15 Tips to Declutter an Old Home

Whether you’re tidying up, moving out or decluttering the home of a loved one who has moved on, decluttering is a time consuming process. 

These tips are here to make the whole thing easier and more straightforward. 

1. Look for Your Legal and Financial Documents 

Look for your legal and financial documents before deep cleaning your old home. Check the drawers, filing cabinets, your office, or even under the mattress for these documents. People store these documents in these places. 

If you want to deep clean an old house, you have to store these documents in a safe place. Therefore, take your time to look for your documents, especially if you have forgotten where you stored them. 

Once you secure your documents, you can now begin the deep cleaning process. 

2. Create a Sorting System 

Having a sorting system can make decluttering your old home less stressful. You will need a system for identifying what to throw away, what to sell or donate, and what to keep. 

It is not simple to create a sorting system. If you have family members, they may want to keep some things and throw away other things. Create organized piles and use color-coded stickers for every category.  

3. Divide the Physical Labor 

It is time-consuming and labor-intensive to clean an old home. The time it takes to clean your old home will depend on the size of your home. 

You do not have to clean the home on your own. Your family members and friends can help clean your home. Ask them for help. 

However, if you want to deep clean a larger home, you might want to hire professional cleaners to deep clean it. 

4. Be Meticulous 

It takes a lot of effort to deep clean an old home. You may have to spend several hours cleaning the old home. And you will feel tired. Do not, however, cut corners. Take your time to deep clean the home. 

You might find so many things in an old home. It is, therefore, crucial to be meticulous. It takes time to deep clean an old home. So, you have to be willing to do the work. 

5. Keep Personal Photos and Memorabilia 

You are more likely to find old photos and memorabilia in an old home. It is not possible to replace them. It is best to preserve personal photos and memorabilia. Store them in a safe location. 

They do not take up too much space. That is why you do not need too much space to store them. It is even easy to store them digitally.  

6. Rent a Dumpster

You may have to throw away so many things. You may not need or want most of these things. It is normal to not need or want them. You should, therefore, be comfortable disposing of the things you do not need. 

These things served their purpose for someone else. You can now throw them away since they no longer need them. The piles of unwanted items can, however, quickly grow. 

Oakland dumpster rentals will help you dispose of the things you no longer need. Waste management professionals use dumpsters to get rid of unwanted items. 

7. Repaint Your Walls 

If you want to sell your old home, you should repaint the walls. The signs of wear and tear and the holes in your walls can turn off potential buyers. 

Do not just remove artwork before painting the walls. You have to fill in the holes before painting your walls. A fresh shade of white is the best color for painting your walls. 

The white color can make your old home feel new. 

8. Deep Clean or Replace Your Old Flooring 

The flooring of your old home might not be in its best shape. If people have been living in the home for many years, you may need to update the flooring. Updating the flooring can help you sell your home quickly. 

However, you need to remove your belongings and furniture before deep cleaning or replacing your flooring. It is easy to deep clean or update the flooring if the house is empty. 

You can a hire professional cleaning service to deep clean your flooring or hire a professional contractor to replace your flooring. 

9. Check Your Ceilings

It is easy to forget your ceilings. You need to deep clean your ceilings. Ceilings can deteriorate over time. Therefore, check for signs of wear and tear, such as cracks in paint, on your ceilings. 

Replace or update outdated light fixtures in your home. If you have not been cleaning your light fixtures, they can become dirty over time. Replace them with new features to improve the appearance of your home. 

10. Clean Top to Bottom

Once you declutter your home, you can now clean it. Take your time to deep clean the house. It is easy to overlook some areas. You need to focus on these areas. If old people were living in that home, they might not have cleaned some areas. You need to deep clean these areas. 

Elderly people do not also pay close attention to some things. You will need to spend more time deep cleaning these places. Deep cleaning an old home can return it to top condition. 

How to Organize, Keep, and Sell Belongings 

Do not just deep clean the old home. It is more important to organize the belongings inside the home. You can easily box these up and then can even donate or sell some of these belongings. 

11. Change the Locks

Once you finish deep cleaning the home, you can now change the locks. If your parents lived in the home, you might know who has spare keys to the home. Some of your family members and your parent's friends might have keys. In short, you might not know people who have keys to the home.  

Your parents might trust these people. However, they are no longer living in the home. You will need to change the locks. Changing the locks can give you peace of mind. 

12. Forward the Mail

If mail piles up, thieves might target your home. Thieves are always looking for empty houses. Therefore, if mail piles up in the mailbox or by the door, then thieves will know your home is empty. 

It is best to collect the mail regularly. It is even better to have the mail forwarded to a new address. 

13. Plan Your Parent’s Will

If you lost your parent, you may have to divide the assets of your deceased parent. If your parent left a will, you will have to go through the will. 

It is advisable to meet with your family members to go through the personal belongings of your parent and the will. 

14. Hire an Estate Liquidator

If you want to sell so many items, you need to hire an estate liquidator to help you sell them. They can organize and sell the belongings of your parent. Estate liquidators know the market and how to sell these items. 

You can sell these belongings yourself. It is, however, not worth the effort. 

15. Look for vintage

There is a huge market for vintage fashion. Go through the clothing of your parent. And pay more attention to the quality, labels, and wear. 

If the clothing is in good condition, you can sell them on the internet. It is easy to sell clothing online these days.

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