The process of sorting through your belongings or the belongings of someone who has died can be a long and drawn-out process, but hiring a house clearance company to help you deal with it all can go a long way to simplifying the process.
Even though a house clearance company can help, there are still a lot of decisions that you will have to make yourself. If you are using a full-service house clearance company, then they will be on hand to help walk you through the process, but the decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of is still up to you.
Valuable and Sentimental Items
Before a house clearance, you should always make sure that you have been through the valuable and sentimental belongings that the house has and made sure that they have been given to friends or family. If you are keeping any of the items, then pack them carefully and remove them from the property before doing anything else.
This is generally something you want to do before you book a house clearance service as it can be emotional and exhausting, requiring it to be done in stages so that you don’t wear yourself too thin.
When you have booked the house clearance, especially if it is a complete service house clearance, like the one we offer, it is a good idea to have a box and packing paper/bubble wrap in the car or in an out of the way corner for any valuable and sentimental items you may have missed.
Declutter
If you aren’t using a full-service house clearance, you will want to next go through and declutter the property. Start with clothing. Most of the clothing will either be stuff that can go to charity or will go to the bin. There may be a few items of clothing that people want, but on the whole, it is the easiest way to get started. Once you’ve gone through it, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something big. Leave the kitchen until last though, often kitchens have the most stuff crammed into every available space and there is not only the cutlery and dishware to deal with but food as well.
Go room by room and take your time. It is easier if you have a team of family members to help with the declutter, and it is a good way that you can all reminisce about the deceased.
Rule of Thumb
A good rule of thumb is to put any belongings you aren’t sure what to do with to one side and come back to it later. Anything this is broken or damaged, even if it looks like it might be marginally useful, should be thrown out. It is very easy to start saving things because the deceased held onto them for so long, but if they are not going to be useful, and not in good enough condition to sell, then you should just get rid of it. The key to a good declutter is to be ruthless.
Colour Code
Once you have gone through everything, use a colour coded sticker system (red for bin, orange for charity, green for recycling, yellow for keep) to keep track of which items are which. Once you have done the colour coding, then try and move the items so that they are all in colour coded groups. Depending on how much clutter there is in the house, and how much furniture there is, it may be easier to simply group items by room rather than trying to move everything into the same place.
If there is an empty garage space, it is useful to put everything that is being binned in that space to make it easier to remove them from the property.
Need help with a house clearance? Call our professionals today to find out which of our services can work for you!