We are very familiar and have gotten creative about storage solutions and embracing minimalism. Space is at a premium when you are living in big cities and it is a critical exercise to go through your belongings regularly to purge what might be weighing you down.

The very BEST time to do this is surrounding a move. Decluttering before you pack your home up is the ideal way to approach this, but unpacking in your new space provides another opportune time. Here is a strategy with 5 tips on how to remove the excess.

Unpack room by room, starting with the essentials

Focus on one room at a time and fully unpack that one room so that you have a sense of completion rather than many projects started with nothing done. This, of course, comes after you have unpacked and situated your essential items: bedding, toiletries, medications, coffeemaker, and whatever else you need that first day in the new space.

Keep purging as you unpack

Unpacking tactic: ruthlessly edit everything you take out of your boxes.

Use an empty box to start collecting everything you have decided you no longer use or no longer want and this will make the transport to a donation center that much more streamlined. Out of sight, out of mind. Putting them in a place in your new home gives those items more validity for staying.

Separate items by general category, then zero in

Grouping items together that should logically belong together is an organizational best practice. You don’t have to arrange everything in a beautiful manner just yet, but you will find this strategy gives your unpacking structure and cohesion.

In this manner, you are starting at a macro level and putting everything together where it will logically live. Once everything is largely in its place, get micro with it and organize the collections in an even more cohesive manner. For instance, once all your clothes are in your closet, you can now organize them by season and clothing type.

Use organizers to cut clutter

After unpacking, especially your kitchen and bathroom, you may find you now have drawers full of tools that belong there but are visually a mess. Using similarly designed organizers, you will be forced to make sense of everything that is lumped together and divide it out into smaller sections to allow for easier access and visual comprehension. 

Organizers can add up in terms of cost, but you will find yourself saving money in the long run. They will keep you on a consistent track to remain organized and they will also allow you to understand what you have vs. what you might need to purchase in the future.

Put things back where they go

Being in a new space with your belongings newly organized and arranged, you might find yourself constantly looking for where you put things or where to add things that you are still unpacking. We recommend labeling with post-its each cabinet and drawer to identify what it contains and leaving this labeling system up for a few weeks. You will find that keeping your space uncluttered will come down to the ease of finding where things need to be returned to.

Once you get the hang of where your items belong, you can remove the labeling. But you will find that exercise will force you to think if you are, in fact, putting household items in the most logical of places and that is a bonus perk from this organizational system.

Do you have any more tips on how you set yourself up for success in your new home?
Let us know in the comment section!