The family home can become pretty cluttered over the years, so there comes a time when you have to have a clear out. It can be a big task, but it can be done. So, here’s a guide to help you out.
Plan Out the Tasks
Having a clear out of the home can be a huge task, so you need to plan it out in advance to make things easier for you. So, start out by surveying the area and seeing which tasks are most important. You can then write up a plan decide which rooms you’ll clear out first and which ones are less important.
If you have a room where you pile up all your junk, you should approach this room first of all. Don’t leave the big tasks until last, you should do these jobs first. Putting things off never helps when you’re trying to have a clear out of the home. Having a plan in place will make things much easier, so make sure you make one.
Don’t Cling to Items
When you’re having a clear out, you need to be pretty brutal. That means you shouldn’t try to cling on to items that you don’t really want or need anymore. If you’re a bit of a hoarder, you should ask a friend or family member to help you. They will offer an outside view and make you question whether you need the items or not.
You should make three piles of items when you’re deciding what to get rid of. One pile for the things that you definitely want to keep. Another pile for the things that you definitely want to get rid of. And a final pile for things that you’re not sure about; you can then come back to this pile later on.
Find New Storage Solutions
You should look for storage solutions in places that were previously unused. You could use cupboards more effectively, install new shelves or use the space under the bed. Most homes have more storage space than people initially realize. There are always ways to make more storage space if you think creatively.
You should make good use of baskets as well. You can never have too many baskets to store the items that are cluttering up the place. You could also hang hooks on the walls and the backs of doors. You can then hand nets on these hooks and use the nets as makeshift storage units.
Get it All Done in a Day
It’s best to take a day out of your schedule and then use it to do the clear out. This will allow you to get all the work done in the space of one day. This is a much better option than letting the work drag out for days or weeks. Getting it out of the way quickly is much more sensible, so don’t shirk the work.
To get the job done as quickly as you possibly can, you should make it a family affair. Get everyone involved and make sure they’re all pulling their weight. It’ll be much easier to get it done quickly if you’re not doing all the work by yourself. So, why not assign everyone with a task to do?
Have a Post-Clear Out Clean
Once the clear out is done, there’s still work to do. You should start by cleaning the home. This makes sense when you’re having a clear out. You might as well have a big, thorough clean up while you’re at it. All those spaces that have been filled with junk for years will probably be covered in dust and cobwebs.
You should dust the rooms down and clean up any of the items that you have decided to keep. Then get out the vacuum cleaner and lift any of the excess dust and grime from the floor. This will instantly make the home feel fresher, cleaner and more spacious, so don’t skip this move.
Sell Unwanted Items
You now need to decide what to do with the items that you no longer want to keep. The things that have some value should be sold to make some money for you and your family. You can do this by using online auction websites such as Ebay. Do some research to find out how much your items are worth before you list them though.
Once the items have sold, the website will usually take away a percentage of the sale price in commission. Then you will need to wrap the item carefully and post it to the winner of the auction. Visit onlinestamp.net to find stamps for your items before you post them.
File Any Old Documents in One Place
Documents and files can take up a lot of space in the home, so you should use your clear out as a chance to organize all of your essential documents. This is vital because you don’t want to accidentally throw away important receipts or tax documents. So, get them all together and go through them all.
There might be some that can be thrown away. But others should be kept, so take your time when organizing them. You can buy some binders to keep the documents in. This will help you keep them all together rather than stuffing them in drawers that are overflowing with papers.
Donate Old Clothes to Charity
Some of the things you have won’t be worth very much though. So, it might not be worth trying to sell those items if they won’t make very much money. For these items, it might make more sense to simply donate them to charities. This is what you should do with things like old clothes and books.
Donating items is an easy and quick way of getting rid of some of the things that you don’t want anymore. But it will also help to do something good for a charity, and that can only be a good thing. Everybody wins, so take the rest of the stuff you don’t want to your local charity shop.
Disclosure: This is a contributed post.
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