Preparing To Sell Our Home - The De-Cluttering Begins

Just over 2 years ago we purchased 5.5 acres of bare land in New Zealand with the intention of moving there, closer to my family, to live.  I have been mentioning this upcoming move here and there for the past 2 years and some of you (like some of our family) might be wondering if we will ever actually make the move.  Rest assured we will be moving, and this stay in Australia after purchasing the property was always part of the plan.  Since then we have been renovating our home here and tidying things up both inside and out.

The renovations are now finished and the plan is to put our home on the market and if sold before August we will move back to Brisbane into rental accommodation.  We are then hoping to take a few months off to go on a bit of a road trip around the country to see friends and family before heading back to Brisbane and biding our fond farewells.

Even though we have been slowly but surely de-cluttering over the past few months it is now time for the last big push and get rid of everything we know 100% will not be going to New Zealand and to get the house 'dressed' for sale.  Over the Weekend I tackled a few areas of the house to get this started.

I started in the kitchen here I removed all of the magnets, photos, kids paintings (from my nieces), menu plan white board and other bits and pieces from the fridge, then I gave it a good clean.
The only thing that has been returned to the fridge is the menu planning board which can be removed at the drop of a hat for inspections.
I then removed the 13 salad bowls, pie dishes and casserole dishes from the shelf above the pantry and after giving everything a good clean, returned only 5 bowls to the shelf.  Two of the other salad bowls have been set aside to find a new home and the rest were put away in the cupboard above the fridge.

A nice clean and tidy top shelf

Excess bowls and dishes set aside

My next area to tackle was part (yes this is just part) of my cookbook collection.  I keep the ones I use  lot on the kitchen bench stacked up wedged between the wall and my kombucha.

Just some of my cookbook collection

In an effort to clear some of the clutter I have cleared off the two shelves just above, of their normal bits and pieces, and selected just a few cook books to dress the shelves. 

A few books selected to dress the shelves.

The remainder of the cookbooks made their way to join the rest of the collection (after a de-clutter where a few were packed in the Op Shop Box) in the bottom draw.

I have not started de-cluttering the rest of the kitchen but it feels good to have this part done.

A little tidier at this end of the bench

Then it was on the the book shelf.  Sorry no 'before' photos here.  But there used to be a second row of books on 3 of the shelves as well as many other books stacked horizontally on top of those.
I have gotten rid of at least 40 books (to be sent to the Op Shop), packed 2 other boxes to be stored away and removed all the remaining books and given the bookcase a good clean.

A nice tidy bookcase with only a single layer of books

After the big bookcase was done I decided that while I was there I may as well tackle the small bookcase filled with magazines.

The before shot

All the magazines were sorted and some added to the Op Shop pile.  The book shelf was cleaned and the remaining magazines stacked neatly.

The after shot

Then it was on to out side.  One of the things that we cannot take to New Zealand due to quarantine rules is garden pots.  So they all need to find a new home.  I have already donated all of the tubestock pots to our local Landcare group and now I have about 2 dozen of terracotta pots and a heap of plastic pots.

I have washed all of the pots to get rid of the spiders, ants and dirt and all the plastic post have been sorted to size.  Now I just need to find them a new home.

So that is a few small jobs taken care of and while there is a lot left to do I am glad we started de-cluttering a few months ago.  We have a lot less 'stuff' to deal with now and the plan is to get the rest of the rooms ready over the next few weekends, for the agent (not yet chosen) to come and take photos and hold inspections.

Have you got any tips for getting your home ready for sale?