The BIG Move

Sorting and decluttering before moving, will make your life so much easier in so many ways, and you will save money, it’s simple! The less you have to move, the less it will cost you to move it, and saves you money on packing supplies, removal costs and storage costs.

• You will make money by selling items you no longer need.

• Saving time and energy packing and unpacking unnecessary items.

• And your new home will be easier to unpack, organise and clean.

House moving is a stressful process, let us simplify it for you and follow our 10 easy steps.

1. Planning stage:

Sorting and decluttering takes time so factor this in, make a plan on where to start and tackle one room at a time, clearing/selling/donating/recycling, as you go along.

If you need help, reach out to us or others who can help you in this process, whether it be a partner, friend, family member or professional organiser. It keeps you on track and gets the job done a lot quicker. Here's what you need;

• Boxes are essential

• Sharpie pens

• Labels (label as you go too)

2. Declutter

Once you have a plan stick to it. Go to the first room and start to declutter.

Build up the magic 4 piles:

~ Keep

~ Sell

~ Donate to charity

~ Recycle (e.g. broken items)

Ask yourself do you need it?

Where will it go in your new home?

Do you love it?

If so does it serve a purpose?

It’s always a hard process getting rid of the this things you once loved, but cramming everything in to spaces just gives you added stress and anxiety which in the long run you do not need. If you take a while thinking whether you should keep an item pop it to one side a revisit it in a few hours.

When you have reached what you need to do that day, ideally the recycled and charity items should be removed allowing you more space to sort and declutter the remaining items the following day. If that’s not possible, move them to a different space in your home which is easy to access for when you are ready to recycle/donate/sell.

3. Paperwork

Paper work gives people a lot of stress, it piles up quickly and can often take a long time to go through. But think, in your next home it's not going to go away so tackle it before the big move.

REMEMBER most things can be found online these days, you do not need all those out dated bills, manuals for items you no longer have and so on.

Section out the paper work, manuals, bills, work, car, pets etc then tackle each section over a cup of tea and a biscuit.

4. Sentimental items

We say each person in the family should own a memory box, this can allow the person to keep memories they want to keep. Keep the box small so when you want to have a moment to reflect you can reach for that box and go through all your special items.

When selling a house it’s sometimes good to remove all the personal photos. You want the perspective buyers to come and view your home and see themselves living in it. When taking these down it’s also a good time to clear out those old frames that have been hanging since the 80's!!!! You will want new ones in your new home for sure.

5. Bulky items

Firstly get rid of these bigger items, often these are the items you can sell and make money and once these have gone if gives you space to clear and sort the smaller bits.

8. Lofts / Sheds / Garages

Lofts, sheds and garages is the best place for storage and oftern becomes a breading ground for forgotten and unwanted items.

These space take the longest to sort as they normally hold a lot of things. However they are also the easiest spaces to clear as you haven’t uses a lot of the items for many years. So you’re emotionally detached, as it’s not served a purpose in your life for a long time.

Wow you are nearly there…..

decluttered [tick]!

9. When to pack

Think about the move date, what items don’t you need for example all your skiing bits which won’t be required till next year. These can be packed up and stored. Or Christmas decorations, this potentially can be packed up ready for the new house, making it a great time to sort and slim down those items too.

10. Labelling boxes

Like we said earlier label as you go. Label the boxes from the outside in a bold marker pen, label it with the room and list a few items which are in the box, ie KITCHEN, coffee machine, kettle.. as I’m sure a coffee will be the first thing you’ll need to find once you have moved in.

Another good tip is label every side of the box as who knows what side you are going to be able to see once the box is in a new location.

There are a few tips for us to help you with the big move, feel free to contact us for any further tips. We are always here help.