It’s an event no one ever wants to have to face: you’ve lost a loved one, and now on top of your grief, you have to be the one in charge of going through and cleaning out their home, plus having to decide what to do with your loved one’s belongings.
Whether you’re going through the loss of a parent, elderly relative, friend, or someone else close to you, any loss is incredibly hard to go through. However, though you may think going through and clearing out their home would only hurt more, it can provide you with a way to process things and get some closure regarding their death. Learning how to pack up a loved one’s home after a loss can help you navigate this emotional process with care and sensitivity.
Let’s face it: cleaning out a late loved one’s home isn’t an easy task for anyone to take on, but ultimately it has to be done, and someone has to take charge of the process. To help you out during this period, we’ve compiled some tips to let you clean out your late loved one’s home efficiently, while also allowing yourself time to process and stay organized.
Before tackling the decluttering aspect of the home clean-out itself, identify and track down important documents (i.e a will, insurance documents, personal identification documents, their social security card, etc.) and keep them in a safe place away from everything. If these important documents need to be processed or put into the care of a lawyer, get them to those offices.
Go through your loved one’s home and determine what they have, how much you’ll need to get rid of or put into storage, and what materials you need for packing or what transportation arrangements you need to make. Make a plan of action that is both efficient, but also lets you take the time you need to process and not get overwhelmed.
Start going through your loved one’s items room by room, and don’t try to take on the whole house at once.
The most efficient way to tackle a decluttering process is to not only take things room by room, but to categorize things into “keep”, “give away”, “donate”, “sell”, and “throwaway” sections. This will let you quickly go through items and also get them to their secondary locations gradually, instead of all at once.
Once you’ve properly organized these items, gradually clear them out and bring them to donation centers, appraisers, or wherever their proper place should be. This is best done day by day, instead of all at once, which can be a pretty large task. If you have enough things to sell, coordinate an estate sale to clear things out all at once.
The way you approach the decluttering process of your loved one’s home can really help you with the mourning period, and also allow you to reminisce and think of happy memories you have with them that you may not have remembered otherwise. It can also help you see more of who your loved one was before you were born, or just to learn more about them in general.
Going through their old items can really help to reflect on sweet moments and even learn more about your family history, while also both clearing out their space and allowing yourself to let go of material items that remind you of them while realizing that losing these items doesn’t mean losing the memory you have of this person.
Most importantly, make sure to prioritize your grieving and mental health during this time, and don’t be afraid to ask for help or to take a step back or a break. This can be a super overwhelming time and task for anyone – take time for yourself!
Looking for moving or storage services to service the clean-out of your loved one’s property? Hollander Storage & Moving Co. is just the company for the task! Contact us today to learn more about our services.
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Great experience with Hollander’s crew: Dominic R, Alex P, and Chris C. They were contracted (military move) to deliver some of our things that had been packed up and stored for a year, in a different location. They were professional and worked without complaints in the heat, placing our items carefully where I requested. They maneuvered a large, deep freezer down a tight staircase easily. They were thorough in helping me check to make sure all our things were accounted for, since it had changed locations/companies a few times before making it here. They were so helpful and courteous – I am very happy with my experience and would definitely recommend them!
-Timm.
The driver was the head of the crew, and he was on top of everything. He made the experience working with Hollander Moving a pleasure. We have used others before but it was our first time using Hollander. Everything turned out great.
-Eric Y..
Every employee I worked with was courteous, professional, and exceedingly competent. I was nervous about the packing and long distance move (from Illinois to New Mexico, October 2009) and Hollander helped make the move as smooth as possible. Not a thing was damaged or broken
-Kay S..
I would recommend Hollander to any company thinking about switching vendors, and any family making a move. A Hollander rep even stopped by my new place when they were unloading just to check on things.
Wonderful service – first class!
-Julia C..
Everything Hollander has done was over the top. It was courteous people, polite, caring. Their friendliness was over the top. There was one member of the crew who’d been a friend for 30 years, and the rest was family. I couldn’t say enough about them.
-Jerry M..
I recently moved from Chicago to Tampa and expected a few road bumps along the way but was pleasantly surprised when everything from loading to delivery was flawless. Everyone I came in contact with was very professional and knowledgable. I highly recommend Hollander Moving and Storage as they are a class act.
-Sandy C..
This move envolved packing and delivery to four different destinations. Attention to detail and coordination were vital and effectively executed by Tony R driver and his crew. Ardene did a great job coordinating everything. The entire group were both extremely pleasant and efficient.
-Gary T..
1801 Pratt Blvd, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
