3-STEP DOWNSIZING PLAN

 

Downsizing is an opportunity to refresh and start anew. Downsizing is done due to a wide variety of reasons. While saving money is the primary reason for doing so, but of course, the reason can vary where a smaller home would actually serve you and suit your lifestyle and can be liberating. However, downsizing is not always about a choice, some life events like unemployment, a drop in income, kids leaving home, divorce, etc., can force you to find a smaller home. To make the transition from a big home to a smaller one, a smooth and successful experience, we have gathered the 3 most important tips that can get you rid of the clutter and nonnecessities and fill your new place with things you absolutely need, making it feel like home. Here are they:-

 

Formulate A Plan To Deal With Downsizing:

 

 Stemming out uncertainty is absolutely essential when it is about downsizing your home. By setting your intentions and understanding your core reasons and goals ahead of time, you’ll have a much clearer view of what items will fit into your new lifestyle and home. Creating a plan to get rid of unwanted items will require you to ask some basic questions to yourself like What are your top reasons for wanting to downsize? What opportunities will downsizing create? Do you want to explore new hobbies or activities? What are the things from your old home's absence of which you will miss the most about? The more specific your goals, the more effective they are in motivating you toward a concrete vision of your ideal downsizing situation and provide peace of mind and confidence during the process. Set a plan to complete a little bit each day, and save some extra time so you aren’t rushed. Go from big to small when it is about your furniture will give you a better idea of how much space you have left to fill. Once you’ve identified which items aren’t coming with you to your new home, you have several options for getting rid of them like donating, having a yard sale, renting a dumpster, passing down sentimental items to loved ones, giving or gifting large collections you care about. Homes for sale in Petaluma CA gives a tip off that thinking carefully about your future by working through a detailed list of your goals will help you to narrow and focus your search.

 

 

Stop Piling Up Stuff:

The first step to downsizing necessitates decluttering effectively before you move. When you live in a smaller home, it forces you to decide what really matters to you try to manage the fears associated with decluttering. Try to develop a minimalist mentality by keeping things you want to use or a few sentimental things. Take out time to think about things that have to be fit into your new home to avoid later stages of the stress of disposing of belongings after you move. While decluttering organize your things into two separate piles- a keep and a leave pile. As you proceed, considering what to keep, you’re likely to get stuck at some point, and you may have to make some tough decisions. As you go through your possessions, the pieces which evoke your best memories and have the most special and sentimental place with you, you should take such items with you and should not part with them to make your new space feel like home. There may be another set of items which though hold good memories for you but such items are not needed or you don’t want to keep them anymore. Consider taking pictures of such things but don’t take them with you so that whenever you look at the pictures, you can relive their memories. Those things which are no anymore required by you can be designated a temporary staging area. Break down this area into the following categories:

● Sell at a consignment shop or auction house or do yard sale;

●Donate to a charity;

● Give to a family member or friend;

●Discard or recycle it.

Items of high value that you don’t want to bring to your new home can be valued at such prices which draws out their full price at an auction or can be donated ( with permitted tax deductions) or bequeathed as an early family legacy gift. 

The answer lies in embracing the whole process, be realistic, and take help when it’s needed.

 

Start-Off Small And Early:

Once you have made the decision to downsize and placed your house on the market, the immediate next step should be to plan ahead ensuring that the downsizing process is as simple and as stress-free as possible. The average timeline for paring down will change according to the work needing to be done. Although it is important to allow yourself enough time, however, Procrastinating and lingering on till the last minute to start the downsizing and packing process only adds to the unnecessary stress. Packing your house of kinds of stuff consumes much time, so it will be prudent if one starts early rather than doing it all right at the moment when the movers arrive. Simply, putting forward, the time taken to pack your things will directly depend upon the duration for which you have lived in that home. 

Start as early as possible. A good rule of thumb: start downsizing at least one month prior to the listing of your current home for sale. If you are required to do all that yourself, then break the whole process into multiple, more manageable projects. Create a plan or schedule in such a way that you take one room at a time or smaller projects within a room which will ensure that you are not getting overwhelmed but are staying on track. If you get stuck and start to feel it’s taking too long, clean out one drawer, two to three days per room, four to six days each for the attic, basement, and garage– and go through everything. Just don’t hook to something while downsizing and take it to your next home, thinking you’ll deal with it later. This will make you stay motivated as well as awarding you a feeling of accomplishment. When you begin the process of getting rid of things that won’t go to your new home, start with the basement or attic, where many items are probably already in boxes. From there, go to the least used room and start sorting through items to donate or sell. Don’t try to do everything in one weekend. Chalk out a realistic schedule by dividing the work into a couple of hours over a span of a few weeks or months.