Tips on clearing out an old space?

Business/Operations
1

Hi coworkers!

Does anyone have experience moving out of a space with a lot of stuff in it?

I’m working on moving New Work City, and after five (really seven) years in one place, we’ve accumulated a lot of… stuff. I want to see the things we don’t need find a good home, whether it be by sale or giveaway or responsible disposal, but it’s such a big and complex project I’m not sure where to begin.

If anyone out there has any great tips to share to make the experience as smooth as possible, I’d appreciate them.

Thanks! Vive le coworking!
Tony

2

When we moved the hackerspace Brussels it took a long time. We gave a lot of stuff to a neighbour that sold scrap metal and stuff like that. Everything that was " to give" to the community had a post it on it so that people could take it. Good luck!

3

For stuff you can not sell - even broken equipment: https://www.freecycle.org

In Stamford, CT there is an office furniture/accessory place that sells "used" stuff try http://www.swcoffice.com

Katherine Warman Kern

4

Hi Tony
I used to work with a large retailer that would occasionally move a store from one location to another. It’s a huge project that can be broken down in to smaller tasks. Start with the clean out, systematically working you way through the space, one closet/ drawer/ room at a time. This is the time to be ruthless. If you can’t say where the item is going to move to and what use it will have, don’t move it. Tag items for sale, donation, recycling and keep. This is not the time to be sentimental. You’ll need to put a side all pack-rat instincts and be completely practical; Why are you saving each item? Where will it go in the new space? Stuff that has been boxed up or in the junk drawer for three years should not be moved.

You may need to work with your trash/ recycling company to increase the frequency of pick-ups. Everything that can be responsibly given away now will be less to pack, transport and unpack later.

Once all the clutter is gone you can start to think about the move. Find a commercial mover, they will be invaluable for moving the big items; furniture, appliances, etc. They can also help with best practices.

Then stage your move. What is important to be set-up first? When will each room be moved? How many days/ nights will be required? Does the old space need to be shut down before the new space can open? What will that down time be? Or can essential services such as phone, wifi, building access be duplicated and have both spaces open for a transitional period? Either way over communicate with your team and your tenants.

Good luck. You got this!

···

On Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 8:18:21 PM UTC-4, Tony Bacigalupo wrote:

Hi coworkers!

Does anyone have experience moving out of a space with a lot of stuff in it?

I’m working on moving New Work City, and after five (really seven) years in one place, we’ve accumulated a lot of… stuff. I want to see the things we don’t need find a good home, whether it be by sale or giveaway or responsible disposal, but it’s such a big and complex project I’m not sure where to begin.

If anyone out there has any great tips to share to make the experience as smooth as possible, I’d appreciate them.

Thanks! Vive le coworking!
Tony

5

Besides whatever stuff your members want to take, get someone to haul out away for free.

In NYC, Housing Works will pick up non-Ikea furniture and some other re-saleable stuff for free. They are a fascinating organization with a storied local history.

http://www.housingworks.org/donate/free-furniture-pickup/

I love the idea of craigslist free or freecycle but have found people who contact for free stuff to be unreliable for showing up. What you can do more efficiently is post that you're having a free stuff "open house" in some window of time and people can come by. This requires some photos and a general description of what's available. In New York, it's fascinating what kind of stuff people want!

Melissa

···

--
Melissa Tapper Goldman
[email protected]

6

I did an open house for free stuff pick ups when we moved Camaraderie, and what a nightmare that was. I put a start time in my ad, and people showed up almost an hour before hand. They tried to rush the door when I opened it, they were rude to one another, started fights. Not what I wanted on a Sun morning. It did clear out most of the stuff, though, and the rest was brought to a donation centre.

John’s suggestions are spot on, and it’s also what I follow when I move apartments. Why pay movers (or strain yourself) to move stuff you don’t need? I would only add two things to his suggestions. One is, where possible, gather like with like so that you can easily see how many of something you have, choose the best one if you’re keeping it, or take the best parts of one to add to another, etc. The other thing I would add is that this is a good time to clean things so that the move is cleaner as well. Don’t move with dusty filing cabinets or cobwebs under your couches. Clean them out, dust them off, wipe them down, even repair or stitch if need be. The stuff that is going to your new space have a fresh beginning, physically and emotionally. Bring only the best of the best, and in the best condition, and your move will be cleaner and you’ll have less to clean once you’re in the new space - because who really wants to be wiping old coffee stains off of a piece of furniture after moving house?

Good luck!

r.

···

On 22 May 2015 at 08:34, John Newman [email protected] wrote:

Hi Tony
I used to work with a large retailer that would occasionally move a store from one location to another. It’s a huge project that can be broken down in to smaller tasks. Start with the clean out, systematically working you way through the space, one closet/ drawer/ room at a time. This is the time to be ruthless. If you can’t say where the item is going to move to and what use it will have, don’t move it. Tag items for sale, donation, recycling and keep. This is not the time to be sentimental. You’ll need to put a side all pack-rat instincts and be completely practical; Why are you saving each item? Where will it go in the new space? Stuff that has been boxed up or in the junk drawer for three years should not be moved.

You may need to work with your trash/ recycling company to increase the frequency of pick-ups. Everything that can be responsibly given away now will be less to pack, transport and unpack later.

Once all the clutter is gone you can start to think about the move. Find a commercial mover, they will be invaluable for moving the big items; furniture, appliances, etc. They can also help with best practices.

Then stage your move. What is important to be set-up first? When will each room be moved? How many days/ nights will be required? Does the old space need to be shut down before the new space can open? What will that down time be? Or can essential services such as phone, wifi, building access be duplicated and have both spaces open for a transitional period? Either way over communicate with your team and your tenants.

Good luck. You got this!

On Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 8:18:21 PM UTC-4, Tony Bacigalupo wrote:

Hi coworkers!

Does anyone have experience moving out of a space with a lot of stuff in it?

I’m working on moving New Work City, and after five (really seven) years in one place, we’ve accumulated a lot of… stuff. I want to see the things we don’t need find a good home, whether it be by sale or giveaway or responsible disposal, but it’s such a big and complex project I’m not sure where to begin.

If anyone out there has any great tips to share to make the experience as smooth as possible, I’d appreciate them.

Thanks! Vive le coworking!
Tony

–

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____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca

We’re located at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor

(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)

Find us online:

Website/blog and Newsletter, Twitter,

Facebook, Google+, Yelp, and LinkedIn

New Camaraderie locations:

La Prairie (Quebec) - now open

Port Credit (Mississauga) - summer 2015

We’re a proud member of CoworkingToronto,

CoworkingOntario, and CoworkingCanada!

7

Thanks for all the helpful tips, everyone!

···

On Fri, May 22, 2015 at 8:05 AM, rachel young [email protected] wrote:

I did an open house for free stuff pick ups when we moved Camaraderie, and what a nightmare that was. I put a start time in my ad, and people showed up almost an hour before hand. They tried to rush the door when I opened it, they were rude to one another, started fights. Not what I wanted on a Sun morning. It did clear out most of the stuff, though, and the rest was brought to a donation centre.

John’s suggestions are spot on, and it’s also what I follow when I move apartments. Why pay movers (or strain yourself) to move stuff you don’t need? I would only add two things to his suggestions. One is, where possible, gather like with like so that you can easily see how many of something you have, choose the best one if you’re keeping it, or take the best parts of one to add to another, etc. The other thing I would add is that this is a good time to clean things so that the move is cleaner as well. Don’t move with dusty filing cabinets or cobwebs under your couches. Clean them out, dust them off, wipe them down, even repair or stitch if need be. The stuff that is going to your new space have a fresh beginning, physically and emotionally. Bring only the best of the best, and in the best condition, and your move will be cleaner and you’ll have less to clean once you’re in the new space - because who really wants to be wiping old coffee stains off of a piece of furniture after moving house?

Good luck!

r.

–

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca

We’re located at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor

(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)

Find us online:

Website/blog and Newsletter, Twitter,

Facebook, Google+, Yelp, and LinkedIn

New Camaraderie locations:

La Prairie (Quebec) - now open

Port Credit (Mississauga) - summer 2015

We’re a proud member of CoworkingToronto,

CoworkingOntario, and CoworkingCanada!

On 22 May 2015 at 08:34, John Newman [email protected] wrote:

Hi Tony
I used to work with a large retailer that would occasionally move a store from one location to another. It’s a huge project that can be broken down in to smaller tasks. Start with the clean out, systematically working you way through the space, one closet/ drawer/ room at a time. This is the time to be ruthless. If you can’t say where the item is going to move to and what use it will have, don’t move it. Tag items for sale, donation, recycling and keep. This is not the time to be sentimental. You’ll need to put a side all pack-rat instincts and be completely practical; Why are you saving each item? Where will it go in the new space? Stuff that has been boxed up or in the junk drawer for three years should not be moved.

You may need to work with your trash/ recycling company to increase the frequency of pick-ups. Everything that can be responsibly given away now will be less to pack, transport and unpack later.

Once all the clutter is gone you can start to think about the move. Find a commercial mover, they will be invaluable for moving the big items; furniture, appliances, etc. They can also help with best practices.

Then stage your move. What is important to be set-up first? When will each room be moved? How many days/ nights will be required? Does the old space need to be shut down before the new space can open? What will that down time be? Or can essential services such as phone, wifi, building access be duplicated and have both spaces open for a transitional period? Either way over communicate with your team and your tenants.

Good luck. You got this!

On Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 8:18:21 PM UTC-4, Tony Bacigalupo wrote:

Hi coworkers!

Does anyone have experience moving out of a space with a lot of stuff in it?

I’m working on moving New Work City, and after five (really seven) years in one place, we’ve accumulated a lot of… stuff. I want to see the things we don’t need find a good home, whether it be by sale or giveaway or responsible disposal, but it’s such a big and complex project I’m not sure where to begin.

If anyone out there has any great tips to share to make the experience as smooth as possible, I’d appreciate them.

Thanks! Vive le coworking!
Tony

–

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].

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