How to Clean up the House When Reducing Staff
When we talk about “downsizing”, we usually mean the size of a person’s house. For example, people may decide to sell their large family home after their children grow up and move away because they simply don’t need that much living space anymore. Others buy or rent a house that they initially thought was the right size but later realized it was too big.
Whatever the reason for your move, part of the downsizing process includes getting rid of things you no longer need and making sure everything has a place in the new location; in other words, some serious decluttering. Here are some strategies that can help.
How to clean up when downsizing
There is no need to wait until you have clear moving plans in place to start getting rid of the junk. In fact, the sooner you can do this (or at least start the process), the better: it will make you feel less overwhelmed during the already stressful process of packing and moving. Here are some methods that might help :
Separate things by direction
Have three large drawers (or zones) labeled “keep,” “throw away,” and “donate,” and sort your belongings accordingly. Do your first check at home, gather things you know you want to donate or throw away, and don’t wait to take them out. This will give you more room to work on everything else.
Sort products by category
Pull out all the items you have in a certain category, such as glassware, towels, or dishes, even if they are in different places in your house (like kitchen, cabinets, basement, attic, etc.). This will give you an idea of what you have and what you need to keep. You may have nine cookie cutters, but you just realized that you have four that you use on a regular basis. If you don’t need the remaining five, you can donate them.
Pull out your papers
It’s easy to let paperwork pile up over the years, but chances are you’re holding onto something you no longer need: a warranty on an appliance you no longer own, paper copies of utility bills now available online, a paper airplane. tickets and travel itineraries that you have taken a long time ago. You don’t have to create a whole new filesystem before moving, but at least go through your documents, extract anything you don’t need anymore, and shred them.