One of the opportunities you’ll have when moving is to declutter, donate and discard some of the optional items in your home. It’s a great time to weed out items that no longer serve you, from clothing to housewares, from electronics to unneeded furniture. Not sure where to start? There are some common items people consider releasing when prepping for a move – and here are some of the actions they take:
Clean Out Closets
Don’t we all have too many clothes in our closets and bureaus? Organizing and trimming down the amount of clothes, coats, purses, shoes and other accessories before moving will lighten your load and give you a great feeling when you donate them!
Move Out Those Mattresses
If you’ve gotten lots of wear out of your mattresses and you can cover the cost of new ones, moving is often a good time to discard your old ones.
Break out the Books, Magazines, and Newspapers
Books take up a lot of space on your shelves and add weight to your moving boxes. By all means, keep the books that expand your mind and/or have sentimental value. But do get rid of old self-help books you’ve never read or software manuals from old technology! And what about those old magazines and newspapers you meant to recycle? Use what you need to pack your breakables but find a home or a trash bin for anything that’s not a collectible!
Clear the Kitchen
We collect a lot of extras in our kitchens! Think of what you really want to bring to your new home, and if you have too many mugs, glasses, plates, utensils, silverware, old pans or cookware, ancient spices, retired cookbooks, appliances that haven’t seen the light of day for years and bread baskets that never get used for bread, take a run through your cabinets and see what you can live without.
Leave the Linens
Go through your sheets, towels, blankets, pillows, curtains, tablecloths…if anything you see isn’t right for your new home, find it a new home.
Farm out the Furniture
Aunt Ruth’s rocking chair, the bookshelves you made with bricks and wood planks, the picnic table your father painted bright green, those two Barbie doll lamps…if you have furniture that’s served its purpose, thank it for the pleasure it gave you and send it on its way to be helpful to another household!
Separate the Stuff That Hides in Plain Sight
Don’t forget to check your kid’s rooms for old toys, your attic for holiday decorations that you’ve taken out of circulation, walk around your house to tag decorative items that no longer thrill you, and spend some time in your garage to vet things like old bikes, outdoor gear, tools and gadgets.
And remember – if you can’t yet part with some things, but you don’t want them in your new home, either, we offer short- and long-term storage so you can hang onto your special things – even if you don’t want to hang around them.
