Top Tips for Successful Downsizing
Downsizing is on my mind today…
People choose to downsize for a variety of reasons. Having a home that supports your current lifestyle is always a wonderful luxury no matter what stage of life you are in.
People often choose to downsize when they are empty nesters and no longer need a large house for raising a family. They might want to live closer to a city for the proximity to cultural events, or closer to family or friends, or in a milder climate, or in a safer environment that will eliminate stress and worry.
My parents have been planning a downsize for a couple of years now and finally cleared the waitlist for a unit they want in the community they’ve chosen.
This week I’ll be going with them to look at it and measure so we can plan what goes with them, what will need to be re-homed, and what new things might be needed to optimize the space.
I’ll be doing layouts for them and selecting finishes for the refresh the unit will get before they move in. We’ll choose new appliances, cabinets, tile, countertop, flooring, and paint colors and tweak the kitchen layout if needed.
We’ll be able to modify and move walls and move doorways if we need to, but I think it will be a workable layout. It’s a corner unit, we think, based on the basic floor plan that was sent, and it has a lot of windows so it should have nice light.
It is an exciting opportunity for a much easier way of life.
Most smaller homes and apartments have an open concept living area to create a sense of spaciousness in a relatively compact space. I recently talked about the steps for furnishing an open concept space HERE, and I’ll be applying those same principles when I work on this project.
Some of the keys to downsizing well are also the hardest emotional hurdles. Our stuff and current home has been a part of our lives for a lot of years - it is interwoven with cherished memories and important family connections.
My parents have lived in their home for 56 years - which makes for a LOT to deal with, both the actual stuff and the emotions attached to it all. They have done an AMAZING job of preparing for this move.
Opening a Christmas gift of a commissioned portrait of the house
watercolor house portrait we commissioned for my parents
2 Most Important Guidelines for Downsizing
It is vitally important to keep two key things in mind:
1. Take the MOST important/sentimental/irreplaceable pieces with you so your NEW home will have the familiar feeling of, well, home.
2. Don’t force stuff that isn’t going to work optimally into a new space just because you already have it (unless it falls into the aforementioned category). This is an opportunity to have what is just right. A smaller space requires less stuff, so ‘just right’ is achievable.
Smaller spaces benefit from multifunctional furniture - things like bedside tables that do double duty as dressers or desks, room dividers that house storage, daybeds that double as sofas, or ottomans with storage. See a theme there? Storage is a big issue in smaller spaces - maximize your options.
Rethink how you use pieces. Just because that mirror always hung over that chest, doesn’t mean it needs to in your new home. Wall space is at a premium in open plan spaces and combining your pieces in new ways can offer a fresh way of appreciating them.
Embrace the opportunity for a fresh start and cull only the things you have used and enjoyed in the last 2 or 3 years and offload the rest. Easier said than done, and a huge amount of work, but so freeing once you have done it. Honestly, I need to do that myself and I’m not even planning to move anytime soon!
Make a plan
We have helped dozens of design clients with their downsizing over the years to make a complicated process as smooth as possible. We like to think of it as Re-Nesting!
Create a scaled floor plan of the new place and measure all the things that made the first cut of “might want to keep”. Moving the pieces around on paper or a computer screen is MUCH easier and less expensive than just taking way more than will fit and trying to sort it out at move in. That is a recipe for disaster.
Determine what areas/functions you need in order of priority. Everyones priorities will be different, but do what makes sense to you, keeping in mind that things lower on the priority list may end up combined with other areas.
Some examples:
Seating (for how many?)
Sleeping space(s)
Dining (for how many?)
TV watching space
Computer/office/zoom space
Craft/hobby/puzzle/game space
Be flexible in your thinking
You can always reupholster or slipcover seating pieces that were formerly in different rooms to make them work together for a new space. Quality older pieces are well worth refurbishing for a new chapter.
Some of your larger pieces might well be workable in the floorplan, but you might end up using them differently. That wall of bookcases might end up in a bedroom/library space instead of the living room, or the china cabinet might get a new lease on life as an office storage cabinet or bookshelves. A sideboard that used to be in the dining room may end up as storage elsewhere.
Prioritize which of your larger items you want to take. If you have 3 sofas, you probably are only going to need one (or maybe two, depending on the situation).
Dedicated TV stands are a thing of the past, so those can probably be left behind. Now you can get TV’s that hang on the wall and look like a piece of art when not in use - you can even change the artwork and the frame. Streaming has eliminated the need for a bunch of media components that needed housing. Yay for technology!
Taking an extra chair or two that you *might* want to try out is fine, taking a dining room hutch or a sofa that definitely won’t fit is a complication and a headache to deal with once you arrive. A good rule of thumb for “on the fence” pieces - if it can’t be moved in a family members SUV, it’s probably too big to be worth trying out.
Smaller CAN be better!
Less space to decorate means less quantity is needed and therefore higher quality is more affordable. This is an opportunity to have some special touches like custom curtains, or a really spectacular tile, or a fabulous wallpaper since you’ll need to cover less space.
Often, downsizing means less or no stairs which means it will be easier to live in. Less to clean and maintain, less area to cover looking for where you put your glasses…less stuff to sort through to find what you need. More time to do what you really enjoy!