When is it cost-effective to move furniture? Or "three moves equals one fire"

In the back of my mind, I'm mulling over which furniture to move to Detroit and store. I don't have to figure this one out today, but I should start thinking about it.

I'm going to get rid of both couches. (Chaos the Destructo Cat clawed them up, not to mention he chewed on the blinds. Harlee and Nima are so good.) I'm going to get rid of my bed and the dressers because they aren't in great shape and I'm tired of them.

I'm uncertain about the following items:

• The bookcases: At first, I was leaning towards moving them. Because they're really cheap bookcases, now I'm leaning towards giving them away. I wouldn't be surprised if the real estate agent tells me to get rid of some of them. (I have seven bookcases.)


• The desk: I love this desk, but it's fairly big and heavy. I don't remember how much it cost, but it wasn't cheap.


• The coffee table and end tables: They're cheap and light, so it probably doesn't matter much if I move them or not.


• Tools: I have a lot of tools. I'm thinking that realistically I'll only use hammers, mallets, and screwdrivers, so maybe I should give the rest away.

I'm definitely moving the following items:

• The small, folding dining table and chairs: They won't take much room.


• My bistro table and chairs from the patio: They're small and I love them. (My mom covets them -;))


• The digital piano: No way am I going to give it up!

It looks like I can't move the outdoor plants. It's illegal for movers to move plants across a state line. Mom suggested that I move the Japanese Maple in my car, but I wonder if I'll have room for it. We'll both have suitcases, plus I want to move some extra books, papers, and clothes in the car. (ETA: I will move my (indoor) orchid in the car.)

Any thoughts about how to sort this out? I googled "When is it cost-effective to move furniture?" but didn't come up with anything.

I'm in the midst of cleaning before I contact the real estate agent. I keep finding more stuff to clean. Groan.

ETA: The living room looked like it spewed cat toys, so I gathered them up in a container on a bookshelf. I also need to figure out what to do with them because the girls don't usually play with cat toys. However, one of them pulled a catnip mouse from the box, and they were playing with it. I thought that was cute :)