Lots of people think that the time to start decluttering is after you’ve put your property on the market, but smart vendors know that the best times before you even have the photographer around.
Don’t leave the big tidy up until the estate agent turns up
You don’t suddenly decide to put your place on the market, you usually have a run-up period of a few weeks and this is the ideal time to start your decluttering campaign.
Giving yourself a few weeks means that you can break the process up into manageable chunks. You could commit to doing one cupboard a day, for example, or doing 30 minutes every other day. Being decluttered early on doesn’t just result in better photos, it also means you’ve done a lot of the clearing up and tossing out already when it comes to actually moving house.
Here’s what you need to target
Terry recommends dividing your items into five categories: rubbish, recycling, fix, donate and put away.
Rubbish
If you have a tangle of old phone and computer leads lying in a drawer, just accept that you won’t ever need them again and bin them.
Donate
Some older items might still be usable, so give them to friends, or to a charity shop. If some older toys, bikes or computers just need a bit of TLC, take them to a repair cafe so they can have a new lease of life.
Things like old furniture, books, clothes and ornaments are always welcome at charity shops. Alternatively you could have a yard sale or just give them to friends and family.
Recycle
Not everything can be fixed or find a new home and so it might be a better idea for items like this to be recycled so their components and materials can be reclaimed.
If it’s expired, throw it out
Many of us are guilty of keeping old sunscreen, cosmetics, spices and sauces in our cupboards for far too long. Look at the expiration dates of tinned food, sunscreen and even medications. You can simply bin out-of-date body lotions, sunscreens and food, while you should take out-of-date medicines to your nearest pharmacy for disposal.
Try to remember when you last used an item
You may already have applied this decluttering technique on your clothes, but it can also work really well with kitchen utensils, towels, books and bedding. If you haven’t used something in more than a year, or you have duplicates, then it may be time to let these things go. Obviously, if you only use something once a year because it’s seasonal, then you do have a need for it. However, if you’ve forgotten about something and can’t imagine needing it again, the charity shop may well beckon.
Group similar items together
By collecting electrical items, old towels, books and toys together in boxes, you can see more clearly which items need to stay and which need to go. In addition, when it comes to packing up for moving day, a lot of the hard slog is already done.
