
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!
Looking for more to read?
Latest Posts
What your friends Say
Testimonials
The team knew where to park and the layout of both buildings – again good research. And although I was not present for the off loading it went smoothly as well. All of the team showed expertise and an understanding of the complexities of dealing with elderly people and their families.
We would definitely recommend them!
This in my opinion is service the way it’s supposed to be. I love you all thank you so so much
I would definitely recommend Darling Solutions for your moving needs.
Kelly's team displayed the same mindfulness, caring and compassion on the job as she did during the initial consult. We are grateful to your company for helping us through this. Thank you
I highly recommend Darling Solutions to anyone.
Again, we could not have done it without them! From decluttering and packing our condo to moving and setting us up in our new home, every member of the team was hardworking, helpful, warm and extremely competent. Their attention to detail in setting up our new place was remarkable. Honourable mention to the whole team: Kelly, Shawn, Ian, Phyllis, Barb M., Barb Y. Jack, Susan, Glen and Paul. Barb M., our team leader, and Ruth, in the office, were particularly good at calming a nervous client.
We recommend Darling Solutions without reservation. We can’t thank them enough.
Marj and Weldon
Adding COVID into the mix it was almost paralysing to think about. After a recommendation to Contact Darling most of that fear went away.
Professional, competent and most importantly Caring.
They made this move so smooth for my wife and her parents.
On moving day they left their old home and at the end of the day arrived in a new home with all their belongings unpacked and arranged. Completely stress and back pain free. The next day Darling took care of removing items targeted for donation and all remaining items for waste.
I cannot recommend this service enough.
Thank you so much.
Frankly thank-you does not even cover it. Your team, led by Julie, was absolutely incredible from the first moment we met down to the beautiful new plant for my mom and our goodbyes at the door.
They were so organized, thoughtful, friendly and polite. It was a sincere pleasure to work with all of them. I enjoyed the experience so much I am almost sad that the move is finished but happy that we will meet again when my parents are ready to hang their many pictures.
Again, I am in awe and am telling anyone with ears about Darling Solutions so they will hopefully in turn tell their friends and family.
Very best regards and please send our thanks once again to your team.