When was the last time you had a really good look at what is in your attic or basement? For most people the answer to this question is ‘years ago’. The attic and basement both serve as places that you simply dump a lot of things over time because they would be in the way in the main part of the house; however, if you are planning on moving home then you really do need to tackle this area. While you may feel overwhelmed just by the thought of it, this task really does not have to be as bad as you think.
You can deal with the attic or basement very early on in the house move process; after all, you do not have to worry about packing away items that you might need later, as most of what is in there probably hasn’t been needed for a long time anyway. As soon as you think you are going to be moving home, get stuck in to this part of the house.
Schedule a few days to tackle this task and make sure that you have a helping hand, as this will help to cut back on the enormity of the task. You need to be armed with plenty of packing materials such as strong boxes, bubble wrap and tape. It is a good idea to sort as you go when dealing with the attic; therefore, you can immediately pack the things you know you want to keep and get rid of anything you do not.
Reducing the clutter is a good idea. You do not want to move to a new home with dozens of boxes of clutter that are simply going to be put into the attic there and forgotten about until you move home again. A good target is to reduce the number of items you have in there by around half, which is easy for most people.
Did you ever put anything into the attic because it was broken and could not be used anymore? If the answer to this is ‘yes’, you should be throwing it out at the sorting stage. Did you ever put anything into the attic because you didn’t want it anymore and didn’t have the time to find it a new home? Most people do this and your packing will allow you to rediscover such items and find them a new home; perhaps you could sell these items or give them away on recycling sites.
Clearing the clutter using a garage sale is also a good idea. You can raise cash to help to pay for the move and other expenses and get rid of the things you don’t want at the same time.
The main thing is to make sure that everything has gone from the basement or attic and then you can begin packing up the rest of the house, knowing that a major part of the task has already been dealt with.
