If you are like most people, you accumulate a considerable amount of junk over the years. Also, you may purchase new items and push unnecessary items to the back of your closets, drawers, and cabinets. This general accumulation of objects can cause serious clutter in the home. Moving is an excellent time to clear away the clutter and to reorganize your space. After all, you do not want to waste time and effort trying to pack and unpack unwanted items, and you also do not want to pay movers to relocate these items for you. De-cluttering is a common step people take, and it is most often done before you list your home for sale. This is because de-cluttering is an essential step in the staging process as well. However, it can be a challenge to determine what should be tossed away. These tips can help you to determine what to do with each item in your home.
Things You Have Not Used Within the Last Year
A common rule of thumb when spring cleaning and de-cluttering is to toss items out if they have not been touched within the last six months. However, many items are seasonal, so it is reasonable to extend this period to 12 months. After all, your winter holiday decor may not have been used within the last six months, but you need it each winter. The exceptions to this 12-month rule are items that you have been searching for and needed as well as items that you could have used if you remembered you had them. Restoring these necessary or desirable items to the front of your closets or cabinets may be more ideal than tossing them out.
Things That Cannot Be Donated to Charity
Some items are so worn out or damaged that they are not useful to anyone. However, other items can easily be used by someone else. For truly valuable items, you may be able to sell some items for a modest financial gain. Other items may be donated to a charitable organization so that they can continue to be used by others as needed. Keep in mind that charitable donations are typically tax deductible. These are great ways to extend the life of your items while also benefiting financially from them.
Things That Cannot Be Used to Stage or Organize Your Home
Whether you plan to sell your home as a for sale by owner or with the help of a real estate agent, you may benefit from staging it. Staging a home requires you to make the home more decorative and less personable. You may, for example, take down a large family portrait hanging above the fireplace and replace it with a large hanging mirror that is currently in the back of your closet. Many people can save a tremendous amount of money in their staging efforts by using various pieces for decorating that they already have in their possession.
Things That Will Not Have a Place in Your New Home
Moving to a new home means that you will have different types and numbers of rooms as well as different sizes and shapes of rooms to decorate. For example, you may have a home office in the new home that you do not have in your current home, and some of your currently unused items can be used in your new home office space. You may be interested in adjusting your home decor in some way as well after you move into your new space. Some furnishings and decorative pieces that you are not currently using may have space in your new home, but other items may no longer be needed or wanted.
The Many Factors of What to Keep and What to Throw Away
As you can see, there are many factors to consider before you toss something into the trash. While it is important to eliminate unnecessary items from your possession to declutter, some items may be useful for staging, in your new home or to other people.
