A graphic of a room being prepared for a building project with stepladders, boxes and supplies
Episode 61 – Preparing your stuff for a building project

In this podcast, we talk all about preparing for a building project - what you need to do before, during and after to manage the logistics of your things.
Whilst preparing for a building project is exciting, we often get carried away in the detail of the build and neglect the management of our stuff. It's important to prepare well to make sure your things can be moved around easily when needed and you can find what you need if then project overruns.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
Intro  0:07  
Welcome to today's episode of the declutter hub podcast, your channel for super easy, no nonsense advice on how to declutter and organise your home. Please welcome your host professional organisers, Ingrid Jansen and Lesley Spellman. 

Ingrid  0:23  
Hello and welcome listeners to Episode 61 of the declutter hub podcast. I'm Ingrid.

Lesley  0:28  
And I'm Lesley. 

Ingrid  0:29  
If you have clutter and want to sort it out, this is the show for you, as well as the free resources on the declutterhub.com website like the podcast, checklists and guest blogs. We also have an exclusive area where we guide our members step by step to declutter their homes, we realise this can be very overwhelming. So we're there every step of the way. With courses live q&a s and a community discussion. Take a look on members dot declutter hub.com. In today's episode, Lesley and I will be talking about how you need to manage your stuff during a building projects Lesley is currently doing to house refurbs with clients, so she knows firsthand how important it is to be organised during a building project. And what needs to be done to keep your stuff under control. Lesley spilled the beans about these probes because oh my goodness, that's a big thing to do a whole house refurb so How bad is

Lesley  1:29  
it just say before we get started on the building projects, Ingrid in our level of chat before we started this podcast, about you know life and things and negativity and all that we're like, we're decluttering negativity out of our lives. The intro to this was quite buoyant, Ingrid, well. Here we are being all positive and decluttering all negativity out of our lives and being here with our lovely listeners. But that's just a little aside, just so let's call that out.

Ingrid  2:03  
No, and I think she you should leave the shellac cottage out in the zoo.

Lesley  2:10  
Okay, right back on to the project at hand, which, which is also something that makes me super happy. Now it's stressful. I'm not going to lie, a building project is stressful. The reason why clients take me on to manage that building projects is because in principle, the organisation that I can bring to that is going to take the stress out of their lives or decrease that stress. And so it is a stressful time because it's a big, big upheaval. And so as Ingrid said, at the moment, I'm doing two House refurbishments. One is a full house. And by that, I mean, we're putting a new kitchen in a new bathroom, we're decorating it right through, we're putting new carpets in, and new furniture and cutting blinds. So basically, the whole house we're doing on one project, which is like the best for me, I absolutely love it. And then the other one I'm doing I'm just doing a couple of rooms, I'm doing three rooms in that house, that's more soft furnishings, and decorating and carpeting. So it's not building work. So one is more soft furnishings and design and one is building work. But to me, it's such great fun. So quite often what happens is when I declutter houses with my clients, they get to know that I've got tradesmen that work for me and things like that. And obviously, there's a lot of trust that goes along with decluttering. So they I get to know them as people and I get to know about their budgets and what makes them tick and where I might go with that. And they entrust me to manage their building projects, which is part of my job that I absolutely love. So we talked about possible topics for podcasts. And we talk about this all the time, don't we Ingrid? Like, what what's going to be useful? And when do we actually have to manage our stuff? And what do we have to do with it? Now, when you're doing a building project of any kind, even if it's only decorating one room, there is logistics involved in that in terms of your stuff, and what you have to do to prepare. And that's the kind of thing that a lot of times stops people from doing building projects and decorating and things like that, because it becomes so overwhelming. And so what we wanted to talk about today was not the building projects. I mean, I could talk about for five, maybe 567 hours about the building projects that I'm doing, but I won't do that. What we're focusing on today is more about how logistically do you manage your stuff when you're embarking on a project?

Ingrid  4:23  
Good point well made, because I think that was my first thing as well, when we were talking about in preparing this podcast is like, we're not going to talk about a building project and about builders and decorators. But, but it's so important to have an organisation going on when you're doing a big project. So I'm really glad you've clarified that for our listeners, let's see, because I was actually wondering the same thing, like, where are we going to with this podcast, but it's all about preparation, isn't it? Yeah, it's

Lesley  4:49  
about the preparation, and it's about the logistics of your stuff. You know, in every room in your house. We have stuff that needs to be moved to accommodate a building project. And so how do we do that? And how do we do it effective? So it's not adding to the stress that we feel throughout the building project, seeing all our stuff getting damaged and full of doston thing. So really wanted to talk about that. And we're gonna go through before the building project during the building project, things to think about. And then after the building project is finished, what do you do with your stuff?

Ingrid  5:17  
Perfect. Sounds like a great plan. So let's then start with before you start a building projects, you are on the verge of having builders, carpenters, kitchen, people, carpet people, what can you do before they actually step a foot over the door and everything kind of starts,

Lesley  5:36  
I think the first thing to think about is what kind of building project that's going to be. So it's obviously going to be very different if it's going to involve joiners and plaster, and kitchens and bathrooms than it is if it's just decorated and carpets. But to be fair, decorating and carpet are the things that really, really need you to move your stuff out that we're going to talk about later. So first of all, know what kind of impact the building work is going to have. And then what people often do is they often really underestimate the mess that a building project is going to cause. So don't listen to your builders. When they say Oh, it's fine, we're going to cover everything up, and we're going to seal the doors, and it's all going to be fine. And we're going to minimise the dust. That's not true. dust gets everywhere. So plan for the worst, really important to box your things up. So things are covered up. So they're in wardrobe through in boxes, they're in drawers, there's no reason for you to take those out and put them into boxes, unless you are putting stuff into storage, which some people do when they're doing a building project. So I guess what we're talking about now is we're talking about you're doing a building project where you're keeping your stuff at home, obviously, some people will send it out to storage facilities for that, which is great if you can do that. But that's a completely different thing. So you keeping your stuff at home? How do you manage it? So the stuff that's in watered drawers, etc, just leave it exactly where it is. But it's the things that are around on surfaces that are open to the elements, if you will, those are the things that you need to start boxing up and protecting for the building project.

Ingrid  7:04  
So what kind of things are you talking about? Are you talking about like ornaments or photo frames? Is that the things you're talking about here?

Lesley  7:11  
Yeah, ornaments, photo frames, there's probably going to be papers around, there's going to be magazines, there's going to be bags, there's going to be coats hung up all of those things, you know, things like lamps, you know, these things are expensive, they need to be covered, they don't get full of dust that you can use them after the building project.

Ingrid  7:27  
So booked up as much as you can, and put that away, either on a loft or an area, maybe that's not affected by the building work. So you've got everything as much as in place as possible.

Lesley  7:39  
Yeah, I mean, what we're doing at the moment, and the house that I'm refurbishing is we've we've made a decision we're doing the whole house at once she's moved out of the house, that makes things easier, but her stuff is still in the house. And so what we've done is we've moved all the stuff as much as we can into the conservator. And that's kind of the holding area for all the boxes. And everything else is either in cupboards and drawers, which is still where it is, or it's in the conservatory. So it's important to think about the boxes that you're going to buy beforehand, because not many of us have got cardboard boxes in the house. So you're going to need to either order those, or you're going to need to get them from somewhere. The supermarket boxes that around tend not to be covered boxes tend to be open boxes. So you're probably going to need to go and either buy or borrow or get on Freecycle. You know, quite often people have got moving boxes available. So do ask around on your local Facebook groups and things for people, if they do have boxes that you might be able to use however many, many boxes, you think you're going to need double it, we always underestimate the amount of stuff that we've got, whether that's moving or moving for a building project. So you can never have too many boxes really take the opportunity at that stage to declutter. Before that stuff goes into a box and is gathered in in advance of the building project. Make sure that you declutter, really look at your stuff at that moment and declutter it as you go.

Ingrid  8:55  
Yeah, good point. I mean, everything of course, that does, it doesn't need to be wrapped and boxed up and then later unpacked and cleaned and sorted and put away. That is, you know, super helpful. So, listeners, definitely, if you're doing a big building project, make sure you spend time decluttering so you don't spend time boxing up stuff you're not going to want later anyway.

Lesley  9:19  
Yeah, one of the things to think about as well really, when you're boxing things up is Don't overfill the boxes. So particularly, I mean, one of the things that's going to come up probably is books are going to come up bookcases if you've got them. And so many times people will fill the boxes with books and that makes them so heavy to lift, and you're not a removal man. And so you're probably going to be the one in your building project that is going to end up moving boxes from room to room as neat as you need to throughout the project. So never ever overfill those boxes, keep them light keep them manageable so that you don't kill yourself while you move boxes. It's really important to do that. I mean, I did a house a couple of years ago, and he was absolute book lover and We literally had to keep moving these, these boxes from room to room, I had not filled them he had, and they were so so heavy. So it was that was the hardest part of the building work was moving the boxes from one room to another. So really, really think about that. And obviously labelling is going to be absolutely critical at this point, because these things are going to get moved around. So you might put some kind of organisational system in place in terms of where the boxes are when you first start. But as things happen, as rooms need to be cleared, so that you can carpet them, so you can decorate them, that kind of thing. Your organisational system may go out of place.

Ingrid  10:35  
You're absolutely right, Lesley, because my sister has nearly finished a massive house refurb. And it got a lot bigger than planned that it's taken much longer than planned. But in the end, she like I cannot believe we're moving these boxes again. And they were really on top of planning and following the plan and what needs to be done when she said I can't stand. So she actually didn't dance for joy when she unpacked her last box last week, she called me said it can't believe it. But the last box were re because she was so fed up of moving them around all the time. So this makes complete sense to me.

Lesley  11:11  
And the thing the other thing, you know, you talk about Project overruns as well. So always factor in a contingency in terms of time, that's really important. Because even if a builder says to you, it's going to take four weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks, we all know that these things have a tendency to over run. So if you've got something that you're say for example, you've got someone's birthday, or some special occasion coming up and you think oh well that will be unpacked by then just have a little contingency and make sure you label that box or if there's something's looming, quite soon after the building building project is due to end just think about that and have that close to him just in case it doesn't.

Ingrid  11:50  
Again, looking back at my sister the project was going to be about she thought he was going to be done by the summer. And now it's gonna looking like she's she's she's nearly done now. And we're talking October November time, because they came across a lot of things that weren't foreseen when they started opening up walls and started doing the building works themselves. So they did a lot more work than they planned. So that read that project really overran Of course, they were fully aware that was happening. But it really makes a massive difference on what their books were. And they put stuff boxes in my mom's house and they kept boxes in their own house. So definitely take that into consideration. And also, if you're packing your boxes, very smart indeed not to overfill them. But also try as much as you can to put like with like, so put one where you put books in and another one with maybe stationery and another one with photo frames, and another one with ornaments. So you're not ended up with loads of boxes, all almost being miscellaneous, and having to go back to 25 different places, because then it really gets really time consuming also, when you have to unpack and put it all back. So

Lesley  12:57  
yeah, and it's important to keep things that you might need during the building projects in a separate box. And so if it's paperwork, for example, you know, definitely keep that to one side that you can get to it really easily if you need to throughout the during the building project. If for example, you're doing a kitchen or a wardrobe that involves designing a space, yeah, a new space, make sure that you really, really look at your needs. So the other refurbishment that I'm talking about where we're doing three rooms, one of those is a dressing room. And so it's going to be beautiful. We've got three metres worth of wardrobes, there's lots of space, but she's also got lots of clothes. And so what we're going to do is we're definitely going to look at right exactly how much long hanging doing the because she's got dresses, she goes out a bit dinner regularly with the job that she's got. We've got long hanging, she's got coach, she's got short hanging, how much of all of these individual components do we need? How many shoe racks do we need? How many drawers do we need. So don't just guess, don't just go with what the designer tells you. Because what they're probably going to do is they're going to maximise on the fancy things that you may not need. You may not need fancy drawers and tie racks and all that you might be able to do that with just a drawer or a shelf or something. So don't always go with the design, even though they look amazing. It's about practicality, exactly the same in a kitchen, really look at exactly what you need in that kitchen, mentally go through, right, that's my baking stuff. That's from my pans. That's from my pastures. That's from my glasses, that's my cups, etc. And really visually look at each cupboard and say, is that going to be sufficient for what I need what I had before? Does that make sense? And so, you know, that's quite a skill, to be fair, but it's something to think about or to ask for some advice on to make sure that you don't get a brand new kitchen or your brand new wardrobe and think oh, I wish I had done things differently. So it's really important to plan that kind of thing. While you've got the opportunity. Not a great opportunity to have these beautiful new things. It's so exciting. You need to make sure that space and that wardrobe or that kitchen is completely functional for you.

Ingrid  14:52  
So think about all of these things also before you start packing up your items. And you realise you look at what you currently have. You know what Currently, you either have enough space, or you're always trying to struggle that last pot and pan in that cupboard. You know, in your new kitchen, you might want to get a little bit more space for your pots and pans. So it's all about the stuff that you have, and how to deal with it when the project is finished, and how you can then put everything back. But let's now talk about what we need to do during the building project.

Lesley  15:24  
I think the interesting thing and something that always flummoxed as my clients a little bit is knowing how how clear rooms have got to be for certain things to happen. So join a building projects, we're trying to minimise the amount of justice going into Boston getting enough things. But actually, once we get down to the nitty gritty, and this is right at the end of the project, where all the building, what's been done, the plaster has been done all that kind of thing. We're actually getting into carpets and decorating, those rooms have got to be fairly clear, not so much for decorating. But they do need to be clear for carpeting, you'll find a carpet company may work around a bed. But that's about it. Everything else needs to be out of that room. So this is what we were talking about before, don't overfill your boxes because you're going to be moving things from room to room. And when you are getting to the end of the project, don't just say to the carpet people, right you can come in and carpet the whole house because the practicalities of that happening and being able for you to logistically, if you're on your own that is to be able to move that stuff from room to room ahead of them carpeting is probably a manageable. So you might have to do that over two days or into you know, do upstairs and downstairs. It's something that happens quite often in a building project where the whole house will get done in terms of carpets at once. So factor that in and know that those rooms have got to be empty. Because it's something that you can you get so bogged down in a building projects. And there's so much to do and so much to think about that you forget about the logistics of moving that stuff around.

Ingrid  16:50  
Yeah, absolutely. And I think also, it's a great opportunity as well if that room is empty, to give it a really good clean and a dust and then the carpets go in and do that again. So you kind of clean as you go along as well. So don't leave the cleaning and the hoovering and dusting and the wiping until last. Because building dust is so fine and thin it will it will go everywhere all the time. So if you want to ever get on top of that dupe during your building project, keep cleaning, keep dusting, it seems like a losing battle probably half of the time, but it's really, really important.

Lesley  17:27  
I think it's definitely I mean, it's quite, it's always quite nice, really, one of the things that I've been organising today actually had been organised in a cleaner to come in after the carpets have been put in. And so really to be fair, all she's going to have to do on that day, is that she's gonna have it because it will be decorated, which kind of clean well, it does clean the room. So everything's been done, hasn't it. So you decorate and we'll clean the skirting boards as they go. So really, the only thing that needs to be done in that room is the Windows needs to be done. And the carpets needs to be done to get all of their carpet fluffed up. But the important thing to do is to make sure before your carpets go in that you've cleaned the floor underneath the carpets. Otherwise your carpet fitters may well just put the carpet right on top of all that dirt and dust if you've not done a basic clean, so just know that they're not going to do that a standard. Equally, if you've got any loose floorboards that need hammering down, they're not necessarily going to do that for you, you need to get a joiner in to do it. Another thing with carpets to bear in mind when you're getting carpets put in is that the doors may need to come up if the carpets are thick, or you've got new underlay. And they will probably not put your doors on for you'll have to get a joiner in to do that as well. So that's something that many needs to get thought about in advance.

Ingrid  18:38  
Good point, Lesley, I hadn't realised that. But now you're seeing I'm thinking yes, I had the same thing, I had the same thing. And also, of course, I think for me, the most hard thing is not even the bed, I think it's mostly to get the wardrobe out because I've got quite a large wardrobe. And I mean, we have get everything out of it, get the doors off, then move the frame out. So as soon as the cupboard goes back, I give it a clean in a wipe, then put the doors on, give it another Hoover and wipe. And then I put the clothes back. So it takes time. It does it does,

Lesley  19:09  
it takes a long time. If I'm doing the move back in so we're moving it back in in about 10 days time, there'll be two of us working all day. And a lot of that time will be about cleaning the space and cleaning it again and cleaning it again before we put the stuff back. And also you've got to factor in the fact that some of that stuff is going to need cleaning as well. Even though it's been boxed up before you then start to put things away in kitchen cupboards. You're gonna want to run something through the dishwasher. You know, so you need to there's so much preparation to resetting stuff, really. So it's the management of stuff honestly, is one of the hardest things to manage in a building project. And it's something that people just don't factor in.

Ingrid  19:46  
Yeah, good point, especially about kitchens as well. Because a lot of times what people do is they put stuff in boxes, glasses and plates, and it's almost all the stuff they haven't used for a while anyway. II, they are not decluttering because they're like, Oh, I now need to quickly pack it because I don't have time to declutter anymore. So a lot of the stuff goes in that is a bit dusty, and a bit hasn't been cleaned or run through a dishwasher in a while. So before you put stuff back, make sure you clean and scrub the insides of cupboards, but also run those things through the dishwasher, your plates, your cups, your pots and pans. And not only the stuff that's been used while the building project was going on, but also the stuff that was in boxes, or maybe even stayed in certain cupboards, it all gets really dusty in that find us gets in everywhere. So really important to do that properly. And make sure you know how your new dishwasher works.

Lesley  20:42  
Yeah, one of the things that we see all the time when we're working with building projects is that people are a little bit disappointed with some of the stuff that they have kept. Because they've thought that they're going to be able to use it in the new sort of configuration of the house within in the new designer night. Why did I keep that why don't keep that was never going to look nice, because everything else is brand new. And so some of the older stuff looks a little bit on the tatty side, doesn't it. And so that's why going back to what we do before really hone in on that decluttering. And really be honest with yourself at that stage, whether it's something that you want to take through with you to your newly refurbished home.

Ingrid  21:17  
Yeah, and I think it's also not only the stuff you know, I agree with you suddenly that kettle or that toaster that looks fine in your old kitchen, suddenly doesn't look so nice anymore in your beautiful new brand spanking new kitchen, or maybe even a door that hasn't been painted yet. And everything else is gleaming and new. But the painter didn't get the job from you to paint the door as well as suddenly your door looks like oh, that doesn't look very nice compared to all my nice, lovely, gleaming walls and floors and kitchen cupboards

Lesley  21:50  
use me Can I just say that would not happen on my building project.

Ingrid  21:55  
Lesley, so a couple of last top tips. I think for our listeners, like we mentioned before, keep in mind that most building projects do run over, even if they say it's going to be three weeks, you know, it's going to be four or five, don't you Lesley? I mean, I don't know what your experience is in this. But I think everyone I've ever talked to has done some sort of building project, they've said to me, it's run over,

Lesley  22:20  
you know what I'm not doing too bad. I'm not gonna lie with my current project, it was a four week build. And she's going to be moved back in in six weeks. And that's a whole house top to bottom everything. And so I don't think that's bad going to get a new kitchen, a new bathroom and everything decorated with one builder, because only one builder working on the project. So I think that's quite a nice little turnaround.

Ingrid  22:40  
Well, that just shows you need to hire literally to make sure that your project it's is running on time. So if anybody else, but I know from experience that a lot of people who do work with builders, that things do run over, because you come across stuff that you didn't expect were going to happen. And it just takes a lot of time. So make sure you have a buffer of time and you don't put everything so tightly on top of each other in the diary that for example, you think about yourself, Oh, well, in four weeks time, I'm going to have four other people help me unpack. And in four weeks time it goes and comes and goes because the builders are still working in full force in your kitchen or your lounge. And all the people you sorted out to help you now I've got other plans. So keep an eye on on the scheduling and the planning of your of your project. And also then the unpacking and scheduled time for that as well.

Lesley  23:29  
It's probably worth saying as well, Ingrid, that, you know, that's a job that we do as professional organisers isn't it. So what quite regularly happens particularly on big bills as well, people will factor in and unpack at the end of a building project. And so a team of professional organisers will come in and they'll reorganise your new house for you, or with you with you. And for you. Ideally, yeah, and so that's something that you can do to if there's something that where you are completely overwhelmed. Are you on a specific timescale, that is a possibility as well that you can get organisers in to come help you.

Ingrid  24:00  
Very good point, Lesley, very well made. So listeners, we hope you've all enjoyed listening and are inspired to take action. Are you planning a big house refurb? Or are you going to decorate a room, and hopefully this podcast has given you some food for thought. And as always, you put a bit more planning and thinking into the preparation of your project, and not the project doesn't start when the builders knock on the door? It starts way before that, and how are you going to handle your stuff. So we've hope we've given you some very good pointers. And we really appreciate you listening today. And if you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review and tell us what you think about the show. We'd love to read your comments, and take feedback on board and maybe you've got a topic that you would like us to discuss. Come share with us in the review and we'll put it in our podcast planning list. If you'd like to get more tips and advice please follow us on social media. We are on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as at declutter hub and we have a lively supportive Facebook group where we chat all things club Sir, you can search for the declutter hub community. We'd love to see you there. Take a look at members dot declutter hub.com To find out more about our membership. If you don't want to miss the next weekly episode, subscribe to the declutter hub podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or I Heart Radio, and it will pop into your notifications each Friday. See you next time.

Outro  25:24  
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