If you're preparing to move to another house in the city, take the opportunity to declutter as you move homes. You'll feel like the new home is a clean slate for your personal belongings. Plus, you won't be moving a lot of unnecessary items to the new house. Here is how to stage your move and clear out the clutter before you get too settled into your new home.

Setting Up the Staging Area

Locate one of the convenient self storage units mid-way between your old and new homes. If you don't find something mid-way, then look closer to your new home. This will make it easier should you decide to keep items in storage after the move. This storage space is used as a staging area so you don't have to move everything to the new house all at once.

Set Up Sorting Areas

Now you need to designate three areas in your old house to be used as you sort through your personal items. You'll divide items in one of three areas:

• items to be sold in a garage sale
• items to donate to a thrift store or charity
• items to be recycled or thrown away

The rest of the items will be those items that you'll move with you. But this category has other divisions:

• items that you'll need immediately or in a few days
• items that you won't need for several weeks

The reality is that you'll have difficulty making a decision about some items, so another division is useful:

• items that you are not quite ready to part with, but are unsure about keeping

The items that you don't need or can't part with right now go to the storage unit. The other items go on the moving truck to the new house.

Decluttering Steps

You'll make two passes through your personal items. The first pass can be a casual stroll through the house. Move items to be sold, donated or thrown out into their respecting sorting areas. Once done with this pass, you can now plan your garage sale, make a trip to the thrift store, or set the items out to be picked up by the waste removal or recycling truck.

You may find it easier to do this a few times until the last pass yields nothing new for the sorting piles.

The next opportunity you have to declutter is during packing. As you handle each item for packing, ask yourself if you really want to take the item with you. If not, then decide if it is to be sold, donated or thrown out. If you're still unsure about getting rid of the item, then place it in the area to be taken to the storage locker.

Other items you pack you'll want to decide if you need it in your new home right away. If you don't, then it goes into the pile to go to the storage unit. For example, if it's June, you likely don't need the artificial Christmas tree in your new house right now. It can go to the storage locker.

When you're done packing, you'll have at least two groups of items: those to go on the moving truck to the new house and those items that you'll take to the storage locker.

Note that some movers will make a stop at your storage locker to drop off items. The boxes need to be marked so they'll know to keep them in a separate area on the truck that is easily accessible when they stop at the storage facility.

After the Move

You'll now have the items that you need right away in your new home with items that you don't need for a few weeks in storage. This gives you the opportunity to get settled into your new home before you begin to move items from storage to the house. You'll start in your new residence with a clutter-free home. Whether it stays that way is up to you.

For self-storage units, contact a company such as L M Storage.