As our living situations change, downsizing becomes a practical and sometimes necessary part of life. One area that we’ve found can be particularly challenging for our senior clients to downsize is the kitchen, as they’ve had a lifetime to accumulate their gadgets, appliances, and utensils.
It can be hard to know where to start and what to bring, so let’s go over some practical advice for downsizing your kitchen contents:
Investigate Your New Space
Take stock of the appliances and cupboard space in your new kitchen before making any decisions! Because you are downsizing, you’ll likely have less storage space than you’re used to – if you’re moving to a smaller kitchen, you may need to be more ruthless in your downsizing decision making.
Be sure to verify what appliances are allowed – some buildings only allow a microwave and plug-in kettle, while others have no restrictions.
Consider Your New Lifestyle
If you’re moving to a retirement home or assisted living facility, you might have your meals prepared for you. If that’s the case, you don’t need a full set of dishes or a fully stocked pantry; you probably won’t even need your pots and pans.
Start with the essentials
When you’re downsizing your kitchen, you should prioritize and keep the items you use most frequently. If you are allowed to bring appliances, or they come included, consider which ones you’ll use most often and bring the accompanying cookware.
If you’re moving to a building where the meals are provided, it’s quite likely that you’ll only need a few items for snacks or light meals. We usually encourage our clients to bring snack foods and favourite beverages, a plug-in kettle or coffeemaker, and 2-4 place settings (unless you expect to do a lot of entertaining). Remember, you don’t need a full set of dishes or a fully stocked pantry if you’re not preparing all of your meals at home!
Pro tip: Do you have a set of fine china or fancy dishes that you love, but only use for special occasions? We strongly encourage you to consider making them your daily dishes so that you can enjoy them regularly.
Let Go of Duplicates
As you go through your kitchen items, you’ll likely find duplicates and extras that you don’t need. Do you really need four baking sheets or six coffee mugs? Will you ever entertain a group of 8 for dinner again?
It might be a challenge to let go of some of your duplicates, or split up a set of dishes, but it’s important to let go of them if they aren’t serving you. We recommend you keep the most practical and sentimental items, and sort the rest for donation or sale.
Disperse Unneeded Items
Instead of throwing away items you no longer need, consider donating or selling them if they are in good shape. There are online marketplaces and local consignment stores where you can sell gently used appliances and cookware, or you could give an item a new adventure by donating it.
Many people struggle to let items go, but we’ve found that it’s easier when you know that it will directly help someone else. We have a lot of experience donating items in the Ottawa area – here are some suggestions that may be helpful to you:
- Matthew House Ottawa: Furniture Bank – Here’s a link with a list of accepted donations. Darling Solutions is pleased to deliver gently used furniture and household goods (including kitchen items) to Matthew House Ottawa on behalf of our clients at least once a week!
- Habitat for Humanity – Click here to learn more about what they can accept, and how to donate. They’ve also helpfully included a list of other donation centers and what they can accept! If your item can’t be accepted for donation, they have an online marketplace for second-hand items where proceeds go to benefit local charities.
- Refugee 613 – they have even more donation resources linked here (some entries are duplicates with Habitat for Humanity’s list)
Final Thoughts
When downsizing, please remember that it’s not about depriving yourself of the things you love, but rather creating a new space that is functional and comfortable for you. You can do this – take the downsizing process one step at a time, assess your needs honestly, and do your best.
Are you feeling daunted by the amount of sorting and packing you need to do? We’re sorry to hear that, and we would love to help you through the process. Our office team would be happy to chat about your goals and timeline, click here to get in touch today!
