For a lot of older homeowners today, downsizing can be a great way to declutter. It can also be a fantastic way to free up some equity from your home.
This financial boost will also come with the added bonus of a reduction in running costs as you move to a smaller home. While there are plenty of benefits to downsizing, moving home can still be a complex and stressful experience. We’ve put together a quick guide on what to consider to help make your move a much smoother transition.
Decide what you REALLY need
The most important step to a successful downsize – and a step you’ll want to take as early as possible – is taking a good look at all of your possessions and cutting away as much as possible. This is where you have to consider your day to day life and how these items fit. You should ask yourself important questions. Like,”do I still need all of that seating in the living room?” If the answer is ‘no’ to these questions, then it’s time to start dividing items into the ‘keep’ and ‘get rid’ piles.
While it may be hard at first to get tough of some sentimental possessions you’ll benefit on moving day when you have less stuff to move and won’t have to worry so much about how you fit all of it in.
Don’t Throw Anything Away
Once you have decided which items you do not anymore, it’s time to sort them into throw and sell. Obviously there are going to be some items that may not be fit for use anymore. The items that are in good condition can be sold to fund new items more suitable for your smaller home.
As we said earlier, separating your items early is the best strategy. You will now have plenty of time to use websites such as Gumtree and Ebay.
Assess Your New Space
At this point you should have divided your items and possibly sold a few of them generating some extra cash. Even though you have thrown away of a lot of possessions, it may still be a challenge fitting everything that remains into your smaller space.
If you’ve found a house, now’s a great time to get some measurements! Your King size bed may fit into your new bedroom, but will it leave room for much else? Start planning how everything is going to fit in. You may need to invest in smaller and more suitable items for your home such as a new dining table.
Time to Downsize!
Last time you moved home it was probably into a house of roughly the same size or bigger. This time you have to consider that you’ll have less space to work with. So it won’t be just as simple as getting everything in and unpacking it later.
Whether you want to label all your boxes with ‘living room’, ‘bedroom’ etc. or use a colour coded system. It’s best to know what goes where before you begin shifting everything. As with any move, it’s wise to move the bigger items such as beds and chairs first, as this will give you a better idea of where to place all the small things.
When a family moves into a bigger space they initially use the extra room to store things they’re too tired to unpack right away. If you’re downsizing then you probably won’t have lots of room to stash everything away. You should begin unpacking and organising all of your items as soon as you can. Moving into a smaller place, surrounded by boxes for the first couple weeks will only ruin the experience for you by making it feel even smaller. Get organised early and get the full use out of your new home.
