5 Simple Tips For An Organized Move
“The average person only uses 20% of their belongings. So basically, you don’t even use 80% of the items you have in your home!
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Can you really have an organized move?
As a professional organizer, I have helped hundreds of families in their homes. Want to know one of the most common phrases I hear from clients after we look at all the boxes they have in their basement or stuffed closets? “I’ve moved that from house to house and I don’t even know what is in it!”.
Sound familiar?
I have seen far too many people spend thousands of dollars, countless hours, and loads of frustration moving around belongings that they do not use, add value or are even aware they have.
Being in our homes right now is a perfect time to start getting organized for your next move or to simply organize the space you already love.
An organized move is an activity with a huge ROI. One hour spent clearing your space gives you back countless time, money, and sanity.
Tips for an organized move
1- Start Early
Most people underestimate how much time they will need to pack up items they want to take with them to their next house. If you know you are going to be moving anytime in the next year, start now by looking at the items around your house. Imagine a price tag on each of those items - do you want to pay $10 to move that? Even if you are not hiring professional moving services, there is a cost of time, energy, and money to move items. The earlier you start, the more you will save and the less stressed you will feel.
Simplifying will help you have less stuff to pack and therefore easier to have an organized move.
2- Start Small
Go room by room, instead of looking at the house as one big project, and scan for items that you know you do not want to take with you. The last thing you want to do is pack up and move items you don’t even want. Move them out now! This will also help with staging your home. Your realtor is going to ask you to declutter to make the overall presentation of the space appealing so might as well beat her to the chase.
Pick a room and start there ( and finish). Finishing one task will make you feel accomplished and ready to take on more. If you just float from room to room it will feel overwhelming and less likely to get anything done without losing your sanity. The whole point of an organized move is to save your sanity- so start small. Organization Power Hour is a great article to check out to help you tackle that first space.
3- Set the Stage
As you go room by room, you are going to decide if each item is:
-Staying: for staging
-packing: keeping but don’t need it now so it can be packed up for the move
-Going: donate, sell, trash
Have designated areas in your home to put the items that you are packing up and getting rid of.
Simply knowing where you can put things will help you feel less overwhelmed and more organized.
When it is time to remove the items you decided you are not taking with you, I recommend taking the path of least resistance. Save yourself the energy and frustration of trying to find the perfect place to get rid of something. Leverage services to less this burden when possible. Delegating is an important part of an organized move!
Options for getting rid of items:
-Junk Truck Is currently doing donation pickups for the Denver Rescue Mission and hauling services
-goodguygear: will pick up and consign baby gear
-*Goodwill: drop-off locations
-*ARC and *Pick Up Please: will pick up at your home.
(*Pick up and donation on hold due to COVID-19)
-Have a party and invite your friends over to take what they want! Donate what items remain.
Setting a date or scheduling a pick up is a great way to create some accountability to go through your belongings.
4- Sort Accordingly
As tempting as it may be to just throw stuff in a box, you will be far less stressed when you move in if there is a system to how your belongings were packed. Whether you are packing or someone is packing for you, try your best to keep associated items together (eg. kitchen baking, kitchen pantry, kitchen cooking utensils). This will make your unpacking process in your new home far less stressful and you will be less likely to just throw stuff in closets or drawers to simply make the boxes go away. An organized move makes it much easier to have an organized move-in!
5- Set It Out
Once you are in your new property, resist the temptation of taking an item out of a box and stuffing it in the nearest drawer or closet to say it is “put away.” Instead, I suggest unpacking all of the items in a given space. For example, take out all of the kitchen baking items and lay them on a counter.
This step is two-fold:
1-It helps you see what you have. It may have been months since you packed it, so this offers you another opportunity to ask “do I really use this?”. I have seen so many individuals who think they do not have enough storage, in reality, they have plenty of space, but too much stuff they don’t even use!
2-Plan out your space. I see a lot of people just put things where they think they should go or where they fit, but not really stopping to think “where does it make sense to put this?”. Laying everything out gives you a moment to pause and be more intentional about how you set up your space.
Whether you are moving in a month or a year, investing time to pare down your belongings
or organize your space is an investment you will see a return on instantly.
Download the free guide 5 Simple Tips For An Organized Move