It’s quite common for people who are moving home to just pack up all their belongings and take them to the new place without using any type of decluttering strategies. This means you have to find storage space for items that you may never use and adds a certain degree of stress to your life.
Instead, why not go through all of your stuff now, before you even consider moving, and streamline your life. Selling, giving away or discarding items that no longer serve you not only gives you a clutter-free home but also gives you less stress and ultimately, a healthier life.
Take a hard look through your cupboards
Are your cupboards filled with items that you never use? Have you kept things just in case they “might be useful” or you might get around to using them? Is that tennis racquet going to be used again or does it sit accusingly in your cupboard?
These items are just taking up space in your home and not doing you any favours by being there. So, you need to make the sometimes-difficult decision to get rid of them. But, don’t let this decluttering overwhelm you. Just take it one step at a time and one cupboard at a time.
Here’s a simple step-by-step guide on how to easily declutter each cupboard:
- Get three boxes ready. One for items that you might want to sell on eBay or Facebook marketplace, one for items that some of your family members might like and one for items you want to donate to charity.
- Take items out of the cupboard, one by one and ask yourself whether you’ve used that item in the last six months. (If you haven’t, it’s just taking up space.)
- Don’t think too long about it and just place it in one of the boxes.
- Once you’ve gone through all the items, put the ones you do use back in the cupboard and marvel at the amount of space you now have.
Special Tip: If you have things that you save to only use on special occasions, why not consider using them now rather than only once or twice a year.
The idea here is to keep only what you love and what you’re going to use regularly.
Digitise your precious memories
Do you spend hours each week dusting the mementos that you’ve collected over the years? Do you have boxes of photos or photo albums that you never look at? Why not consider digitising your memories instead and free up all that space?
But, that’s not all you can do to preserve precious memories. Over the years, you may have collected mementos from various places that you’ve visited or kept items just because a special friend or family member gave them to you.
Unfortunately, these items are just taking up space and cluttering your home and your mind. But, there is a solution to help you keep the memories but not the clutter.
Not only can you digitise all your photos, but you can also take photos of all those mementos that you have and keep them as digital reminders of happy memories. Having something to remember all these items with allows you to let go of the physical clutter without letting go of your history.
Get the family involved
If your family has grown up and moved out, why not organise a couple of decluttering days to help you with the organisation of all of your stuff. This can make the job easier for you and turn the whole thing into a fun family event.
Your family can help by taking some of the emotion or indecisiveness out of what you should keep and what you really no longer need. As a bonus, some of them may even be willing to take some of the things you’ve accumulated off your hands.
Also, consider assigning someone who’s good with a camera the task of taking photos of your mementos and then turning these into digital copies that you can keep forever without taking up space and creating clutter in your home.
As a reward for their help, you can shout your family to a nice dinner out or cook a special meal for them if you enjoy cooking.
Can we help with some downsizing tips for your Swan Hill home?
We’re full of great downsizing ideas so why not give us a call on 03 5032 2507. We’re here to help.
