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10 Tips for Decluttering Before a Big Move

Downsizing often means there’s no room for all that stuff

Jodi Helmer

Published August 24, 2026

a graphic illustration shows various items in a room of a house stacked and and prepared to be moved

AARP (Getty, Shutterstock)

Before Josephine Baird moved from a four-bedroom house in Bourbonnais, Illinois, to a two-bedroom townhouse in Wentzville, Missouri, to be closer to her daughter, she sorted through furniture, clothing, tools and memorabilia. The decluttering took months and required some tough decisions, but Baird was ruthless.

“I took it one room at a time,” she recalls. “I asked, ‘Do I need it? Have I used it? Am I going to pay to have it moved?’ ”

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The process allowed Baird, 77, to scale down her possessions to the things she loved and wanted to use in her new home.

Whether you’re moving across town, across the country or to the other side of the world, decluttering is an essential step. It can be especially difficult for older adults who are often moving from larger homes they may have lived in for a long time to smaller spaces.

“Older adults have had time to accumulate a vast amount of belongings,” says Jennifer Dwight, a Hawaii-based professional organizer with Ideal Organizing + Design.

Movers charge by weight, Dwight adds. So paring down your belongings before moving saves not only the effort of packing and unpacking items that you may not want (or need) in your new home, it also saves money.

Before you pack a single box, follow these 10 tips to declutter:

1. Plan ahead

Your home is filled with kitchenware, linens, photos and tools that took a lifetime to accumulate. It’s going to take time to go through them and decide what to keep.

“If you start early, you can take it slow,” Dwight says. “Physically it’s hard work but it’s also emotionally exhausting. It’s the equivalent of your life flashing before your eyes.”

Decluttering can take several weeks — or longer — and getting a head start will allow you to go through things carefully and decide what to pack and what to toss or donate.

2. Go room by room

Take an organized approach. It might be tempting to declutter a few drawers in the kitchen, a closet in the bedroom and a corner in the garage. But professional organizer Nicole Gabai, the founder of B. Organized and author of The Art of Organizing: An Artful Guide to an Organized Life, suggests finishing a single room before moving on to the next space.

“The benefit of tackling one room at a time is that you can better evaluate completion,” she says. “You can clearly look around that one room and double-check that you have gotten rid of everything you possibly can from that one room before moving on to the next.”

3. Make easy decisions first

Don’t start the decluttering process by going through photographs, collections or mementos. You’ll spend longer going through treasured items and it’ll be harder to make decisions about things that are linked to memories and strong emotions, which could lead to feeling overwhelmed. Instead, start with the easiest decisions.

“This is the ‘first pass,’ ” Gabai says. “You’ll go through that same room one or two more times to honestly assess how much you need to bring to your next home.”

Getting rid of expired foods, old utility bills or stained, ill-fitting clothing will lead to a huge sense of accomplishment and provide the motivation to keep going.

4. Get a floor plan

Older adults are often moving to smaller spaces. Downsizing necessitates decluttering because there simply won’t be enough space for all of your things in the new home.

“You have this vision of what you think is going to fit,” says Jami Shapiro, president of the board of directors of the National Association of Senior and Specialty Move Managers. “But when you actually [see] the floor plan … it helps with decision-making.”

You can ask the real estate agent or apartment manager for a floor plan or have a professional measure the space before you move. And you can work with an interior designer or senior move manager to decide what will fit in your new home and what needs to be tossed, donated or sold.

5. Measure before moving

Measuring sofas, beds, dining tables and other large furniture can help you decide if your current furnishings will fit in your new home.

Measuring is especially important if you’re downsizing, according to Shapiro.

“You might see, ‘Oh … a walker or wheelchair isn’t going to pass through this space’ or ‘The door isn’t going to open,’ ” she says.

It’s also a good idea to compare your furniture’s dimensions to those of the doorways, hallways, staircases and elevators in the new place. If it won’t fit, sell it or donate it before the move.

6. Think about your lifestyle

Moving is about more than occupying a new space — it’s about creating a new life.

Baird knew that the homeowners association in her new community would handle lawn maintenance, gardening and snow removal, so she sold or donated her shovels, rakes, hoses and lawn mower. She also donated her outdated end tables and lamps, reasoning, “It would’ve cost more to ship them than the stuff was worth, and I was able to treat myself to something new.”

Decluttering can be difficult when it’s time to let go of once-meaningful items that are no longer needed. Consider snapping photos so you still have the memory, even when the item has been donated or sold.

“Our belongings can remind us of what we perceive as happier times,” Dwight says. “You’re not throwing away the memory, you’re just gifting or donating the item.”

7. Get your kids involved

Before packing your wedding china and vintage rocking horse to store in your new home because your kids — or grandkids — may want them someday, ask for their input.

“Up until the last generation, it was always a given that things were going to be handed down,” Dwight says.

That’s changed with modern lifestyles. Your kids might not want 12-piece place settings or heavy antiques, but children and grandchildren often want the things you least expected them to, such as a favorite holiday ornament or a knickknack that reminds them of a family trip.

“Times have changed,” Shapiro says. “We’d rather have experiences and take pictures than collect the tchotchkes.”

8. Watch for duplicates

You might not realize that you have multiple can openers and extension cords or enough towels to outfit a hotel until you start going through them. Instead of packing everything, choose the items you use most and donate or discard the rest.

“Moving is the ultimate way to take stock,” Gabai says. “Packing and moving is a great way to edit what you have, not just contain it all.”

9. Don’t let storage become the default

Decluttering can be stressful and it might be tempting to rent a storage unit and plan to sort through items at a later date. But putting boxes into storage just postpones hard decisions. And it can take a toll on your budget: The average cost to rent a storage unit ranges from $90 to $290 per month, according to Consumer Affairs, a customer news and advocacy organization.

“Chances are you will never go back to revisit those boxes,” says Gabai. “It’s a costly way to delay the inevitable.”

If you do decide to store items, Gabai suggests keeping an inventory sheet, numbering boxes on all four sides and putting brief descriptions of what’s in each box to make it easier to find things later.

10. Call in the pros

Decluttering can be hard to do alone.

“When it all becomes too overwhelming, it might be time to bring in a professional organizer who specializes in move management,” says Gabai. “It can help you create a timeline with achievable goals to prepare you for the move day. They will hold you accountable and help you evaluate what to keep and what to toss or donate.”

The National Association of Senior and Specialty Move Managers can help you find a senior move specialist in your area. Volunteers with the AARP Speakers Bureau also lead workshops on decluttering and downsizing.

The more effort you put into decluttering before the movers arrive, the less stressful it will be to pack (and unpack) and get settled into your new home.

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