There are lots of reasons why you might decide to declutter your household and downsize your possessions. Maybe you are planning to relocate into a smaller but manageable home, or you just decide to spend much of your time visiting friends, family, or want to experience new things rather than buying and maintaining more items.
Although there are different reasons for decluttering, one thing remains constant – having a sense of relief and being organised.
However, when you are ready to declutter a whole household, particularly one in which you’ve gathered so many belongings over the years, it can be so tiring and difficult to decide what to focus on or where to begin.
If this is the stage, you are in the downsizing process, making use of these categories in any order that suits your need will give you a smooth downsizing process and a new view on what you need.
- Create a List of the Stuff you’ll need in your Downsized Home
You need to keep the items you need even as you downsize your home. Create a list of the furniture items you will need for every room in your newly-downsized home. You may also want to create a list of the items you need to dispose of. Assuming you own a king-sized bed, but you discover that it won’t fit in the new room due to its size, you could add it to the list of items to dispose of. Check each room and create your list of the entire belongings you want to keep.
- Plan the Quantity you need to dispose of
Starting by knowing the number of items you have to dispose of is recommended by Ms. Friel. If you are moving to a home of 1,000 sq-ft from a home of 3,000 sq-ft, you will have to dispose of a minimum of 7 of every 10 items or more based on the size of the belongings. This excludes the furniture. Then you need to find out the items you use. We are all aware of the rule that if you have items you haven’t used or thought about for a year or more, dispose them of. This applies to everything, such as:
- Clothing: Thoroughly check your closets and inspect each item. What number of outfits, shoes, and coats do you need? What is the condition of some of this stuff? Is there stuff you didn’t even remember you had?
- Kitchen: How many pots, sheet trays, and place setting, and so on do you need? Keeping these items around for use in the holidays is meaningless. What items do you need daily?
- Books and magazines: You can access numerous books, magazines, and newspapers online via the library or physically at the library. All your old newspapers or other magazines you have piled up for several years are already out of date.
- Knickknacks, mementos: Creating a digital photo record for these items is one nice way to dispose of them. You can always check back at these items and remember them.
- Holiday decorations: Do you need those boxes of decorations for each holiday, Halloween, Easter, Christmas, and so on? You shouldn’t be climbing on your roof to stack them up as you grow older. If you have adult kids, allow them to decide whether to keep or not. If they are still young, leave it to a small shoebox for each child.
- Childhood memories like artwork, report cards, and so on: If you have adult kids, allow them to decide whether to keep or not. If they are still young, leave it to a small shoebox for each child. When they later receive it some years later, they may not have any place to keep boxes, especially boxes that keep their childhood memories.
This may seem tough, but if you move some items away from your home as you go, you may move it back to your home. And based on Home Organisers, you shouldn’t put anything in storage. Immediately it is away from your home, it will just add another bill to your bills even though it will be for things you will never use.
Tackle Other People’s Items First
Create a list of people having tangible items in your home aside from your household members. This could be a grown-up child, an old roommate, your friend that stayed in your house for the short term. Contact them to find out if they still need the items, or they want you to discard them. Fix a date if they choose the former for them to come for pick up. If you plan to optimize the whole process, continue and box their belongings stuff so that you can just put it in their care with nothing left.
Do not allow them to sort through the items at your house as this will prolong your decluttering process, and you will probably end up with the items they no longer need, creating a new set of problems for you. If they don’t mind you disposing of the items, then box them up and move them to a donation center. The goal here is to avoid spending excessive time checking through the items. Remove them from your house as fast as you can.
Declutter your most Difficult Space
You possibly have that place in your home that scares you to declutter. Even when you can progress in other places, this particular place still leaves you scared. This kind of issue can lead to procrastination and then prolong your decluttering process than necessary. Concentrate on the joy you’ll feel after you’ve overcome this space. Schedule enough time between one to five days to overcome it. Be focused and committed. You are also using your mental part here. Set your mind on the project and be determined to completing it.
Decide what to do with Sentimental Value Items
Note that the memory linked to the item is the meaningful thing to you and not the item. Follow these steps:
- Select a few sentimental items that are linked to sweet memories and display them.
- Dispose of any item linked to a negative memory.
- When you have many similar items, for instance, a collection, pick a few of your favorite, and dispose of the rest.
- Take photographs of the things and develop a memory book.
- Use t-shirts or scraps of some articles of clothing to make a quilt.
- Allow yourself the space to grieve when working on sentimental items.
How to dispose of Items that you declutter
To discard doesn’t mean to throw the item in question away; there are many other options. Some may take your time than others. As you figure out things to dispose of, arrange them in the following piles:
Keep items that often make you feel great. Do the following:
- Is there an excess?
- When last did you use it?
- Do you have space for it?
- Does it have beyond one purpose?
- How do you like it?
Sell or appraise: Set your highly valuable items aside and see if you can have them appraised.
- This category requires you to be selective. The resale value of household items, furniture, and clothing is very little.
- Use websites like eBay, Letgo, or social media marketplaces to locate a buyer
Donate
Trash
Recycle
Selling your large items like furniture or valuable possessions like electronics, jewelry, or handbag is a better option. However, books, clothes, and so on can consume a lot of time for small financial gain. We suggest you donate such items and have them removed from your household instead of selling while they may take up another space again.
Hire a Professional
If handling the decluttering yourself is not possible, get professional help. Home Organisers is experts, and their charge per hour is affordable. Hiring a professional may seem costly, but you should consider this as an investment.
A professional expert can:
- Optimize the process so you can quickly declutter, move, and start saving money as soon as possible.
- Can help you to start and/or stay on track.
- Can help you in deciding, organizing a yard sale, or connect you with an eBay or other related websites’ seller.
- Can bring a photographer to take photos of your household as it was and make a memory book on Shutterfly or any other Cloud-based platform.
FAQs about Home Decluttering:
- What is the first step in downsizing for decluttering?
Start by making a list of essential items you’ll need in your new home, focusing on practicality. - How do I decide what to dispose of when downsizing?
Aim to reduce items by around 70% when moving to a significantly smaller space. Discard what hasn’t been used in over a year. - How can I handle sentimental items during downsizing?
Select a few cherished items to display, and consider creating a digital memory book for the rest. - What’s the best approach for dealing with old furniture?
Sell or donate large furniture pieces that won’t fit into your new, smaller home. - How can I declutter holiday decorations?
Keep a small box for essential items and allow adult children to take what they want. - How can I make the decluttering process faster?
Box up other people’s items and arrange for quick pick-up to avoid delays. - What should I do with childhood keepsakes?
Reduce childhood memorabilia to a small box for each child, or let them decide what to keep. - How do I manage difficult spaces when downsizing?
Tackle the most challenging area first to avoid procrastination and build momentum. - What are some sustainable ways to dispose of unwanted items?
Donate, recycle, or sell items instead of sending everything to the landfill. - Should I consider hiring a professional organiser for downsizing?
A professional can streamline the process, helping you declutter efficiently and stay on track.
Conclusion
Downsizing to declutter your household can be a very challenging and exciting task. It is also the best time to stick to one of the important lessons of decluttering. Many belongings enter into your life for a certain period. Immediately the season is over, and their usefulness and value-added to you are gone, you can just dispose of the item to give room for new items you are yet to have.
We are always available for your inquiries, questions and decluttering service. Contact us today for your free estimate!
