There needs to be oodles of sense and sensibility whilst decluttering with someone else. After all, you’re going through their treasured belongings, and often their most intimate things. There has to be complete mutual trust.
We’ve been working with a lovely client over the last few weeks, who is a self-confessed hoarder. She finds it impossible to throw anything away. Consequently, you couldn’t see her kitchen table or even get through the door to her bedroom (she had moved to sleeping in the spare room which appeared to be multiplying and growing in contents by the day like a living creature).
Her house was becoming unsafe. She knew it was all out of control. But driving her was the desire to sell her house and move to something smaller and more manageable. She knew she couldn’t optimise the sale price of her house in the condition it was in.
She is not alone. Many of our clients find themselves in the same situation. Here are some key actions to take for stress-free decluttering:
Don’t do it on your own
Decluttering for yourself is frequently time consuming, exhausting and disheartening. We always recommend having someone beside you while you are tackling this momentous task.
They can provide a common-sense check; or help to get you through a brick wall of indecision. And it’s always much more fun and life needs more fun in it no matter what you are doing!
Identify the reason you’re holding onto an item
We find that if you can identify the reason that you are holding onto an item, and we can apply a solution to overcome that reason, then the item is easier to let go of. Here are some of the reasons by our clients can’t throw things away:
🎽Just in case I find a use for it.
💰 I spent a lot of money on that so I’d better keep it and use it.
🤦♀️ I can bear to throw it out.
🗓️ Let’s do it tomorrow.
🙅 It’s all too overwhelming I just can’t do it.
Challenge your reasoning
Stop and consider the item and the reason you are holding onto it. Is it true? How long have you had it? Will you use it in the next 2 years? Can it be useful to someone else?
Once you know it was going to be repurposed in a good home and not thrown into landfill, it is often enough for you to let go of it.
This worked a charm for our client and once we’d started, she realised it wasn’t as painful as she’d thought so the “let’s do it tomorrow” and “it’s all too overwhelming” reasons fell away too.
By the end, she felt lighter, less depressed and more in control of her life and the house is ready to go on the market.
Now prospective buyers will see a lovely spacious house that they could see themselves living in.
If you’re looking to sell your house, any estate agent will tell you clutter and uncleanliness are big turn offs. Optimise the price of your house with a deep clean.
And a deep declutter.
Don’t let the stress of decluttering stop you, or a loved one, moving house. To find out more about how The Homemover Specialist can help you, contact us on hello@thehomemover.co.uk or on 01483 255895.
