Hey friends! Today’s post is all about purging – something that has completely taken over my life lately. You see, when I moved from Dallas to Denver I was in the middle of planning our wedding and felt like I was completely maxed out on time. So if something had to give it was going to be spending time purging my entire life before packing it up and moving. I’m not saying that was the wrong choice because the wedding was obviously important but I am definitely kicking myself a bit now for having brought SO much unnecessary stuff into our new house.

Going through everything I brought from the Dallas house is a ton of work and I feel like I have some wisdom to offer to anyone who has a move coming up. And I think the below advice is applicable whether you’re moving across town or across the country, so hopefully you find it helpful!

Your Closet

This is where I failed miserably! I basically didn’t get rid of any clothes before packing (or it had been a while) and I regret it so much. When you pack to move, you really get insight into how much stuff you have and you see things you haven’t worn in years (at least I did – oops), which makes it the perfect time to sell/donate/toss anything you no longer want or sparks joy as some people like to say. Make a pile for each and go through all the categories of your closet one by one – winter clothes, summer clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc. This is what I’m doing now and I can’t wait to feel like I have a better handle on everything. I just want to feel like I’m starting fresh, ya know?

I’m obviously currently working on my closet in the Denver house, which I’ll reveal soon, but if you want to see how I had things set up in my Dallas closet, you check that out here.

Furniture

OK, this is like the ONE thing I did right before moving – I purged pretty much all my furniture! I knew that the Denver house was going to be a COMPLETELY different style and that none of my current stuff would work so out the door it went! Actually thanks to my Instagram followers, selling it all was incredibly easy. Now, I totally get that not everyone moves with the intention of completely redecorating and buying new furniture, but even still! Take a look around before moving day and ask yourself what pieces you can really picture in your new house. If they make the cut, take them, if not, time to go!

Kitchen pantry

I have to laugh at myself with this one. You’d think that getting rid of random expired cans of beans and containers of spices would be common sense, but nope! I brought it all! I didn’t purge any of my kitchen stuff, so it recently became a weekend project for Duncan and I. He was giving me such a hard time for having multiples of the same spices and then they were both expired. Like why I thought I needed pounds and pounds of cumin is beyond me LOL. Definitely take the time to throw out anything expired from your pantry/spice cabinet as you’re packing up. Don’t be like me and bring expired food into your new space!

Skincare/beauty products

My bathroom is another area similar to my closet that I just wish I would have had more time to thoroughly go through and get rid of/give away everything. Part of the reason I have so many products is because of my job, but also I think most women are guilty of having that cabinet or drawer full of stuff that they really don’t use but don’t do anything about because it just takes forever. I did do a major bathroom purge around this time last year and it literally took me a week to go through everything and then organize it.

Ugh, I’m tired just thinking about my bathroom, ha! For my process, though, I’m starting with my hair tools and then working my way down to beauty products and then skincare. This house also doesn’t have near as much storage as my old house, so as I do all of this I’m going to have to be extremely strategic. Would y’all want to see a bathroom/product organization reveal once I’m done?

Long story short, be sure to purge these four areas of your house BEFORE moving, k? It will take time, but a lot less than packing it all up, moving it into your new place and then having to deal with it. Good luck to anyone else out there in this same boat – we got this!!