The most stressful part of selling your home
When talking to home owners about selling, many of them voice a concern that actually has nothing to do with the home selling process - what do they do with all their belongings? Whether they are downsizing or decluttering to stage their home for sale, most people complain they have more stuff than they need.
When talking to home owners about selling, many of them voice a concern that actually has nothing to do with the home selling process - what do they do with all their belongings? Whether they are downsizing or decluttering to stage their home for sale, most people complain they have more stuff than they need.
In an effort to avoid the stress of decluttering right before a big move, our suggestion is to start the process at least a year or two before you are ready to move. Sure, you can wait to begin the decluttering process, but doing so will make the moving process that much harder. Our clients find the experience of moving more pleasant if they have done the pruning and organizing in advance of the actual move. Packing up the stuff you WANT to take with you is enough of a project.
Full disclosure, I (Julie) am not a collector. Extra stuff stresses me out and I take pleasure in cleaning out closets and storage areas. That said, I know decluttering is easier said than done. Here are a few techniques that have worked for me.
1. Go through each storage area (for us it’s the basement, garage and attic) each season and prune a few items you haven’t used this past season.
2. Take photos of sentimental items - If you don’t use them but want to remember them, a photo takes up a lot less room than the original. This is particularly effective for all those art projects your kids (who are now in their 30s) created in elementary school.
3.Tackle one room or space at a time - It’s a lot less overwhelming to declutter a bedroom bureau than to set the time aside to go through the whole room. Even one drawer a day will get you closer to your goal.
4. Can’t decide if you are going to need something in the future? - Box it up and put it in storage for a year. If you haven’t looked for it in that time, it’s probably safe to say you don’t need it.
5. Follow the one in, one out rule - Whenever I buy a new shirt, I go through my closet and remove an old one I haven’t worn in ages or that just doesn’t fit right.
6. Dedicate an area to store donations - There’s a section in our attic where I put all items that I intend to donate and 2-3 times a year, I take them to Grassroot Givers in Albany.
If you want to start decluttering your life but are overwhelmed, there are professionals who will support you in the process. Looking for a recommendation? Send us a message and we will share some.
Do you have an organizing technique that works for you? Let us know and we will share ideas in a future blog post.
Photo credit: iStock.com/AndreyPopov