How to efficiently declutter your home

Our top 10 tips for decluttering your home prior to moving house

1. Take each room at a time so you do not feel overwhelmed or wishing you had never started. You will feel a sense of achievement once you successfully complete the decluttering of each room.
2. When starting a room, it is best to tackle one unit at a time. For example, in your bedroom, take your wardrobe, chest of drawers and beside table one at a time and completely empty the contents.
3. Designate specific sections or cartons and label them "To be dumped", "To be recycled", "To donate to charity" or "Keep".
4. We like to use the 6-12 month rule, meaning if you haven't used or worn the item in the last 6-12 months do you really need to keep it? This allows you to be thorough and ruthless which is really important so you don't fill your new home with unnecessary clutter. Obviously some items will have sentimental value which you will want to keep but try to be as strict as possible.
5. Once you have split your items into the sections above, review your "keep" pile or carton. Some of these items you won't use before you move home, so it is a good idea to pack these items into a carton now allowing you to commence packing in advance. Any items in your "keep" pile that cannot be packed just yet can be put back into their relevant storage unit.
6. We highly recommend dumping, recycling or taking your other items to the charity shop as soon as you possibly can so they are out of your home. Not only does this free up space in your home so you can see exactly what is to be moved, it will also be more attractive to any potential buyers coming to view your home.
7. Garage and roof spaces tend to be our weakness when it comes to clutter. Once you have decluttered each room inside the house, we recommend you declutter and pack your garage and roof space contents. This allows your move day to be more efficient and items in the garage or roof space tend not to be used often so there is likely to be a lot of packing that you can do in advance in both rooms.
8. If you have ornaments, photo frames or pictures that can be packed at this stage this is a bonus. It again, allows you to get ahead of packing but also creates a more minimal space in your home which is handy for quick cleaning and accentuating space for your house viewings from potential buyers.
9. We recommend packing dinner sets and kitchen utensils or appliances that won't be used before move day giving you more space to pack your contents on move day and keep your cupboards clear.
10. Keep an essentials box on move day. This should be one of the last items packed at collection and one of the first unpacked at delivery. This should contain things such as bedsheets and linens, kettle, toaster, tea & coffee, children's comforts etc that will be used at both locations.