I like to do it before moving, but my boyfriend after. It just seems more work to move things that will be discarded anyway.

I have done this a little in the past, but I'm going to be doing a massive purge soon since I'm moving back in with my boyfriend and he's basically got a full house. Not looking forward to this. Feels like Sophie's Choice-lite sometimes.

I do both. Moving to a new place is the perfect time to rid yourself of massive amounts of clutter. I hate packing (and unpacking) and find myself throuwing out/donating quite a bit out of sheer frustration for the whole process. The bulk is thrown out as I'm packing though

I've always had to declutter and discard before, but would do it after, too, if I were downsizing. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

Sophie's Choice-Lite!!!!! Know the feeling well.

Ideally, I do it all before. Realistically, I do it after. It always gets done one way or another, though.

Before, during, after. I have moved 4 times in 2 years and I have almost nothing left. And I keep moving into bigger places. What is the opposite of a hoarder? That's me.

before, during, after. and this latest move is a temporary one (hopefully 6 months), so it included "boxes to not bother opening at this place." well...then do i really need to own them at all?

When I lived in apartments and moved every year to 18 months, I definitely discarded before. Packing up a couple of loads to take to Goodwill became just part of the process. I've lived in my current home (owned) for two years and I'm definitely finding myself purging every six months or so. It feels so good to know that I could just pack up much of what I own at a moment's notice without worrying about what to keep and what to get rid of.

before, because we've moved so often that it's less stuff to move. plus my friends benefit because i end up giving away everything we don't want or need.

then when we get to a new place, i just re-analyze everything to make sure it has a place and i like it in the space. otherwise, it's going to friends as well.

another thing i recommend, after all of our moves, is to completely clean EVERYTHING before you pack it up. clothing, linens, picture frames, dishes, mirrors. everything should be completely clean of dust and build-up from the last place.
that way when you unpack, you're starting completely fresh.

Both. We just moved last month and took our time in the process, which was both good and bad. We purged a lot before we left, but once we got down to the wire (stupid procrastination! we hate moving) we packed it all up and are still throwing more away/piling it up to sell.

Before, during and after. My family and friends have accidentally created a furniture and appliance "pool", which we all seem to donate to and benefit from, as needed. Obviously we all believe in recycling!

I purged a lot of my books when we moved from San Diego to Seattle. There was no room in the townhouse we were renting. Now we have our own house and I have more than enough room for all those books in my office. Sniff. But otherwise, I'm all about getting rid of stuff before moves, room makeovers, etc. I do have a few regrets, but mostly am glad to cut down on the clutter.

we usually do it before and after! we set aside time to declutter as we pack before moving, but living in small spaces means that once we get there some things need to be reevaluated.

Both. Ideally, everything should be discarded prior to the move (why packing and moving things that will go to garbage/charity store anyway?) but I know from my previous experience that I never declutter enough. I always end up with boxes that haven't been unpacked years after the move (apparently, all the stuff contained in them should have been disposed of before the move).

I try, but somehow I always end doing a half-ass job only. :-)

I'm right in the middle of moving to my first own flat. I've been decluttering a bit, giving away stuff to friends and second hand shops, and I will be leaving some things behind (old school books etc..), but I will probably have to go through my stuff again when I've moved. Tuesday can't come fast enough!

Before. My criteria is "Is this item worth moving X number of miles and paying for it, in time, money, aching backs?" It's amazing how much I realize I've accumulated, and how much of it is nothing that I really need or want (and I live so lightly that people actually comment on how minimal my places are).

Just did this! we moved into a new home (permanent) and i had lots and lots of help purging myself of loads of craps. I still have some things that i could probably stand to throw away.
But I do love having an office that I can safely retreat to pay bills online, folders to put important documents in, and a spot for all the pens, highlighters and pencils that I found during our move!

I always purge before a move, but this last time I moved I got rid of two pieces of furniture that I wish I hadn't. One I didn't think I'd have room for and the other one I wanted a better piece. I ended up having room for the one and I could have used the other until I found something better. Other than that, I have never regretted purging before the move. It's just less stuff to move.

Both. I go through a de-clutter phase before the move based on what I have not used for awhile and what I can't see myself using at the new place. When I unpack, I go through things again for the things that I'd be certain not be using.

Ditto Bakerysensei. It's hard work tho.

The short answer? Before AND after.

As a military wife who has moved seven times in the last six years, I've finally figured out what works for us. We went from living on a sailboat our first year married with minimal possesions to accumulating far too much for two people after our boat sank in one of the hurricanes.

Over the last several years we've started to downsize and simplify again, and it feels so good! With our most recent move, which was two weeks ago, I began making a "donations" pile BEFORE we moved since we were opting for a smaller loft in the same building. I did a quick purge of items that we hadn't used since we moved into the building and items that were duplicates/excesses (i.e. Do two people really need 30 glasses and 15 mugs? No.)

As we got closer to our moving date, I went through clothing, books, etc. Anything that we weren't incredibly attached to was destined for the thrift shop. I did not want to take ANYTHING into the new apartment we didn't need to since space and storage were limited.

Over the past couple weeks, I'm continuing to filtering through our belongings as I try to get us settled in. So far, we've donated several more boxes, and I'm not done yet!

You never know what your new space will need or how you want it to function until you are in it... living there. While I wait on donating furniture until after we've moved, the little items like books, clothes, kitchen items, etc. that you haven't really used within the year prior to moving really have no place in your life any more. Toss it, donate it, get it out of your life. It's amazing how good it feels to allow yourself room to breathe by limiting "stuff".

Both, really.

I try to do the bulk of the decluttering before the move. There is always a bunch of stuff that I want to get rid of after getting settled into the new place.

It totally depends on how sudden the move is. If like to go through everything and purge before so I don't have the burden of packing it, unpacking it, and then trying to get rid of it. I am in the process now of going through EVERYTHING. It's an unbelievable amount of work.

Before! When I moved two years ago, I got rid of more stuff than I moved. I thought I had gotten rid of everything I didn't need or want, but I was wrong. I have been to Goodwill three times since I moved, I gave two boat loads of stuff to the porter, two bags to another friend who was having a tag sale, and now I have filled another couple of bags. My problem is, I moved without sorting out the chests.

Before... and since I've lived in 6 different places in the last 6 years, my stuff is pretty minimal right now.

The last time I moved, I started discarding well before, but there was still some after (when we were organizing rooms and deciding on storage). It was great not to see all of the clutter in the new house.

Both! I always get rid of a ton of stuff before the move, and then find more things that don't fit or that I don't really need once I get to the new place. I've gone from a 2 bedroom to a studio and back again in the last 5 years, so the decluttering has depended on the size of the new place, too.

You'll end up doing it before and after. The new space will not accomodate your belongings in the same way. Or that's my experience, having moved almost yearly for ten years, living overseas twice, and having just recently purchased my own home.

Ideally you purge before you move, and that's fewer boxes for you to carry. But though I've always had the best of intentions, and the first week everything is neat and labelled, I always run out of time and end up chucking things in boxes and bags anyway. And inevitably a post-moving purge follows.

Definitely I will do it twice... while packing i will discharge things I don't want anymore and while unpacking things that don't fit...

yep, I'm a before and after person. double purge!

I like to do mini-purges throughout the year so I only have to do a quick one before moving. About 2 times a year, I go through every room in the house and discard / donate every non-essential item. After helping my parents downsize and dealing with what to do with 15 years of accumulated crap, I don't want that to happen to me ever!

I've moved 27 times in the last 15 or so years--I was a bit of a wanderer--but I loved what all that moving taught me about stuff. I would do a big purge before every move, and then as I unpacked I would do a little more weeding through of things, since some stuff wouldn't work with the new space. Moving a lot has also taught me how important it is to be and stay organized--it keeps you from getting super overwhelmed by the things you didn't even know you had--and makes unpacking super easy. I also only pack boxes that I can lift, even if it means more boxes; that way I only need to count on others to help me move furniture if I'm bringing it with me. My husband thinks I'm a little OCD when it comes to moving and he's probably right. I draw little diagrams of my old and new kitchen cabinets and plan where things are going to go and label the boxes accordingly, that way the kitchen is unpacked and ready for dinner within days of moving in.

I usually discard while packing which is a terrible idea because I get TOO ruthless. I really regret throwing out an antique cast-iron skillet, for one.

Both.
I had the luxury of slowly packing over the course of two months last time, and I did a pretty good job of purging...except for my files, CDs and books. And I had a LOT of all of the above. Things that are breakable and awkwardly shaped are a lot more tempting for me to get rid of in the packing process.
Books = easy to pack, lamps = not so much.

Last summer I finally got to the files when I realized I was about to invest in a filing cabinet and challenged myself to see if I could live with just the two plastic file storage bins that fit so neatly in my closet. Inspired by that success I did a vicious cull of my books and CDS as well. I've yet to miss anything. But it was hard. I get emotional about my books, so putting them on the curb during the turmoil of moving is probably not going to happen.

I declutter before, but I always seem to find things when I'm unpacking that make me think, "why did we bring that?"

I decluttered like crazy before my move last year, only to buy more stuff for the new place after the move. That taught me to pack everything next time, and figure out what to keep and what to sell/trash/donate after I get into a new space.

Agreed about cleaning everything before packing--and don't use newspapers but do use clean newsprint to pack. We throw stuff out as we pack but usually end up throwing out a bit in the unpacking, or at least putting things aside to see if we really want to keep it.

Both, but I'd like both of the George Nelson lamps and the Aeron chair, please.

It amazes me what people cart from home to home. My neighbours stuffed their garage full of boxes of whatever when they moved in 7 years ago, and when they moved out last spring they took all that stuff with them to their new home -never once opened /sorted/discarded any of them during the entire time they lived there.

Every. Single. Day.

decluttering and purging is the most important part of the moving process in my opinion... unfortunately, it just doesn't always happen! LOL

Before...but I always wind up giving away or selling a few things a few months after a move. I think it has to do with riddling out what works best in each individual space.

I guess I'm a hoarder, or maybe just more materialist than I thought. I can't travel light, I cant live light. I have so much stuff! I sew, so there is fabric in every nook and cranny! I've moved fabric from the east coast to the south and then to the west coast. Each time I had 17 boxes and that was only clothes, no furniture, other than my drawing table which disappeared somewhere along the way. I really am trying to not buy stuff (its usually from thrift shops anyway) and now I actually ask myself first where will I put it. I've also got lots of books and don't want to part with them,cuz most of them I haven't read, cuz I get them from the thrift stores too,sometimes for 25c to $1 each. I tell myself I have a "library" but I really dont have that much space. Shoes were my real weakness, but now I'm making jewelry, and beads have become my new addiction. I tell myself i dont have too much stuff, just not enough space!
So, long story short, when I travel I take everything, when I move I take everything!

I just moved in with my boyfriend. I threw stuff away before moving, because it was less stuff to move. He packed the morning-of and threw stuff away while unpacking... which has lead to a pile of stuff he doesn't want to unpack but also doesn't want to throw away yet.

BEFORE! why on earth bring the junk to the new place?

As someone who's just starting the moving process (have done online research of where to move, still haven't actually looked at places in person, etc), I haven't yet started purging. However, I definitely will before moving, though its mostly books/clothes since my sole furniture possessions are a bed, dresser, nightstand/shoe storage, standing mirror, bookshelves. Gotta love living at home and moving out!

I just did it right before I moved. There's so little better for figuring out what you really need and love than a big move. Moving overseas was my first major purge. On this move, I realized that I was saving TONS of furniture from a lifestyle I didn't even have anymore. Trying to fit a privately owned condo into a rented room was obviously impossible, but it helped me think about what I want to be doing next instead of what I've been doing - a great opportunity for a new start!

I do it before. I'm moving to a new apartment with my boyfriend and moving away from my parents' what means i threw stuff away during the whole weekend! results: 4 boxes to keep, SEVEN bags to the trash.

I just moved from a small apartment into a house. I had a huge garage sale before I moved and got rid of a couch, some furniture, and lots of small things. I also took items to some vintage stores to sell, and some clothing to a consignment shop. Purging beforehand definitely helps to keep from having to pack and move so much. Plus I figure I can take the sum of money I made, and get more costly nicer items that would look better in my new place.

But, purging afterwards is good too because you can fit items better in your new place. I moved into a house and can't believe I fit all that and more into my small apartment. I will be going through things and getting rid of more. Unfortunately, I will be selling the house since I inherited it and moving into another apartment sometime, after I finish taking care of business matters.

So get rid of stuff before, but then get rid of some more after the move too!

I try to declutter before, but this move I'm a total fail at that. Part of the problem is I didn't start early enough and no I can't get anyone reliable to take away my free stuff.

I try to do it before, but I always have stuff afterwards that needs to get tossed too!