Whether you're moving house and need to declutter or simply running out of household storage space, removing old and unused items is something every household should do regularly. When decluttering, it's important to be ruthless. You're downsizing for a reason, so you need to be willing to let go of things that you don't need or use anymore. For some items, even self storage units are not the answer, just let them go.
Household Storage
As you prepare to downsize, it's essential to declutter your personal storage space. Downsizing can be a challenging process, especially if you're moving from a larger space to a smaller one. However, decluttering can help make the transition smoother and more manageable.
The hardest part of decluttering is choosing which items to dispose of or donate to a charity or friend, which things to keep and which to put into your storage space. In this blog post, we'll provide you with decluttering tips for downsizing.
Downsizing
1. Start Early
One of the most important tips for decluttering when downsizing is to start early. Don't wait until the last minute to begin the process. Give yourself ample time to sort through your belongings, decide what to keep, and what to get rid of, afterall, it's taken few years to accumulate. Starting early also allows you to be more organized and efficient throughout the decluttering process.
2. Create a Plan
Decluttering can be overwhelming, and it's easy to get sidetracked. To avoid this, create a plan of action. Divide your space into sections and tackle each area one by one. Decide which items you want to keep, donate, or sell. Creating a plan can help you stay focused, keep track of your progress, and stay motivated throughout the process
Proper Planning Pays off
3. Clean up, organise and declutter one room at a time.
Letting go of many of items from each room of your house at once can be challenging, especially when you see them all in front of you. It can be less daunting by decluttering and donating one room's worth of items at once.
Tackling your personal storage challenge one room at a time makes discarding or donating your unused possessions a lot easier – it also makes the long and difficult task of managing your household storage a much more manageable process.
Clean as You Go
4. Be Realistic
When downsizing, it's important to be realistic about what you can and cannot keep. You may have to let go of sentimental items or things that you don't use frequently. It can be difficult, but remember that the goal is to create a comfortable living space in your new home.
It might just be clothes, toys, furniture storage or just household accessories, it's easy to suddenly feel attached to items when it's time to throw them away. If you're struggling to justify throwing a rarely-used item away, ask yourself a simple question: How often do you really use this?
If you haven't used an item in the last 12 months and you don't see yourself using it much in the future, add it to the dispose or donate pile. The more unimportant, rarely used items you dispose of, the more those you consider essential you can keep. Remember, all storage costs but especially furniture storage costs, can be a lot more than the items are worth, just ask a storage expert.
5. Use the Four Box Method
The four box method is an effective way to declutter your space. Label four boxes as keep, donate, sell, and rubbish. As you go through your belongings, place each item in the appropriate box. This method helps you stay organized and saves time when it's time to dispose of unwanted items.
Four Box Method
When you come across a rarely used item, give yourself a minute to conclude which category it belongs in. Being indecisive can turn a one-hour cleaning and decluttering job into an arduous and inefficient all-day activity...remember, be ruthless or your personal storage mission will fail.
6. Use Digital Storage
When stored in drawers and cupboards, personal and financial documents can decline with age, from family photos, birthday cards to receipts and invoices, due to moisture and mould. While you declutter, use the opportunity to scan and store digitally important documents and family photos.
Cloud Storage
Use digital storage to preserve memories and important documents. Scan photographs, important papers, and other memorabilia and save them on your computer or in personal storage cloud folder. This saves space while still allowing you to keep precious memories. It might be worth asking digital storage experts for some advice.
7. Don't dispose of unused items
Books, clothing to old toys, many of the possessions that you own but rarely use could be worth a lot to someone else. Instead of throwing away everything you don't use, add rarely-used but valuable items to a donate pile or pass them on to s friend. Many charity shops would be delighted to receive these items to sell on and make generate some valuable funds.
A Win Win
Books and vinyl records can be sold to your local second-hand book store or donated to a charity like Oxfam or Cancer Research. Clothing can be donated to the Salvation Army, which raises a great deal of money every year for its charitable initiatives from the sale of clothes and household items
8. Throw away anything unimportant that needs repairs
Items that are broken and require repairing and can be replaced at little or no cost usually aren't worth keeping in your rented personal storage unit, no matter how much you may have used them in the past. If you have a number of broken items in your loft, basement, garage or storage cupboard, use this clean up process as an opportunity to dispose of them. It's often less expensive and less hassle to replace items than to repair them.
9. Dispose of Items Properly
When you're decluttering, it's essential to dispose of items properly. Don't simply throw things away in the rubbish; instead, consider donating or selling them. Many items can be repurposed or recycled, reducing the amount of waste you produce.
Store, Reuse, Recycle
10. Keep clothes and other soft items in vacuum storage.
Vacuum packing clothes for storage is an excellent way to save more space, protect your clothes from pests and dampness, and keep them organised.
Separate your clothes into piles of similar items such as t-shirts, dresses, and pants. It's important to wash and dry them to ensure that they are clean and free of any dirt, dust, or odour. Make sure that your clothes are completely dry before packing them to prevent mould and mildew. Fold your clothes neatly to save space and make them easier to pack.
Invest in vacuum bags that are designed for storing clothes. These bags are made of sturdy, airtight material that will protect your clothes from dust, moisture, and pests.Vacuum packing them allows you to to shrink them to a third of their usual size and is an excellent option for seasonal clothing like winter jackets, ski gear and heavy coats only worn for a few months every year.
Vacuuming Saves Space
11. Keep Only What You Need to store
Finally, when decluttering for downsizing, it's important to keep only what you need. This includes clothing, furniture, and household items. Be honest with yourself about what you use and what you don't. Keeping only what you need can help you live a more minimalist lifestyle and make the move to a smaller home more comfortable.
How to Use Personal Storage Units to Help Declutter
Renting a personal storage unit is your secret weapon allowing you to declutter your home and still keep your possessions safe, secure and accessible. In this blog, we'll take a look at how to use self storage facilities to help declutter your household, particularly larger and more valuable items. It's important to understand the stores opening hours, location, do they have loading bays, ease of access, the pricing for each size unit, level of security and ask for a free quote. Always request that you have the only key for your secure lock. More details tips can be found HERE
1. Make a List of Items to take to the Self Storage Facility
After you've sorted your possessions, make a list of items that you want to put into self storage. This will help you determine the personal storage unit size you need. Be sure to take into account any larger items such as furniture or appliances that you may not be using but want to keep, you may be surprised how much space you need to store your stuff. You may need the extra space of one of the larger units, 160 sq ft or more.
2. Pack Your Items Carefully
When packing your items for storage, it's important to be careful. Make sure that you use sturdy boxes and containers to protect your items from damage during transport as well as in the stores. Label your boxes clearly and pack them with bubble wrap and appropriate materials in a way that makes them easy to access when you need them. This includes any furniture storage you are considering. More tips in the blog.
Boxed and Labelled
3. Store Your Items Strategically
When storing your items in the unit, it's important to store them strategically. Put items that you will need to access more frequently near the front of the unit. Larger and heavier items should be stored at the back, and fragile items should be stored on top of other items.
4. Use the Vertical Space
One of the advantages of using self storage units is that you can use the vertical space to store more items. Make use of shelves or stackable storage containers to maximise the storage space in your unit.
Use all the Space
5. Keep an Inventory
Finally, it's a good idea to keep an inventory of the stuff in your household storage unit. This will help you keep track of what you have stored and will make it easier to find specific personal belongings when you need them.
Self storage facilities can be an excellent solution to help declutter your household.
If you are not sure what exactly is involved in long term storage then have a read of our in depth article 'Long Term Self Storage Explained'
By following these tips, you can choose the right storage units, pack your items carefully, store them strategically, and keep an inventory of your items. By using self storage you can free up valuable space in your home while still keeping your possessions safe, secure and accessible.
StoreProtect policy Don't forget, your self storage facility will offer property protection cover so you can take out a contents policy at the time of your personal storage unit booking and the cost will be added to your storage prices. Simply calculate the replacement value for your unit size and belongings, select the amount you would like to cover and confirm the reservation. Read more about how our terms and conditions protect your belongings.
In conclusion, decluttering is an essential part of downsizing, and it can be a challenging and time consuming process. Remember to start early, create a plan, take it one room at a time, use the four-box method, be ruthless, consider sentimental items, digitize your documents, maximize storage, and sell or donate items. By following these tips, you can downsize with ease and start a new chapter in your life with a clean and clutter free space
If you need to find out how much does self storage cost to help you declutter, Corby Self Storage can help. If you are looking for the cheapest self storage unit cost in Corby, then contact our friendly team on 01536 402116 to see what self storage prices offer or email info@corbyselfstorage.co.uk
For a more in depth look at self storage costs read this article .
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