Moving is hard work. Amid real estate stress, relocation fees, and the monumental task of packing up your life, moving can often feel like a neverending task. Make your move easier by leaving these things behind.

4 Major Items to Leave Behind When You Move

1. Appliances. Many home sales stipulate that the seller leave behind major appliances like stoves, refrigerators, and washer/dryers. Even if it’s not written into the sale, parting with major home appliances saves a hassle when moving. More often than not, the appliances you used daily are in need of replacing anyway.
2. Fixtures. You spent years decorating your home, so it’s only natural that you’re attached to fancy fixtures. But packing up the chandelier or hauling off an antique tub isn’t just time consuming, it’s considered bad form. If there’s a fixture you want to keep for sentimental reasons, make sure to clearly state that it’s not included in the sale contract.
3. Gardens. Gardeners put blood, sweat, and tears into creating an outdoor masterpiece. But think twice if you’re tempted to dig up your favorite tree for your new front yard. Not only are you leaving a gaping hole in the garden, chances are the plant won’t survive the trip. Start fresh at your new place and let the new homeowners enjoy the fruits of your labor.
4. Furniture. Before packing up the moving truck, walk through your new place and mentally place your furniture. If any of your current selection lacks a place in your new home, it’s time to let go. Instead of wasting money on a storage unit, ask the new homeowners if they could use it. Otherwise, call Mr. Junk to haul old furniture away.

Not planning to pack appliances, furniture, or boxes of junk? Call Mr. Junk for a home clean out before you move.

Chandelier Image from FreeDigitalPhotos

When professionals switch to a home office setting, they often find their productivity increases drastically. The peace and quiet allows them to renew their drive to succeed in both short-term and long-term work projects. But as time wears on, clutter piles up. Stop getting distracted by a messy home office. Clean up your working space with these tips from Mr. Junk.

4 Tips for a Clutter-Free Home Office

1. Scrap paper. Even in the digital age, paper piles up. Most professionals have stacks of business documents, memos, and office junk mail. If you work at home, you can probably add home bills and personal letters to the list. Clean your home office by purging old and unnecessary documents. File the rest in a color-coded filing system and designate one spot (a folder or a box) for incoming mail.
2. Make your supervisor proud. It’s hard to work when surrounded by junk. Refocus on the task at hand (and make finding supplies infinitely easier) by organizing office supplies. Designate a drawer for printer cartridges and stationary, keep a jar for pens and highlighters, and move any supplies that aren’t office related into another room.
3. Conceal cables. Printers, computers, and other electronic office equipment come with more cables than you can count. It may seem like a small matter to leave cords tangled behind the printer, but if you take an hour to conceal all your cables, you’ll be amazed at how much cleaner the office looks.
4. Invest in furniture. Many professionals view the home office as a temporary setting. As such, they’re not worried about creating a highly functioning working space. But pulling spare chairs from the dining room feels cluttered after a few weeks of working. Invest in basic office furniture like a desk, an ergonomic office chair, and a bookshelf.

Ready to haul off office clutter? Call Mr. Junk to remove the evidence of your home office organization  project.

Messy Office Image from Flickr

There’s nothing more stressful than moving, whether you’re relocating across town or moving across the country. In addition to the stress of learning a new area, calling cable and internet companies to transfer services, and making sure you’re squared away with your real estate agent, most people wind up taking time off work to tackle chores they’d rather put off. Instead of stressing about your relocation, try these 3 tips for an easier move.

3 Smart Moving Tips

1. Pack with a plan. Everyone’s been there: you got into a packing frenzy two weekends ago, and now you’re stuck digging through boxes for the colander so you can make pasta. Next time, plan your packing spree before you begin. Start in places like the attic or the garage, creating a junk pile for that aren’t worth the hassle of moving. Then pack up garden tools and outdoor equipment. Finally, tackle your indoor spaces, leaving items like kitchen equipment and cleaning supplies for last. Trust us, you’ll need them.
2. Don’t pack the closet. After all, why create hours of extra work for yourself? Instead of unhanging, packing, and later re-hanging a closet full of clothes, ask your movers to bring a garment rack for their truck. Moving yourself? Grab a few spare laundry baskets and fold in your clothes, hangers and all. When you get to your new place, all you have to do is pick up a stack and hang them in your new closet. Voila! Hours of work saved and an instant homey feel.
3. Switch utilities ASAP. As soon as you establish your moving date, schedule the switch for utilities like water and electricity. Make an appointment with a cable provider to install wifi at the new place, especially if you’re working from home during the transition. Cable companies often schedule appointments weeks in advance, and the last thing you need is the stress of working in a coffee shop environment in the interim.

Have stuff you’re not hauling to a new home? Call Mr. Junk to remove unwanted junk before your move.

Moving Image Source

Even the most spacious storage spaces tend to feel cramped and overstuffed. So what do you do when you have a legitimately small closet? Stop losing clothes when you reorganize your bedroom closet with these tips from Mr Junk.

How to Organize a Small Closet

1. Toss last year’s styles. Most people balk at cleaning out their closets, but you’d be surprised how quickly your donations pile grows when you set aside a few hours to clean out stuff you never wear. Sort through hanging clothes, dresser drawers, and shoe/accessory storage to cut down on closet mess.
2. Customize your closet. Is your closet small, oddly shaped, or hard to reach? Don’t be afraid to hang extra rods in the closet, utilize free-standing storage shelves, and use baskets or boxes to keep shoes and accessories organized and accessible.
3. Have a system. If you’re used to rifling through half your closet to find the item you need, a little organization is the answer. Implement a system to make finding items easier. Try hanging work clothes nearest to the door, keeping your favorite clothes easily accessible, or arranging clothes by color or style.
4. Get smart about seasons. Buried in years’ worth of t-shirts, sweaters, and outerwear? Store out of season clothing under the bed or in the attic.
5. Show off your stuff. Accessories like scarves and jewelry can double as home decor. Artfully hang nails or knobs on a blank bedroom wall. Voila! Instant storage you won’t be afraid to show off.

Finished with your closet clean up? Call Mr Junk to remove old clothing and hardware.

Photo from Flickr

In the current housing market, most homeowners hardly need to hang a ‘For Sale’ sign before they’re signing over the deed and moving to a new home. After 8 years in the gutter, the real estate market is thriving again. Folks across Atlanta are packing up and heading to new homes, new cities, or even new states. But just because the market is rising doesn’t mean the cost of moving has gone down. Save money on your move with these tips from Mr. Junk.

3 Ways to Save Money When Moving

1. De-Junk the House. Most moving companies charge based on how much weight or space you take up in the truck. Minimize on moving costs (and wasted time) by getting rid of the furniture, appliances, and memorabilia you forgot you owned.
2. Don’t buy boxes. No matter how few you need, the cost of boxes piles up fast. Instead of buying new ones, ask for old boxes from friends and coworkers who have recently relocated. If you can’t scrounge together a large enough supply from your immediate circle, stop by grocery stores, liquor stores, or clothing stores, who receive merchandise shipments regularly. Most will donate boxes if you ask; if not, there’s no shame in cruising alleys behind stores to find boxes stacked by the dumpster.
3. Check the calendar. You can save a lot by moving on a schedule. Moving prices drop drastically in the fall and winter. If you can’t wait that long, make sure to monitor utility bill cycles and storage rental fees. Discontinue services at the end of a payment cycle to avoid paying extra for unused time.

When it comes to moving, time is money. Save the stress of hauling unwanted junk to the local donation center by calling Mr. Junk before your move.

Moving Image from FreeDigitalPhotos

No matter how well you tend your yard, the summer months are cruel. With all the extra travel, the hot summer sun, and a busier season at work, keeping your yard fresh and clean takes more work than normal. If you’re tired of tearing out dessicated bushes for Mr Junk to haul away, take heart. These summer landscape watering tips will keep your yard healthy and fresh.

How to De-Junk Your Landscape

1. Out with the old. Before renovating your summer landscape, clean up dead branches, note which shrubs won’t recover, and call Mr Junk to haul off the evidence.
2. Plant smart. If you’re tired of looking at brown leaves and withered branches, it may be time to rethink your planting strategy. Choose grass that’s acclimated to Georgia’s hot summers (Zoysia and Bermuda are proven winners). Plant drought tolerant trees, shrubs, and flowers to reduce maintenance (and that instant browning when you leave town for the weekend). If you’re fighting a constant battle with your yard, decrease yard work (and your water bill) by replacing patches of grass with native plants.
3. Water wisely. Tired of draining funds toward your water bill each month? Your landscaping practices may be at fault. Most homeowners don’t realize that water runoff, watering at the wrong time, and watering too shallowly waste water without benefiting plants. Make sure your lawn absorbs enough hydration by watering deeply a few times a week, resetting your sprinkler system for early morning, and paying attention to the needs of individual plants.

Ready to start fresh? Call Mr Junk to haul Alpharetta yard debris like branches, brush, and dead shrubs.

Are you calling Mr. Junk every other week to haul off major home appliances? You may be wearing through appliances faster than necessary. Try these simple maintenance tips to make home appliances last longer.

How to Increase the Life of Home Appliances

1. Read the manual. Is your dishwasher leaking? Does your refrigerator sound like it has a bad cough? Does a load of laundry shake the whole house? Flip through the owner’s manual to determine whether your appliance is on its last legs, or if it simply needs a little TLC.
2. Clean hard-to-reach spots. It’s easy to neglect vacuuming the compressor coils behind the fridge or freezer, but when dirt builds up, the appliances have to work harder to keep food cold. Keeping refrigerator coils clean of dust and debris can extend the life of your unit by years.
3. Did you know a dirty microwave degrades faster? Leftover food particles can turn into carbon, creating sparks that can damage your microwave. Always clean up leftover food before closing the microwave to enjoy a meal.
4. Keep your stove cooking by cleaning the burners regularly and wiping down glass-topped varieties with an appropriate cleaner every week.
5. No one wants their AC to go on the fritz during a Georgia summer. Keep your home cool by keeping the filters clean and dusting the vents regularly.

Have a home appliance that’s more trouble than it’s worth? Call Mr Junk to haul away broken home appliances before replacing them with the newer model.

We all have that moment of panic: a college friend and her husband are traveling through town and want to stop by. Within the hour. What to do with the clutter, the dust, and the month’s worth of laundry you’ve been meaning to fold?

Stop stressing. We’ve got you covered.

How to Fake a Clean House

1. Start at the front. No matter who’s popping by or how long they’re staying, the one place they’re guaranteed to see is the foyer. Quickly organize jumbles of shoes, hang fallen coats, and move junk that’s piled up by the door. If you have time, run a swiffer across the floor to give the illusion of cleanliness.
2. Free the couch from fur. To remove pet fur from upholstery in a hurry, put on rubber cleaning gloves and run your hands over the furniture. As your gloves collect fur, ball it up and throw it away. It’s faster and more efficient than fighting with a lint roller.
3. Make use of linens. Mask dirty cushions, streaked windows, or disorganized rooms by taking the time to straighten decorative pillows, pull the curtains, and refold throw blankets.
4. Close the cabinets. Nothing’s simpler than tossing junk into a cabinet and closing the door. Just don’t forget to come back and organize the clutter later.
5. Go paperless. Time for the finishing touch. Run through the house, taking down sticky notes, collecting junk mail, and restacking haphazard piles of magazines. Your house will look twice as clean when you’re done.

Ready for the real deal? Call Mr Junk to haul away furniture, appliances, and any old junk you’re ready to remove from your home.

Messy Closet Image from Flickr

No matter how well you plan and prepare, some areas of your life are bound to get messy: family reunions, fundraiser planning, and the garden shed. We can’t do anything about simplifying church carwashes or school bake sales, but we can help you organize the tool shed. Read on for our favorite tips on keeping work equipment clean, organized, and unlikely to impale anyone.

Garden Shed Organization Tips

Before organizing your garden shed, step back and take stock. Do you have a defined workspace? Did you simply stop tidying up, or do you need better organization? Is anything in the shed a fire (or health) hazard? Toss old chemicals and stains, haul off broken machinery you’ll never fix, and give everything a good scrubbing before reorganizing your tool shed.

1. Clear a workspace. Whether you use your shed for building, crafting, or just storing the rake, there are always little tasks best done outdoors. If you don’t have a workspace in the shed, build or buy a cheap table for the corner. Trust us, you’ll be glad you did the next time you need to build a birdhouse or repot perennials without making a mess in the kitchen.
2. A place for everything and everything in its place. Have a jumble of tools and equipment? You’ll never find the right spade in that mess. Designate one wall for construction tools, one wall for gardening implements, and save the third wall for everything but the kitchen sink (preferably stored on shelves).
3. Need space? Get creative with wall storage. Hanging tool racks are fantastic space savers. Other all-stars? Bike baskets hung on wall brackets, magnetic strips to fix jars of nails in place, and hooks for extension cords and garden hoses.
4. Keep it clean. There’s nothing more dangerous than tripping around a dusty garden shed with rusty tools around every corner. Guarantee a longer life (and a lot less stress) by keeping the garden shed dusted, the tools clean, and the bags of fertilizer sealed and stored.

Not sure what to do with your busted lawn mower? Mr Junk hauls landscaping equipment, old work tables, and organic debris from Roswell homes. Call and schedule a junk haul today.

Garden Tools Image Source