in the near future, make sure to take stock of your stuff. Make the tough decisions and begin to get rid of things that you may have forgotten. It doesn’t make sense to move these things into a new living space.
Read more of Matt’s moving tips: Resources to help you during a move, To market, to market, We’re downsizing our home, and After the yard sale.
Posted by Matt on Apr 10, 2008 |
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27 comments posted
Posted by Bill - 04/10/2008
When we moved we had two garage sales, took three small pickup truck loads to Goodwill and thought we had finished. Flash forward to after the move. Several more truckloads to council on aging thrift shop and still we have stuff, just less. It is a never ending battle.
Posted by balconygal - 04/10/2008
We, too, are downsizing and going through things we had completely forgotten about in only 6 years. We are moving to another state, back to the town I grew up in. I decided that if I moved to from said town when I went off to college 15 years ago then I shouldn’t be moving it back (and I’m talking mainly clothing here). If we don’t use it, it’s outta here. This site has been very inspirational in this great purge and I thank you for that!
Posted by Maria in Iowa - 04/10/2008
Here’s a tip on decluttering with a move: Allow yourself a week or so of overlap between houses, so that you can move everything you want to keep to the new place, then have a giant sale at the old one. You won’t have to haul as much, plus people can see furniture in room settings where it looks better than out on the driveway.
We have done this twice.
Posted by Recovering Food Waster - 04/10/2008
We’re planning on moving soon, so for the last year or so, I’ve been slowly decluttering our home(starting WAY ahead of time and doing it slowly and thoughtfully works best for me).
When you have to look at each item you own and think, “Do I want to pack this in a box and pay to move it to another state?”, it really decreases your desire for unnecessary possessions!
Posted by Dream Mom DBA www.dreamorganizers.com - 04/10/2008
Oh, I couldn’t agree more. I sold my house a few years back and moved to a smaller place. I got rid of a lot of furniture and it felt really good. I learned a lot and now try to keep only those things I really use or love. It’s funny how having to physically move something you don’t need makes you think twice about it. On a personal note, I still find it hard to get rid of things that are very sentimental. My teenage son has a progressive neurological disease and I had a hard time parting with some of his leg braces even though he doesn’t need them anymore. He hasn’t been able to stand in a few years now and will never walk again. I was able to get rid of a few but still kept his first pair, his last pair and one in between.
On a professional note, I have two clients that are moving right now and I am going through the process with each of them. One other thing that I find is helpful is to create a space plan (furniture plan) of where your furniture will go in your new place. It helps you determine what furniture pieces you can get rid of now. Interestingly enough, I just posted pictures last night of my first home staging on my blog of a client who went through this process. I start next week on organizing the garage and packing things up for her move.
Finally, it’s important to remember that it’s easier to get rid of things when you are moving “up” to a nicer place. For older people, sometimes they are moving from a home they loved to a less desirable place (assisted living) and making decisions to part with their things can be a lot more emotional and challenging.
Good post.
Posted by Bryan Person, BryanPerson.com - 04/10/2008
Great post and timely advice. My family and I are actually planning a move over the summer, and I’ve already been thinking about how it will give us a good chance to get rid of stuff we don’t really need.
We also have boxes of stuff in the basement that I didn’t want to get rid of. But since it’s been down there for a few years without my really thinking about it at all, it should make parting with most of it much easier.
Posted by Trent Hamm - 04/10/2008
Moving is the single best time to declutter. My wife and I agreed that when we moved recently, we would only take half of our stuff with us, so we started making two huge piles in the living room. We then sold or gave away everything we decided not to take – it massively reduced our levels of “stuff” by really making us think about what was needed and what wasn’t. And, frankly, most of it wasn’t.
(No, we didn’t end up getting rid of half of our stuff. It was closer to about 40% in the end.)
Posted by Jen - 04/10/2008
Great post. My fiance & I moved to Oregon (from Michigan) last August, and then we moved back in October (unexpected pregnancy!) We got rid of so much stuff with the first move, and I was amazed how much we got rid of just after 3 months! It’s insane what can be accumulated in such a short amount of time, and it’s proof that regularly going through your “stuff” and making those tough decisions is a staple for simple living. Doing it regularly sure helps for when you move in the future because then it isn’t such a huge project.
Thanks for the great post!
Posted by Vered - 04/10/2008
“it has been quite therapeutic to get a lot of it off our hands”. Couldn’t agree more. Decluttering is therapeutic, and moving is a great opportunity do declutter, especially if you start a few months prior to the moves so that the task of decluttering doesn’t add to the pressure of the move.
Posted by Awesome Mom - 04/10/2008
We too are getting rid of a lot of stuff in anticipation of our upcoming move. Moving has been the only way to get my husband who is a pack rat to get rid of stuff.
Posted by julia - 04/10/2008
I found it hard to get rid of items that were gifts as well, even if just hand-me-downs from Grandma. What helped was imagining if I had given something to another person. Would I want that person holding onto it only because I gave it to them? No! I want people to live a clutter-free life.
PS – My plan is to never upsize, so I won’t feel I need to downsize later. We’ll see if that works…
Posted by Barry - 04/10/2008
I like this idea a lot, but why wait until you move? A mini-version of this can be done, say, each time someone comes over to visit. As a part of the usual cleaning-up-in-anticipation-of-the-guest routine, why not dig a little deeper and make it a point to go through three boxes, or toss out three unneeded items. Over time (depending on how often people visit you) it will certainly add up!
Posted by FloridaBird - 04/10/2008
Our last move was from a house to a condo. The movers took the big stuff, and my husband and I moved the little and fragile stuff. What was shocking to me was how many pairs of shoes I had, nicely stored in plastic see-through shoe boxes. Although they all fit into our closet, having that many pairs of shoes was obscene. I am now down to 12 pair, including all the mandatory flip-flops. (We live in Florida.)
Although we didn’t move much extraneous stuff (except for shoes), it was interesting to me that sometimes you have items that you think you “should” have. For example, I had a couple of oven mitts. I don’t ever USE mitts, so why did I have them? I had just mindlessly put the mitts in with the hot pads and didn’t even consider WHY I own them. I filled a big box with these types of items and sent to Goodwill.
Posted by Ray - 04/10/2008
I just ruthlessly sold off two boxes of text books from college that I still hoped to get around to reading (I’m 25). Why? Because I’m about to move, and I realized that these books had been through THREE moves with me, still unread.
I swore they would not go into another Uhaul with me.
I made $98.00 on them.
Posted by Dr. Nicole Sundene - 04/10/2008
Ahhh…I don’t need to clean I just need to move! Thanks for clearing that up…
Posted by Michael - 04/10/2008
Every time I move, I always clear out belongings in an organized way.
It is just amazing how much “stuff” can be gathered in such a short amount of time living somewhere. I’ve also noticed that the more storage space / square footage you have is almost directly proportionate to extra “stuff” — the human condition likes to fill containers and empty space.
Matt is right on about the great feeling after getting rid of those useless items that often clutter our lives. Great post!
My last move really allowed me to get rid of a lot of items that served no purpose — gave a huge amount to the Goodwill and also sold a lot just by using Amazon.com; pretty cool to get money back for things that were basically just dead weight.
Posted by Jay - 04/10/2008
I second the thought that moving is the best time to declutter.
Decluttering a home of objects is mental and physical. You must decide to get rid of an object, and you must find and pick up the object.
When you move, you are forced to do the physical half of decluttering; you must literally touch and pick up every object you own. The only extra effort you have to make is mental: to decide whether to junk it (sell it, give it away, or trash it) or keep it.
If you are unable or unwilling to declutter while moving, will you ever declutter?
Posted by Jesse - 04/10/2008
My family’s last move was from a 1,600 sq. ft. house to a 1,400 sq. ft. condo. With only two adults and one child, we still feel like we have more than enough room for everything, but our comfort was only realized after a lot of paring down, organizing, and just plain getting rid of unnecessary junk. We like the condo lifestyle with its low maintenance, but we do miss the garage storage space. I agree that moving is a great time to get rid of stuff and streamline your lifestyle. Thanks for the great info!
Posted by learning_the_ropes - 04/10/2008
It is so very true. I thought I was doing a great job uncluttering, until I had to move. We took another stock of all that we had, got rid of a lot of stuff. Earlier I was whining and whining about the lack of closets in the new place, after a few rounds of uncluttering (shredding a box full of papers, getting rid of obsolete clothing). Now everything fits in the small storage space that we had, with lots of room to spare. I am amazed at how little storage we actually need.
Posted by Michele - 04/10/2008
I have enjoyed reading the posts about your move. It is inspiring in my own journey toward reduced clutter to see your progress, even though it seems you have already come so far.
Posted by Carrie - 04/10/2008
I also took a box-check about a year after our move. If I haven’t opened the box since we moved in, and I can’t tell you what’s in it? Out it goes. This rule also helped when my husband’s parents passed. His sister kept handing us boxes of things she thought he’d want to keep. He gave a quick look through, then put them away. If they didn’t tempt him he pitched them.
Posted by Kimberly - The Good Life on a Budget - 04/10/2008
I went through a very thorough purging exercise before my recent move. It felt really good to donate so much stuff and moving in to my new place was much easier since I had fewer things. My new place is smaller but far less congested than my old place.
Posted by Helen - 04/10/2008
The only reason I like to move is that it gives me the opportunity to declutter. I’ll be moving in a couple of months to a smaller unit; I kept 2/3 of the packing boxes I used in my previous move and I don’t intend to use all of them this time around! Yes, decluttering almost makes moving a pleasure… almost.
Posted by Beth - 04/11/2008
I have purchased my first home and will be moving at the end of May. The temptation is, since I will be moving “UP” with garage storage – to take everything.
The reality is – starting this weekend – I am going through a room at a time and purging what I don’t want to pack or pay someone to haul for me.
Posted by Curious Bunny - 04/12/2008
A while back, Serious Bunny and I took the crazy step of decluttering as though we were going to move. We do actually plan to move in a few years, but thought we might as well get rid of everything we won’t be taking with us. We’re still working through the final bits and pieces, but this was a great, great thing to do – the house is much emptier and feels a lot more serene as a result.
Heartily recommend playing “let’s pretend” on this one
Posted by Janet Falk - 04/14/2008
We moved from a 3 BR apartment to a 3 BR apt; before the move, we gave away the furniture from 1 BR. That meant the new place had a room with no furniture in it.
Once we got into the new place, we put all the boxes we could possibly fit in that empty room and called it Box City. Even though we had given away loads of books, clothes and household items, we still had stuff a plenty. But by keeping it in Box City, we could manage the process and live comfortably in the rest of the apartment. We continued to find things we could offload. Soon Box City became Box Village. Two months later, it is not even Box Neighborhood.
Since we moved, we lived with almost no clutter. Now it has crept back in. Today, we took photos of every room in the new apt. for my mother-in-law, who cannot travel to see us. That meant every room had to be de-cluttered to make the photos “interior design magazine picture perfect.” After the photo shoot, I put things back in their place. I feel renewed.
I hope these pointers on an empty room and photo shoot help others.
Posted by Johanna - 04/13/2009
What a wonderful post. Although we won’t ever be moving (I hope) I’m decluttering as if we were.
My husband and I live in a townhouse (attached on both sides) and have the laundry/service room all the way in the back, behind a wall in the back yard. It is a perfect place to hide clutter and junk! And so it was… filled to the brim with shelves from top to bottom and side to side on all four walls!
Last year we decided that it would be the perfect place to set up a massage room for me. I hired a workman who was supposed to come last May, as soon as he was finished with his job at the time, about 2 weeks.
So we hauled everything out to the patio, the terrace, and a few rooms in the house… total chaos, but temporary (so I thought).
Then the rainy season started and we had to shove everything back inside… I was so upset! Then, I had an AHAA moment. I decided that it was the Universe’s way of telling me that I had to ‘get rid’ of most of the stuff.
So I’ve spent most of this last year really analizing every single thing that was there… giving away and tossing, even the shelving!
The workman finally came 2 weeks ago and everything is a mess again, but I’m HAPPY! I will have a spacious, clean laundry room and sewing area with only the essentials, plus a small attic-type space for necessary storage; AND a beautiful massage and Spa room so that I can work at home.
I plan to go through every single box and bag BEFORE I put anything away again.
I just love the ‘breathing room’ that we’ll have now. Yay.
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