Decluttering before you sell: Expert tips and methods

Decluttering your home of extra belongings is one of the most important yet difficult tasks to tackle when selling your home.

Maybe you have a year to sort through decades of memories as you downsize and retire. Or maybe you have a few months to sell and relocate across the country for a new job. Depending on the circumstances of your move, your decluttering methods might vary.

While you might not have control over your timeline, prioritize the decluttering process.

“Decluttering before selling isn’t just about making your house look bigger — it’s about helping buyers see themselves in the space,” said Katy Wells, an Asheville, North Carolina-based decluttering expert and author of the forthcoming book "Making Home Your Happy Place: A Real-Life Guide to Decluttering Without the Overwhelm."

“When your home is filled with your stuff, your stories and your life, it’s hard for someone else to imagine theirs there," she added. "You’re not just clearing surfaces; you’re making space for someone else’s vision.”

If you have a year, you might be able to take more time or plan out how you will tackle each room. With six months, you can start with seasonal items you won’t use until you move. In three months or less, the decluttering process might be more intense, but the earlier you start the better.

Collecting clutter is a natural part of living, but it can easily become a problem when not managed. Professional organizers have dedicated their careers to methods, tips and tricks to help people sort through their life’s belongings. When moving, the level of decluttering will change based on whether you are downsizing or moving to a home the same size or bigger.

What you keep and get rid of is ultimately up to you, but decluttering experts have developed questions to help you discern what is important.

Wells offers some guiding questions to help with deciding what to keep and what to give away.

• “‘Have I had the opportunity to use this in the last six months?’ Notice you’re not asking ‘if’ you used it — you’re asking if you even had the chance. If the opportunity was there and you still didn’t reach for it, that tells you something.”
• “‘Do I expect to use or need this in my new home?’ Not ‘might I’ or ‘could I’ — do you actually expect to? If the answer is no, let it go.”

Dana K. White, decluttering expert and author of "Decluttering at the Speed of Life," likes to ask:

• Does it deserve to take up space?

Focus on each room or category at a time. Start with nonessential storage spaces like garages, sheds and attics, and work your way down to the kitchen and living room.

“I prefer a category-based method: group like items together, assess what you use and streamline from there,” said Bridget Flynn, owner of Divine Organizing based in Westport, Connecticut. “It’s efficient and keeps the process focused.”

A common mistake Christian Pfeiffer, professional organizer at Valley Organizing in Phoenix, Arizona, sees is trying to work in too many spaces at once.

“My favorite decluttering method is to pull everything out of the space, lay it out and sort it by category,” Pfeiffer said. “Start on one end and slowly go through each item, deciding whether to keep, donate or trash it.”

White advises people decluttering to sell and move to limit the amount they are packing by only getting the recommended number of boxes for their next home.

“I call this the container concept,” White said. “It’s that spaces are limited and the fact that they are limited is the thing that frees you from making value decisions about ‘Is this a good item? Should I keep it? Will I use it?’ Instead, you say, ‘I have a limited space. ... Does it deserve to take up space?’”

If you are moving from a five-bedroom home to a three-bedroom condo, then get the recommended number of boxes for the condo. If you don’t declutter enough when downsizing, then you might get stuck with too many boxes and no places to unpack them.

Items with emotional value are often hard to declutter. Wells suggests asking yourself: “‘What’s the story I want to keep?’ Jot it down and then ask yourself if you need the item physically to remember that story. Maybe a photo of the item will keep the memory alive.”

“I save sentimental things for last since those are the toughest decisions,” Pfeiffer said. “I guide clients to keep what they truly need to have physically and take photos of the rest.”

White says she treats sentimental items with the same questions as other items: “Does it deserve to take up space?”

“Sort them last and in small batches. Keep a curated selection of the most meaningful pieces and find appropriate ways to store or display them,” Flynn said.

Entryway

• Put away shoes
• Hang up coats in closets or pack away 
• Put away keys
• Go through mail
• Throw away trash
• Take down any pictures or personal items 

Living room

• Put away anything out of place
• Remove extra pillows and blankets 
• Clear off the coffee table and end tables
• Remove personal decor: pictures and art
• Clear surfaces of clutter
• Clear TV stand of clutter 
• Organize electronics and cords 
• Declutter shelves 
• Take down personal trinkets 
• Sort through books, DVDs and magazines 
• Check under the couch for clutter 

Kitchen

• Clean out the miscellaneous or junk drawer: test pens and throw away unnecessary items
• Clear off counters
• Put away small appliances
• Remove decor 
• Clean out pantry and fridge
• Get rid of expired items 
• Clear off shelves 
• Organize cupboards
• Pack anything not essential 
• Go through dishes and donate unwanted items
• Organize storage containers and make sure everything has a matching lid
• Organize pots and pans 

Bedrooms

• Clean out your closet 
  
  • Go through each item and decide what to keep, sell or donate (ask yourself when the last time you wore it was)
  • Fold or hang each item 
  • Neatly put away the clothes you are keeping
  • Make sure the closets are not overstuffed
• Clear off dresser 
  
  • Put away important items 
  • Pack personal items 
  • Remove valuable items like jewelry
• Clean out desk 
  
  • Empty the drawers and sort through items (keep, donate, trash)
  • Clear off desk surface
  • Sort through important documents and shred what you don't want to keep
  • Make sure pens work
  • Organize technology 
• Declutter nightstand
• Hide extra cords 
• Check under the bed for clutter and messes 
• Remove personal items: photos, art and anything with your name on it

Kids

• Sort toys into donate, keep, sell and trash piles
• Make sure the toys you are keeping work 
• Store toys out of sight
• Line up larger toys neatly 
• Sort through books and other collections 
• Get rid of clothes that are too small 
• Put away seasonal items 
• Purge children's artwork or put drawings in a scrapbook 
• Organize and clean out crafts supplies
• Organize and clean out sports gear 

Bathroom

• Clean out the vanity
• Organize and clean out under the sink
• Organize and clean out drawers 
• Go through each product to make sure it's not expired and that you still use it 
• Combine products when possible
• Sort products into keep, donate (if unused) or trash
• Go through medicine cabinets 

Storage space

• Clean out garage or shed storage
• Sort through athletic and sports gear 
• Organize yard work tools 
• Declutter and organize tools 
• Create a space to store boxes of clutter 
• Organize attic space 
• Make sure all items are in storage containers and labeled
• Declutter attic and only keep what you actually need 
• Pare down on sentimental items 

Many items can be donated or resold to make a few extra bucks. Both online marketplaces and local consignment shops will pay for gently used clothing and furniture, but not all items are accepted. If you are looking to sell items online, White suggests posting them as soon as possible. That way, if the items do not sell immediately, then you have time to donate them.

"I say donate to the most convenient place that you can donate it to," White said. "There are all these ideas of wanting to get things to the very best place, but in reality, the faster you can get it out, the better."

Pro tip: If you want to hold a garage sale, it helps to post about it on Facebook Marketplace or neighborhood groups like NextDoor or social media groups. You can also post fliers and signs around your neighborhood. Pick a public and neutral meeting place, such as a police station or shopping center, to hand off items.

Pro tip: Gently used stuffed animals can be donated to children in need through local charities or community outreach programs.

Getting rid of furniture is more complicated than smaller items or clothing, and it takes more planning. Some donation places, such as the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and certain Goodwill locations, will accept large furniture in good condition. Many neighborhoods have listservs that list free stuff. As a last resort, consider taking furniture to the dump yourself or hiring a junk removal service.

Donations with a value over $250 can be eligible for a tax deduction. Ask the thrift store for a receipt verifying its value.

Donation centers

• Goodwill
• Savers
• The Salvation Army 
• Habitat for Humanity ReStores
• Local thrift stores  

Selling options

• Facebook Marketplace
• Craigslist 
• Ebay
• Consignment stores 
• Antique stores
• ThreadUp: accepts name-brand clothing
• Depop: all types of clothes 
• Poshmark: all types of clothes
• Plato’s Closet: accepts teen and young adults' clothes
• Once Upon a Child: accepts children’s clothes
• Style Encore: accept men’s and women’s clothing items
• Play it Again Sports: accepts sports gear and clothing
• Uptown Cheapskate: accepts men's and women’s clothes