Are you wanting to downsize your home and need to “get rid” of items you no longer need? Have no fear!
It can be easily done when you start to understand how much you actually need to get rid of and determine what you actually use.

We have all heard the rule that if you haven’t used it or thought about it for a year: GET RID OF IT! Here are some helpful suggestions on what to keep and what to throw out in order to downsize your home.

CLOTHING

You don’t need a T-shirt in order to prove you went to that conference, ran that 5K, or volunteered at an event. Go through your closets and examine each item.  Do you need 50 outfits, 30 pairs of shoes, 10 coats, etc.?  Rule of thumb: If you haven’t worn it in the last year, you’re unlikely to wear it in the next year. Donate these or turn them into a craft project. Then, when you move into your new home, it will be easier to organize your closet.

BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

This one may be hard for some but most books, newspapers and magazines can be accessed either online through the library or physically at the library. All the old investment, travel or other magazines you have accumulated are out-of-date anyway.

3 TYPE OF BOOKS TO KEEP:

1. Books with strong sentimental value (is there an inscription on the title page, does the book have a history?).
2. If you have a book that is signed by the author or are otherwise valuable to you , keep it!
3. Keep the books you plan to read soon or that you re-read regularly.

CDS AND DVDS

Getting rid of CDs and DVDs seems like a small project since they don’t really take up a lot of space on their own, but when you have a huge collection, they take up way too much room! You can find almost any movie on places like Netflix or Amazon Prime and listen to your favorite songs on Spotify. Think about taking your CDs, DVDs, cassettes, videos, pictures, and important documents to be digitized and saved to the cloud or a computer hard drive to free up important space.

UNUSED FURNITURE

Getting rid of that couch or chair that no one ever sat in will make your new space seem three times bigger. If your furniture is just for decoration or making a room look full, seriously consider getting rid of it and keeping only what you use. Donate what you don’t need to a local shelter or consider selling it.

ITEMS FROM THE PAST

Are you still hanging on to a lot of keepsakes from elementary school, past road trips or ? It’s time to let it go.  If you look at something and can’t remember where you got it or why you kept it, you can get rid of it. If your kids are adults, let them decide if they want any of it. For your younger kids, downsize everything to 1-2 boxes (if possible).

ITEMS TO KEEP:

1. Important papers such as birth and death records, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, social security cards, pension plan documents, medical records, insurance policies, passports, wills, trusts, power of attorney documents, property deeds, investment records, education records, diplomas, military service records and vehicle titles.
2. Family heirlooms, photographs and collectibles that you still love.
3. Fine jewelry in the original box. Having a piece of jewelry in its original box adds value if you are thinking about reselling it. It also keeps the piece of jewelry in mint condition. Maybe you’ll pass it down to a grandchild one day.

If your goal is to downsize your home, you have to downsize your “stuff”. If your items don’t have a place, it’s not worth keeping. Condensing your items and carefully organizing everything will help to keep your new house livable and clutter free.