Easy Ways to Sell, Donate and Store Items After You Declutter Your Home

When you declutter your home, you allow yourself a fresh start, clearing out items that are no longer serving you so that your home can reflect the season you’re in. However, after decluttering, you might find yourself with a lot of stuff with no home, and now those items are starting to pile up in your attic, garage, or wherever you’ve stowed them until you can find a new home for them.

We’re here to help you solve this post-decluttering woe – with our best tips and tricks on how to sell, donate, or store the items that don’t seem to have a place.

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Easy Ways to Sell, Donate and Store Items After You Declutter Your Home

Declutter Your Home: Sell It

Wanting to cash in on some of your gently used items? You’re not alone! With new consignment websites and apps popping up seemingly all the time, it’s hard to sift out the ones that make it worth it. Here are the ones we love!

Poshmark: A company that’s been around since 2011, you can sell your gently used clothing and other style-related items easily from their app or on their website. (You can also buy items, finding gently used fashion and more for up to 70% off top brand prices!)

Facebook Marketplace: You might already know that Shannon’s highly sought-after dining room table is from Facebook Marketplace, giving us a perfect example of the absolute treasures you can find on this Meta feature. Listing on Facebook Marketplace is simple, easy and fast, with options to have local-pick up only or shipping available. There’s even an option to help both the seller and buyer find a neutral, safe location for the sale itself, if you choose pick up only. (As with anything type of app connecting you with strangers, take every precaution available to you.)

A Yard Sale: Never underestimate a good, old-fashioned yard sale! (Or garage sale, or tag sale – whichever variation you use!) We regularly held yard sales as kids in Mimi’s front yard and loved to help prep the items and monitor the cash box. We even enjoyed selling lemonade and baked goods on the side for customers. (Ha! Our inner hostesses were clearly shining through already!)

Our tips for an easy (and profitable) yard sale:

• Schedule it on a non-holiday weekend, preferably Friday-Sunday mornings. We recommend starting early (think 7-8 AM). You’ll find that people who love checking out yard sales tend to start out early. Plus, it can be much cooler during spring and summer months!
• Advertise your tag sale in totally free ways. Post about it in your neighborhood Facebook group, talk about it on your Instagram Stories – anything to draw people in. Also, never underestimate the abilities of traditional signs placed – where allowed – around your neighborhood the day of your sale.
• Consider having additional families participate. This can multiply your customers quickly if you collectively advertise your sale as a neighborhood yard sale, and even more so when your neighbors are also doing their part to get the word out!
• Have the right tools. While it seems counterintuitive to purchase items to host a yard sale, if you plan to regularly have sales once or twice a sale, it makes sense! Not to mention, many of these items are also ideal for hosting outside or larger groups of people, so you’ll find use for those outside of yard sales. Shop our favorite Yard Sale Must-Have below!

Yard Sales Aren’t Just for the Adults

Fun Story for the Dail Household: Jenna’s oldest, Cohban, recently decided he wanted to do a yard sale himself. Jenna let him, but said he was on his own since her to-do list was long as it was. He rose to the challenge and sat outside one weekend with his sellable items. He made a profit of $150. Not bad for a Saturday!

Yard Sale Must-Haves

Declutter Your Home: Donate

Donating is an option that not only helps you to declutter, it directly benefits others. Finding reputable places to donate items can help strengthen your community and create deeper relationships between you and others.

While there are some large companies that are known for taking in donations, we figured we’d highlight a few places that might not automatically come to mind, giving you more options when you’re ready to donate.

Waffle Throw

Your Local Library: Old books? If they’re still in good shape but you want to clear off space for new reads, consider calling your local library to see if they take donations. Many libraries would be happy to take your gently used books off your hands to be put into the hands of those eager to read them!

Animal Shelters: Gently used crates, collars, leashes and more are items most shelters need. Consider calling a local animal shelter before you toss your good-condition pet items and see if you can help out animals in need.

Dress for Success: This organization connects low-income women with interview-appropriate clothing that helps them succeed in the workplace. According to our local chapter‘s website, they accept donations by appointment only, so be sure to check with your local chapter if you have gently used work clothing you’d like to see elevate women in your community.

Habitat for Humanity: While this is a well-known organization, did you know that Habitat has stores called “ReStore” that sell gently used items? Check out this option if you’re looking to donate appliances, furniture, household goods and more.

Declutter Your Home: Store

It’s okay if you’re not ready to let go of some items. Maybe they hold cherished memories or you simply feel indecisive. When this is the case, storage works too! Whether you’re looking to store your things in a basement or attic, or you’re looking for a storage unit, here are a few tips when packing any of your personal items.

1.) Clean items first. It might seem like the last thing you want to do after decluttering your home, but by cleaning your storage items, you’re saving yourself hassle in the future. Keep it simple with a quick wipe down for most of your items.

2.) Cover to avoid dust. Use plastic coverings to protect your items for whatever length of time they’ll be tucked away.

3.) Gently wrap fragile items. For delicate pieces, grab some bubble wrap from your local store and take the time to wrap them, avoiding any possible breaks or scratches while in storage.

4.) Place in boxes and label each box with individual items. Again, this effort might seem like a step that can be skipped, but if you want to make life easier for Future You, then we recommend taking the time to thoughtful pack items and clearly label each box. When you want an item, it’ll be a breeze finding it!

5.) Finally, if you are going the storage unit route, consider finding a place that has climate control. This way, you’ll never have to worry about mold and mildew on your items.

The Buzzworthy Takeaway on the Aftermath of Decluttering Your Home

It’s very natural to accrue a plethora of “things” over the years. Those items, however, don’t always grow and evolve with us, therefore you end up with items that, while once loved, don’t hold the same use, meaning, or feeling. Decluttering is the best way to handle this problem.

The aftermath of decluttering, though, feels like another problem in and of itself. Use these approaches above to help you find balance and less overwhelm as you rehome your items and allow your past treasures to become someone else’s cherished items.

Hap-Bee Decluttering, friend!