Start from the day the keys go back
Count backwards. The day you hand back the keys is fixed; everything else moves around it. Things you use every day (the bed, the fridge, the kettle) leave in the last week. Things you can live without (the books, the spare chairs, the bike you never ride) can go three or four weeks before. Give something away too early and you miss it; list it the night before and nobody can come.
Then look at your calendar honestly. Every pick-up needs you at home for a while, and the weeks before a move are already full of boxes, paperwork and goodbyes. Two or three evenings and one weekend afternoon set aside for collections are usually enough, if the things go out early enough to fill them.
The countdown
- Five to six weeks out: walk through every room and decide what stays behind.
- Four weeks out: photograph those things in daylight, one photo each, and give each one a plain title.
- Two to three weeks out: list them all with one date, the day before the van comes.
- The last week: the everyday things, and a collection slot booked for whatever nobody takes.
Four piles: keep, give, recycle, throw
Sorting goes faster when every thing lands in one of four piles. Keep is what comes with you. Give is whatever works, is clean and could be used by someone this month: furniture in fair shape, kitchenware, children’s things, plants, books, tools, lamps. Recycle is what is broken or worn beyond use, and it has its own channels. Throw is what is left, and it should be the smallest pile.
The give pile is usually bigger than people expect. A sofa with a worn arm is still a sofa to a student furnishing a first flat, and a box of odd plates is a kitchen to someone starting over. In the last weeks of a move, giving beats every other option: there is nothing to negotiate, and whoever comes wants the thing.
Be honest at the edges. A wobbly chair is still worth giving if you say it wobbles; a stained mattress is not, and most people will not take one from a stranger whatever its state. When in doubt, describe the flaw in the title and let the people who come decide.
One list for the whole flat
Posting twenty things one by one, in five groups, then answering the same question twenty times, is how a move-out eats evenings. Make one list instead: every thing with its photo and title, one date for all of it, in a single message or album you can send anywhere.
Send that list where your neighbors already are: your building’s group chat, a local group, a story. Share it with the building a day or two before anywhere else; the people next door can come at short notice, and they carry things down one flight, not across town.
A good title saves you the questions: what it is, its size if size matters, its state in a word (“White bookcase, 80 × 200 cm, one shelf missing”). One note at the top says the rest once: the floor, whether there is a lift, the evenings you are home, whether people need to bring a friend or a car.
Pick who comes, and plan for the one who doesn’t
First come, first served sounds fair and works badly: it rewards whoever refreshes fastest, not whoever can actually come on Tuesday evening. Let people say what they’d like, then pick, one thing at a time, the person who can come when you are home.
Agree on a window, not a minute: “Tuesday between six and eight” survives a late bus. If someone doesn’t show up, don’t chase. Pass the thing to the next person who asked, and say so in one sentence. Most no-shows are plans that changed, not bad faith.
For the big pieces, ask one question before you say yes: “Can you carry it?” A sofa needs two people and something bigger than a bicycle, and it is better to learn that on Monday than on the landing on Thursday. A short message the day before (“Still on for tomorrow, six to eight?”) catches most of the plans that changed in time to call the next person.
Keep your address and your moving day off the internet
A public post that says “everything must go by Friday the 31st, fourth floor, no lift”, with the street name, is, read the wrong way, a notice of when a home will stand empty. You can say almost all of it without that.
- Share the week, not the day. “Leaves this week” is enough for anyone deciding whether to ask.
- Give the address to one person: the one you picked, in a private conversation, once the time is agreed.
- Meet at the door or downstairs. Nobody needs to come further in than the thing does.
- Keep your number to yourself. A conversation in an app does the job, and it ends when the pick-up does.
What nobody takes
Something will be left on the last evening. Plan its way out before then:
- Bulky items: many towns run a bulky-waste collection or a drop-off point. Slots fill up at the end of the month, when everyone moves, so book yours early.
- Things that still work: reuse centres, charity shops and donation points take furniture, kitchenware and clothes in good condition; check what they accept and when they open before you load the car.
- Electronics and batteries: electronics shops often have to take old ones back. Never in the household bin.
- Textiles: worn clothes and linen go to textile collection points, which pass on what can be worn and recycle the rest.
Don’t leave things on the pavement “for whoever wants them” unless your town says that is allowed: in many places it counts as dumping, and the building or the last tenant is left to deal with it.
And if you know who is moving in after you, the last plants and the cleaning things make a good welcome.
Questions this guide answers
How early should I start giving things away before a move?
Four to six weeks before the keys go back: decide what stays behind, photograph it, and list it two to three weeks before the move. Things you use every day can wait for the last week; everything else is easier to place with time to spare.
Is it safe to give my address to someone picking up furniture?
Give it to one person: the one you picked, in a private conversation, once the time is agreed. Never post the address and the exact moving day together in public. Meet at the door or downstairs, and nobody needs your phone number.
What if someone says they’ll come and doesn’t?
Agree on a time window rather than an exact time, and if nobody comes, pass the thing to the next person who asked. A short, friendly message is enough; most no-shows are plans that changed.
What do I do with the things nobody takes?
Book the bulky-waste collection or a drop-off slot early, because end-of-month slots fill up. Things that still work can go to reuse centres or charity shops, electronics back to an electronics shop, and worn textiles to a textile collection point.
One give-away at a time
Kylala (a free, private neighborhood app) puts each thing you give away on the map of the streets around you: a photo and a few words. Neighbors say they’d love it, you pick who gets it, and your address goes to that one person, in your conversation. Start with the biggest piece. It works in any browser. Try Kylala, it’s free.
Step onto the streetMore field guides: giving furniture away before a move, what to do with someone else’s parcel, or having your home watched while you’re away.