It’s time to pack up everything and move to a new place. Maybe you’ve got your dream job in a different city. Perhaps you’re moving into your first house. This may be a great time to go through all of those belongings and begin decluttering before moving.
You may be looking for a moving company as an option for more assistance. Some moving companies even offer guides for moving on their websites.
Benefits of Decluttering Before Moving
It may be a good idea to declutter your belongings if you have the time to do so. There are many benefits to sorting through all of your things, including downsizing the amount of stuff you have to move with you.
Here are a few more benefits of decluttering before moving:
1 | Getting rid of stuff means less stuff to pack, move, and unpack. The less you bring, the faster you can unpack. It also means you can fit into a smaller space or have more room to live if you buy a similar-sized home.
2 | Decluttering before moving also allows you a chance to organize your belongings in a way that will make unpacking a lot less stressful. Taking the time to sort out everything enables you to make something like a first-day box full of stuff you will need access to as soon as you get to your new place.
3 | Less stuff means less to move. If you’re using a moving company like Oz Moving & Storage, that means less cost to you. It also means the move itself will take less time.
4 | If you’re moving on your own, having less stuff will also mean fewer trips to make and can save you more money. If a moving company isn’t much of an option for you, you’ll probably be less stressed if you can fit all of your things into a U-haul or two.
5 | Decluttering your space before showing your home could have the financial benefits of increasing the perceived value of your house. A higher value means the house will sell for more.
This brings us to the next point…
Benefits of Decluttering Before Staging or Listing Your Home
Decluttering before you even list your home also offers many benefits, if you can manage it. Having less stuff in your home will make it look more presentable and therefore more valuable. This increases the potential sale price of your home.
Here are a few benefits of decluttering before staging and showing your home:
1 | It makes your house look larger. Even the most open floor plan can look cramped when filled with too much clutter. Decluttering allows potential buyers to see the house as large and open—and most importantly, see that their own belongings will fit.
2 | If your house is clutter-free, it will appear to be more valuable. Less clutter means the home looks clean and well-maintained, which increases the perceived value of the house. A clean, well-maintained home is also more appealing to buyers than one that feels cramped and mistreated.
3 | Clutter distracts buyers from the marketable features of the home. If they get distracted looking at pictures of your dog at the beach, they are less likely to notice how much sunlight the living room window lets in. Keeping clutter out of the picture allows buyers to focus on the house’s features instead.
4 | Most importantly, no clutter allows buyers to imagine themselves living in the space more efficiently for selling a home. There’s a reason why show homes are so clean and clutter-free. The lack of personal items leaves a better canvas for buyers to imagine themselves living in the space.
Benefits of Decluttering After Moving
There are also reasons someone may want to wait until after they’ve moved to declutter their home. These may simply be due to time constraints or a lack of space in their current home.
Or perhaps the move is for a fresh start, so decluttering just feels more appropriate in your new space. Whatever the reason, there are still benefits to deciding to delay the decluttering until after the move.
1 | Decluttering after you move may simply be necessary because of time constraints. If you need to move on short notice, you may barely have enough time to start packing—let alone begin decluttering before moving.
2 | It may also be more practical to declutter after moving because of your new location’s benefits. If you live in a rural area and move to a city, it could be easier to get rid of things at your new house than your old one. A bigger city may have more options for donating, recycling, and disposing of things.
3 | It also may be easier to access what you want to keep and what you want to let go of after arriving at your new home. A change of location can offer a fresh perspective and perhaps make it easier to access what you need and what you don’t.
4 | If you are moving in with another person who you haven’t lived with prior, it also would be more practical to wait until you have both arrived to start purging your respective belongings. This allows you to verify what you both have too much of and what you need.
5 | It may also be easier to declutter when you haven’t set up much. Instead of trying to declutter around all of the packing, you may want to wait until you have the empty space of a new house to spread out in. Also, you won’t have to worry about getting donations mixed in with things that you are keeping.
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Health Benefits of Decluttering Before Moving
Not only is decluttering before moving good for moving process, but it can also improve your mental and physical health.
1 | Moving can already be stressful on its own. Adding a bunch of clutter into that equation is bound to exacerbate that stress. Decluttering a space makes that space more relaxing and enjoyable to be in.
2 | Having a lot of clutter is shown to decrease concentration. This is related to buyers getting distracted by knickknacks during an open house. If a buyer can’t focus while they’re shown a home, then the home’s current resident would fare better in a clutter-free home.
3 | Decluttering can allow you to feel more empowered in your life. Sorting through all of your accumulated belongings and organizing your space can help you feel better. You will feel more in control and accomplished if you declutter your home.
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Ready to Tackle the Clutter?
Whether you’ve just started searching for a moving company, have a few days before moving into a new place, or have just spent your first night in your new home, decluttering before moving will still benefit you.
If you’re finding that there are too many boxes for the moving truck, maybe take a moment to just sit down amongst your things and sort them out into a few piles. Your brain, and even your wallet, will thank you for it.
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