By Bill Chen

If you ask anyone who has moved, they will tell you that it is never too early to start preparing! Moving can be very stressful and can create friction within your household, particularly if a lot of loose ends are left until the last minute. Before you get the best removalists North Sydney has to offer to come in and move your things, it can often be beneficial if you “trim the fat” of your personal belongings. 

Stop Accumulating

The easiest way to prevent the need for a declutter is simply to not create the clutter! If you’ve already booked the move, now is the time to reduce the amount of items you need to move, not increase!

The only exceptions are packing boxes and tape that a professional Inner West removalists can provide for you, if you’re planning to do any packing yourself. 

Establish your rules on what stays, and what goes in your spring clean

Essentially this is going to define your parameters over what you keep, and what you move on. If you don’t stick to these rules, you will end up not being successful in decluttering. Common rules could be “if I haven’t worn it in 18 months, get rid of it”, or if you haven’t even SEEN it in 6 months, get rid of it. 

If you have had the chance to measure fridge spaces, or furniture spaces in your new home, you may find that it won’t fit in the new space (or match the decor) and so this is another good way of trimming down your belongings before your move. 

Make a To-Do List and stick to it

Make a list of all the jobs you want to do, all the decluttering you want, and list it by family member. Keep it in a central place in the home – and cross off each task as a visual sign of your progress. 

Start with your storage spaces

Decluttering storage areas will be easiest in practice because much of the stuff in storage spaces is seldom used and will in theory possibly already be in boxes or containers. Much of it will be easier to make decisions about whether to keep or not. I suggest preparing to move by first decluttering and organizing your attic, garage, or basement. 

I would go further to say that not just storage spaces, but wardrobes, cupboards and pantries are the easiest of all parts of the home to pack. 

Donate your clothes or other belongings to a worth cause or need

Once you’ve made the hard decision to move your things on, it can be hard to know how to. Well, we suggest that with some items, you first sound out your family and friends to see if they could have need of it. Failing that, there are many charities that would take them! Avoid some moving company scams and instead do your own research on where to donate. 

Rope in the support!

Sometimes you just need to concede. You can’t declutter alone. Get some friends or family to help – you may need to bribe them with pizza and beer! 

So there you go, get decluttering and have a lovely, easier and quicker move into your new home!

Meet The Author - Bill Chen

Before 2008, Bill was working with a local removalist company in Sydney and was witness for a number of deformities and wrongs in the working of the company. Observing the atmosphere, a thought came to Bill’s mind that he could do much better if he were the owner of the company, by offering a fully transparent service to the clients with a friendly and trustworthy staff and no hidden fee structure; and thus, in 2008, AAA Bill Removalists Sydney was formed with just one truck and only Bill as staff. Even if Bill Chen began the company as just one man, the company grew fast. The operation expanded beyond the Sydney suburbs and to the surrounding cities: Wollongong, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour, Canberra, Newcastle, Melbourne, Brisbane, and other.