3 Decluttering Mistakes To Avoid

Are you looking to move but you’re having anxiety over the mess and clutter throughout your house?

Moving is something all of us have experienced or will do at some point, and as it can be stressful. If managed effectively, you can have a smooth transition out of your house and into your new one.

Let’s go over 3 Decluttering Mistakes To Avoid when getting your home ready to sell!

Mistake #3 | Leaving Boxes

Mistake number three is leaving boxes.

Who has started to declutter and has a box or two sitting under the stairs or by the door right now waiting to go to the donation center?

It’s completely acceptable to have a running box or bags to make a worthwhile trip to the dump or donation center. But be aware that our mind sometimes wanders back to those boxes when we aren’t in the right mindset. You may end up going back through and attempting to take stuff out of those boxes.

Maybe you could sell this for five bucks, or maybe Cindy at work would like this and before you know it half the box is back on your shelf, ready to sit for another 6 months untouched!

Don’t muddy the water and end up right back where you started. You decided to purge those items for a reason, so get rid of them as soon as possible.

Mistake #2 | Timeline Expectations

Mistake number two is setting unrealistic timeline expectations.

If you’re thinking about selling your home, I’m going to give you some honest advice. You will not get your home ready to sell in a day or even over a weekend.

If you’re looking to sell and start decluttering, most of us realistically need to start thinking about this months in advance and take small steps toward decluttering our house.

I don’t care how many Youtube videos you watch to prepare yourself for a weekend full of decluttering. Monday will come around faster than you think. Getting into focused decluttering mode is a lot more difficult during the week when you have worked a full day, made supper, taken kids to sports and take a few minutes to decompress at the end of the day.

Don’t set yourself up for failure and wait until the last minute to start decluttering your home before a realtor comes in to help you create a game plan.

Mistake #1 | Organizing Before You Declutter

My number one mistake to avoid when decluttering is organizing before you start decluttering.

You’re tempted to start organizing a room, let’s say a pantry for example. You’re eager to go buy those beautiful clear storage bins you see on Netflix series, The Home Edit, but you forget the first essential step which is to declutter or purge first.

I promise, most of us have expired food in that pantry. Rummage through those packages, cans, boxes and spices and declutter ruthlessly, so when you go to put things back you are organizing only the most essential items. This will save you time putting unneeded products back in the cupboard and money wasted on extra organizing bins.