The equipment you will need is basic: bin bags, sticky notes and marker pens. Label each bin bag with a sticky note with the following titles: ‘Charity Shop’, ‘Friends & Family’, ‘Bin’ and ‘Recycle’. You may be considering selling items on e-bay or at a car boot sale, in which case create labels and bags for these items. Follow your plan and go through the house room by room, emptying draws, bookshelves, cupboards and fill up the bin bags. Think how grateful the local charity shop will be!
When tackling your wardrobe, consider the climate at your new destination and if you really need all of those jumpers and coats. Don’t forget that many supermarket car parks now have recycling bins for shoes and sometimes clothes also.
For larger items of furniture, you may want to consider ‘Freecycle’ which is a website where you can offer to donate unwanted items to a good home. Local residents associations often have similar schemes also. Alternatively, your local council will be able to provide advice about removing bulky items. Most of the time, it is cheaper to move larger household items rather than replace them at your destination so you don’t need to be too ruthless in this area. Remember that chests of drawers and bookcases can be painted to fit in with new colour schemes.
When sorting out the children’s bedrooms and playrooms, be careful not to give away too many of the children’s toys as such familiar items will help the children settle in. Cuddly toys and teddies can also be stuffed into empty drawers and cupboards when moving items of furniture to use up empty space.
