Planning a home renovation is exciting. You have grand ideas for the new additions to your house, and imagine the wonderful ways that remodeling your home will improve your lifestyle and enjoyment of your home. But gave you considered the importance of a organize and declutter before you move?
Whether you’re remodeling your home to create more space for a growing family or want to convert a section of it into an income-generating apartment, the additions, and improvements you make undoubtedly increase the value of your home. Remodeling your home gives you the freedom to create a space uniquely suited to your needs and lifestyle. Your home is an extension of you, and decluttering your space before a home remodel can help make your renovation experience much more enjoyable.
Home renovations also come with their own set of unique challenges as you try to navigate ordinary life amid construction and chaos. There is a lot of planning and organizing to do before the renovations commence. This article will cover the seven essential tips to help you declutter your home and save your sanity before the remodel begins.
Decluttering Before Renovating Can Save or Even Make You Money
It’s no secret that the more stuff you have, the more work you must do to maintain those items. This can cause you to feel as if it’s bursting at the seams as more and more things creep into your life. This is why a home remodel is the perfect time to declutter your home and get rid of unused or unwanted items like clothing, ornaments, furniture, and appliances.
Many people find things in their homes that they hold onto for sentimental reasons or because they feel guilty about wasting money by throwing them away. But donating or selling your unused belongings can actually save you money because you won’t have to buy storage boxes or shelves to store them. In fact, very often, you can even sell these items to pawn shops and at least make a portion of the money spent back.
Consider Your Lifestyle When Keeping or Tossing Items
You may be surprised to find many items you completely forgot about when undertaking your pre-remodel decluttering tasks. You may also be tempted to hold onto them, deluding yourself into thinking you’ll use the items someday. This is what we call the “fantasy life” trap, and we all fall prey to it at some point in our lives. Like that evening dress you keep that’s two sizes too small or that pair of stiletto heels that squash your toes like vice grips. But you stow them in the back of your closet, hoping they’ll fit one day.
Holding onto items that don’t fit our current lifestyles only torments us and makes us unhappy. But truthfully, if you haven’t used them in the last six months to a year, you’ll probably never use them. And it’s time to pass them on to someone else who will enjoy using them.
Store Your Essentials In an Easy To Access Place
If you’re staying in your home during the remodeling stages, you’ll need to try and carry on with your normal lives. Ensuring you have easy access to everyday items without too much fuss will help you easily perform basic tasks. If, for instance, you are doing a kitchen remodel, it’s a good idea to move the refrigerator into a communal area that is not being renovated. Such as a living room so you can still eat and drink at home.
Streamline Your Home Remodel By Creating Zones For Easy Access To Essential Items
Although most home improvement services companies try to section off the construction area, some dust and debris sometimes find their way into other areas of the home. Moving your daily use items far away from the renovation zone limits the chances of sitting on dirty couches or placing a dusty fork in your mouth.
Pack and Protect Valuable Items To Prevent Damage
Renovators try their best to minimize the disruption in their clients’ homes. But they are there to do a job, and their job requires large tools and deconstruction, and sometimes accidents can happen, and something can get broken. This is why you should remove all items from the room to be renovated and carefully wrap and tape items that can’t, for whatever reason, be moved. This goes for large items like entertainment units, oversized mirrors, portraits, and rugs that might get ruined by dust and construction debris.
Create Temporary Storage Solutions
Sometimes, it’s impractical to pack everything into boxes when living in the renovation space because the items you need are used frequently or don’t fit in boxes. But you may be unable to access the renovation areas for a long time during construction, either because the section is closed off or the craftsmen are laying new floors that must not be walked on.
The best solution in these situations is to create temporary storage solutions that allow you to perform tasks. For instance, you can create a makeshift shelving system in the hallway with long-life milk, plastic bowls and spoons, and cereal boxes so the kids can prepare the breakfasts themselves when the kitchen is being renovated.
Packing Pros Suggest Labeling Every Box With Details About Its Contents
If your home remodel is extensive, you’ll probably have rows of boxes holding your clothes, crockery, and every item you own. Labeling the boxes will prevent you from rummaging through boxes every time you need something, and packing professionals have even more tips to help you navigate the chaos when mountains of boxes surround you. They suggest color-coding the boxes with bright stickers according to their designated room, writing the labels on the sides and top of the box so that it’s easy to identify it from any angle, and including a detailed list of the box’s contents on its side.
Prepare Meals Before Hand To Minimize Frustration and Save Money
Cooking and eating are two daily tasks that are often most distributed when doing a home remodel. Firstly, because the mess and chaos make it difficult to cook, and secondly, because you’re often so tired from work when you get home that you don’t want to go through the hassle of unpacking your kitchen items to cook.
Cooking and freezing your meals ahead of time can save your sanity and wallet during a renovation because you’ll be less inclined to eat out, and you will have less washing up to do after the meal. Cooking beforehand and moving your freezer and microwave into an adjoining room will allow you to eat nutritious home-cooked meals during the renovation.
Conclusion
The excitement of a home renovation can quickly fade if you haven’t prepared yourself and your family to deal with the inevitable disruption. Simply planning what you pack away and what you will move to other areas of the house can go a long way to reduce frustration for everyone during a home remodel. One of the best things to do before a renovation project is to organize and declutter your home so that you don’t have to store unused items, and you can even make a little extra money by selling some items. Labeling boxes and carefully packing items will ensure your home still feels organized amid the rubble and that you have a pleasant experience during the project. The disruption, though, is temporary, and before you know it, you’ll have a fresh-looking space that fits your lifestyle.