We hear it from our clients all the time; one of the most challenging aspects of downsizing is deciding what to do with everything.
Downsizing is ultimately about “rightsizing” – you are changing your environment to suit you better! There are many reasons why people choose to downsize, some more positive than others.
It is important to think about downsizing early so you have as much time as you need to go through items and make appropriate decisions. With the right strategy, making these choices doesn’t have to be quite so heart-wrenching.
Here are some steps to take when determining what needs to move with you when downsizing:
Step One: Make a floor plan
The most important thing to do is measure your new space (or, use a provided floor plan if it’s accurate). Identify how much space you have, and where the windows, outlets and phone/ TV jacks, light switches and phone lines are.
Creating a floor plan will simplify your pre-move planning.
You know what you’ll be moving and where you expect it to go, and it avoids hasty, last-minute changes on move day (ex. because the TV has no way to reach the cable from the bedroom).
Step Two: List your essentials
Once you know how much space you’re working with, you must turn your focus to the essentials. Everyone is different, but it is important to be honest with yourself about what you typically use – there’s no sense in bringing the full dining set if you don’t expect to host large crowds, and that’s valuable space you can save!
So ask yourself – what do you need? A place to sleep, for certain; probably a place to sit and a table or desk to eat at.
This list of essentials might include:
- bed
- night table
- lamp
- dresser
- favourite sitting chair
- small dining table or desk with chair
- wall art
Step Three: Measure your chosen items
Measure the listed essential items and use them to create a floor plan, so that you know exactly where everything will fit and how much room you have to spare. If you use a walker or wheelchair, don’t forget to allow extra room for maneuvering.
Occasionally, furniture simply isn’t compatible with your new home due to size or shape. By creating your floor plan ahead of time, you can prepare and look for pieces with a smaller footprint.
Step Four: When it looks like home, it feels like home
Don’t forget the artwork – having something familiar on the walls can make a new space feel like home, and it doesn’t take any of your precious floor space. We strongly suggest hanging artwork in the same room as it was before, especially if there are memory issues involved. For example, having the same picture above your bed can help it to feel significantly more comfortable and familiar.
Next Steps:
Once you’ve decided on the essential furniture, you can look at bringing additional furniture and items.
We’ll be covering this in our next post – stay tuned!
