Downsizing
The Art of Downsizing
When you first purchased your home, you had several reasons to choose the larger house with a large backyard and finished basement. As time went on, your needs and family changed. Now the kids have moved out and have homes of their own. You no longer need the four-bedroom colonial with a half-acre yard and three full bathrooms. The space and taxes are much more than you want to maintain. It is time to downsize. However, how do you choose what stays, what goes, and what is really needed? There is an art to downsizing. Once you discover the art, downsizing your home becomes the easiest decision you ever made. Here are some tips from an experienced moving company.
Think Outside the Box
When downsizing, you must step outside of your comfort zone and think outside the box. Your final goal is to move your life into a smaller home that is easier to maintain. However, you also want to avoid large amounts of items in storage, negating the purpose of downsizing your home. Therefore, you must analyze your home and belongings from an outsider’s point of view. Determine what is essential, very important, wanted, and can go. Essentials are items such as your clothing, main dishes and cookware, and toiletries. The list does not include furniture, electronics, or even photos. Photos are part of the very important category. Furniture and electronics can be part of the very important or wanted categories, depending on the room and purpose of each piece. Anything that does not fit into these three categories can go – without question.
Design Your Space
Downsizing is also about redesigning your space. You may not need a four-bedroom home, but you may want a two-bedroom or three-bedroom house. This allows you to have ample room for guests to visit and stay, such as grandchildren and other friends and family. In the same vein, you may not need half an acre of ground, but you may wish to have a nice enough backyard to entertain or have room for the grandchildren to run around and play.
Another issue to consider is your health and ability to maneuver. You may currently own a two- or three-story home that is no longer easy to navigate. As a result, you may need to look for a ranch style home or even a condo. When looking at a condo or townhouse, you can consider the idea of leaving the yard work to an association, so you do not need to mow the lawn, trim the edges, or maintain the trees, bushes, flowers, and other plants.
Finally, downsizing may be an opportunity to rent instead of buying a smaller home. Renting has many positive aspects for people who are nearing or in retirement and want to enjoy this point in their lives. For instance, renters no longer worry about repairs to the home, electrical issues, HVAC issues or any other fixtures within their home.
Whether you are downsizing as the result of a lifestyle change or a simple want to simplify, you will need to purge belongings and determine what is to be moved, what is to be given away, and what is to be thrown away. This is a process that is best completed over a more extended period of time, as opposed to the last few weeks or months before your move is to occur. If you are looking for assistance with packing, storage, purging, or moving, contact the experts at Sinclair Moving and Storage at (856) 753-7400.
