How To Declutter Your Home

Decluttering can be overwhelming, especially when doing so for a specific deadline or reason, such as moving house. It can be difficult to take a step back and work out what you’d like to do with your items. This often can lead to you keeping items you don’t need.

However, there are many ways you can beat the overwhelming nature of decluttering. We have put together some tips and tricks along with Compare My Move’s flowchart to help you declutter your home in the most efficient ways possible.

Tips For Decluttering

Start Small

If you have a large space or a lot of things that you’ll need to declutter, this can be overwhelming before you even begin. Instead of thinking, “I’m going to declutter the whole house, " start with one particular room or corner of one room. A smaller space that’s manageable enough to declutter without feeling too overwhelmed.

We would recommend starting your decluttering with a space that you can use to relax, such as a bedroom or sitting room, therefore you’ll have a clutter-less place to go while decluttering the rest of your space and not be too overwhelmed by surrounding clutter.

Be Ruthless

When decluttering efficiently, you have to be ruthless. Have criteria for your items and belongings, like the above flowchart, stick to these criteria and follow them closely. If something doesn’t follow your criteria, donate, sell or recycle it. 

Being ruthless doesn’t only apply to throwing things away, it can be very easy to discard items when there are other options. Think about what you can donate, sell, recycle, etc. and if you want to keep something. If you still find it clutters a specific space, think about storage solutions, whether somewhere else on your property or external storage solutions.

Use House Clearance and Charity Companies

If you don’t have the space for bigger or bulkier items that are hard to get rid of, you can use either a house clearance company or a charity house clearance service to easily get rid of these items. 

A house clearance service can be particularly useful if living in a big city like London or Birmingham where space may be an issue. House clearance services can also be useful for larger and bulkier items. 

If you have an item that is still in good condition but is hard to remove yourself such as a piece of furniture, it could be subject to a charity house clearance, in which a charity will come and collect the item for free and sell it for the charity. However, some charities may be particular on what they take, and will only take items they know they can sell.

How Often Is It Used

You may find it helpful to declutter not based on the items but on the use of the space you’re clearing. For example, if you use a shelf next to your bathroom sink for shaving and brushing your teeth then everything on that shelf should be put towards that use, decluttering everything that doesn’t fulfil that use. 

You can use this method on any scale from a single shelf to a whole room, and your definition of the use can be completely up to you. However, this method is one of the best ways to weed out items that you don’t need.

Take Your Time

Unless you are working toward a deadline such as moving house, there is no set timeline in which you need to declutter. If you want to declutter your entire house in a day and can do so without being too overwhelmed, then brilliant, however, some people may find it easier to declutter a lot slower - one part of a room each day, one room each day, one room a week - it’s up to you!

Benefits Of Decluttering When Moving Home

Decluttering when moving home has many benefits and can help alleviate stress in an already stressful event. Here we’ve listed and explored a few benefits of decluttering when moving home.

Know What You’re Taking With You

When decluttering before a house move, the biggest benefit is that you are only taking items that you want and need to take with you. This will also make it much easier to unpack when you get to the property, as you have decluttered and sorted through your items, you can have a good idea as to what goes where.

Fresh Start

Moving house is always a great time for a fresh start, as the change of environment can easily bring a similar change in mood and lifestyle. Decluttering before a house move can be a good way to make this change as positive as possible, only taking items that will be useful to you in your new property. 

Limit Your Removal Costs

Decluttering before moving house won’t only help you mentally, but it can also help you save money on your removal costs. The more you throw away, give to charity, or put in storage, the less you have to take with you to your new property. Your removal company can then know exactly how much you need to take and quote accordingly.