House clear-out: how to declutter and clear your space

Decluttering and clearing: two different jobs

It helps to separate them. Decluttering is deciding what stays in your life. Clearing is getting everything else out of the house. The first is mental work that only you can do. The second is physical work that anyone can help with.

Many clear-outs stall because people try to do both at once, carrying each item out to the car as they decide on it. Decide first, room by room, then clear in one go. It's quicker, and you lose one day to heavy lifting rather than every weekend for a month.

Pick a method that suits you

There's no single right way to declutter. Pick a method and stick with it.

You can mix them. Short sessions with three boxes, plus a maybe box for the hard calls, is a combination that works for a lot of households.

One room at a time

Choose an easy room first, like the hall, the bathroom or a spare room. You'll make quick decisions and see a result in an afternoon, which makes the next room easier. Leave the hardest rooms, often bedrooms and anywhere full of photographs, until you've built some momentum.

Finish each room before moving on. Within a room, work round from the door, one shelf, drawer or press at a time. Don't carry things into another room "to deal with later", because that's how clutter gets shuffled rather than cleared.

Our room-by-room clear-out guide has a checklist for every room in the house, from the attic to the garden.

Give yourself a deadline

Open-ended decluttering tends to drift. A date on the calendar keeps it moving: a family visit, a sale, a move, or simply the day the clearance crew or charity collection is booked. Work back from it and give each room a weekend or a few evenings.

Two other things help more than people expect. Don't buy storage boxes until you've finished, because you'll need far fewer than you think. And get the "let go" bags out of the house regularly, so they don't sit in the hall tempting you to rescue things.

Questions that make decisions easier

When you're stuck on something, ask yourself:

• Have I used it in the past year?
• If I didn't have it, would I buy it again?
• Do I have another one that does the same job?
• Am I keeping it because I love it, or because I feel guilty?
• Would someone else get more use out of it?

If the honest answers are no, no, yes, guilt and yes, it can go.

Sentimental things and photos of memories

Sentimental things are the hardest part, so leave them until last and give them time.

• Photograph things before they go. A photo of a dresser, a child's painting or a well-worn armchair keeps the memory without the storage.
• Keep the best, not all. One or two of a parent's jumpers, not the whole wardrobe. A few children's drawings, not every one.
• Use a memory box for each person, and keep what fits in it.
• Scan old photos and letters if boxes are piling up, and keep the originals that matter most.
• Ask the family first before letting go of anything that might mean something to them.

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Where things can go

Decluttering is easier when you know things won't simply be dumped.

• Donate. Charity shops welcome clean clothes, books, toys and homewares in good condition. Ring ahead about furniture, as many have limited space.
• Sell or give away. Online marketplaces and local groups work well for furniture, bikes and baby things.
• Recycle. Textile banks for clothes and shoes, electrical recycling for anything with a plug or battery, and your recycling bin for paper and cardboard.
• Let go. Broken and worn-out things go to licensed waste facilities.

When we clear a house, reusable items are set aside for reuse where possible, metals, electricals, appliances and cardboard go for recycling, and the rest goes to licensed facilities. Our guide to what happens to furniture after a clearance explains this in more detail.

How long does it take?

Honestly, it depends on the size of the house, how full it is and how quickly you make decisions. A single room might take an afternoon. A whole family home, done in evenings and at weekends, can take a few weeks.

The clearing part is much faster. Once the decisions are made, a clearance crew can usually empty a full house in one to two days, including the attic, garage and shed.

When to call in help

Decluttering is personal, but you don't have to do the clearing alone. It's time to bring in help when:

• you've made the decisions and the "let go" pile fills a room, or the garage
• there's heavy furniture, a piano or old appliances to shift
• you have a deadline, like a sale, a move or a handover
• the attic, garage or shed is part of the job
• the clutter has built up to the point where it's affecting daily life

For a whole house or chosen rooms, our house clearance service takes away everything you've decided to let go, across Dublin and all of Leinster. If it's a pile of bags and broken bits, junk removal is quicker, and for a few big pieces, see furniture removal. The harder spaces have their own services too: attic, garage and shed clearance.

If a home has become so full that it's hard to live in, our guide to helping someone with a very cluttered home is a gentler place to start. And before clearance day, read how to prepare a property for clearance.

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Keeping it clear afterwards

• One in, one out. When something new comes in, something old goes.
• Keep a donation bag in a wardrobe and drop it off when it's full.
• Deal with post the day it arrives.
• Do a short sweep of each room every season.