Nothing motivates you to declutter like publicly announcing a goal to get rid of 100 things. Even though our move isn’t until mid-December, we moved through the house room by room and pared down anything we didn’t love, need, or use. Our rule was simple: no mercy. It’s far worse to pack, move, and unpack items that don’t deserve the time or space they occupy in the new place.
Here’s our office donation/sale pile:
Next we tackled the kitchen—Clara happily helped:
Outgoing kitchen items (there were also several baskets and towels on the floor that you can’t see):
Our den’s “see-ya-later” pile—don’t worry about the board games; many were duplicates, so we kept one of each:
Garage items ready to go:
Basement purge complete:
And the bedroom “buh-bye” pile (the baby and the dog, of course, are staying):
Below is the complete list of items we removed from the house. We focused on donating and selling as much as possible, and we even held an impromptu moving sale to make sure things didn’t linger and tempt us into changing our minds.
- 11 pairs of shoes (10 of mine, one of John’s)
- 36 books (10 of which were cookbooks)
- 10 videotapes & DVDs
- 1 alarm clock
- 1 computer mouse
- countless padded envelopes & mailing tubes (leftover from our online print shop days)
- 6 board games (some duplicates, so we kept one each)
- 2 yoga mats
- 1 radio
- 1 stocking
- 2 faux pumpkins
- 1 lamp
- 4 pillows
- 1 mirror
- 5 frames
- 54 items of clothing (coats, hats, ties, tees, jeans, shirts, socks, etc.)
- 4 plastic plates
- 6 ceramic plates
- 1 power screwdriver
- 4 outdoor chairs
- 2 welcome mats
- 1 rug
- 2 baskets of faux plants (they lived in the not-sunny-enough basement)
- 1 floor lamp
- 4 plant pots
- 6 garden hooks
- 1 stencil
- 1 frisbee
- 4 old quarts of paint
- 2 buckets
- 2 metal tins (we came up with a new diaper & wipe disposal system—more on that soon)
- 1 sprinkler
- 1 trash can
- 1 fabric basket
- 1 dark wicker basket
- 5 bath towels
- 1 nursing cover
- 8 baby toys & feeding supplies
- 4 glass cups
- 3 vases
- 4 pieces of faux fruit
- 8 wine glasses
- 8 mugs
- GRAND TOTAL: 222 items
It’s both a little embarrassing and incredibly freeing to admit how much extra stuff we were storing. Decluttering before a move is one of the most efficient ways to simplify logistics and reduce stress: fewer boxes, fewer decisions at the new house, and less time wasted dealing with items that don’t add value to daily life. We were careful to sort items for donation, consignment, and quick sale so things wouldn’t sit around and tempt us to keep them.
What surprised us most were certain categories: books and clothing took up more space than we expected, and the kitchen held many gadgets and tools we’d never actually used. If you’re trying your own purge, consider working room by room, making quick decisions, and setting aside three piles—keep, sell/donate, recycle/trash—to keep momentum strong. Hosting a short notice moving sale worked for us because it created a deadline and prevented second-guessing.
We’ll share more specifics about how we decided what to sell versus donate, where things ended up, and the small systems we put in place as we prepare the new space. In the meantime, what have you been purging? Are there trouble areas in your home you keep revisiting? We found books, clothing, and rarely-used kitchen items were easy picks, but every household has its own areas to target when aiming for a simpler, more intentional home.