Downsizing can be a daunting task. We have so much stuff to work through and so many decisions to make. We want to help you learn how to downsize your home. Here are five easy steps to downsizing to help you get started.
- Assess your space and collect your supplies
- Clear out paperwork and perishables first
- Determine your favorite things
- Pack it all up
- Move it out
Step One: Assess Your Space
It is easy to get overwhelmed when assessing your space before downsizing your home. We spend years collecting items and mementoes, furniture, clothing, and household items. Add in sentimental pieces and this can be a recipe for overwhelm and decision fatigue.
A few years ago, the book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondo took the world by storm. While not everyone bought into the idea, there was some very valuable information in that book. In short, each item you touch should ‘spark joy.’ If not, it’s time to let it go. At first, this was challenging to me, but as we continued through the process, we realized there is great freedom in letting go of items that no longer serve us. In fact, Zina Harrington put it very eloquently:
“The more stuff I donated, the more I was able to breathe. The more trash I threw away, the more weight I felt lifted. The more stuff I took out of the house, the more I was able to see a new life. The more uncluttered I lived, the more joy I found.”
So, the first step we recommend, is setting aside time to assess your space and start decluttering. If you open a drawer or closet and see an item no longer serving you or your family, set it aside to get rid of. Read more about our process here:
Step Two: Gather Your Supplies
Obviously, when downsizing, you will have a few (let’s be honest – a lot) of items to throw away, donate, store, and pack up to move. When thinking about how to downsize your home, having the supplies you need when you need them can alleviate a ton of stress. Here are the items we recommend to have on hand:
- Trash bags
- Boxes (small and medium size)
- Painter’s tape or white packaging tape
- Sharpies or permanent markers
- Receptacles for donations or recycling
- Storage Bins
- Packing tape or duct tape
Step Three: Clear Out Paperwork and perishables
It’s important to take care of the important things first. That means, any paperwork, photos, prescriptions, medical supplies, food items, legal documents, etc, need to be dealt with in the appropriate way. If you are downsizing in a relatively short amount of time, understand these items can take a lot of time to sort through. When time is short, pack them in water proof containers or bankers boxes and store them somewhere with climate control.
If you are not short on time, starting with these items allows you to know where your important things are from the start. It relieves stress if or when you need to access them knowing they have already been culled, sorted, and properly stored.
Step Four: Determine Your Favorite Things
Let’s be honest, choosing what to keep, donate, recycle or throw away is always work. When downsizing, we can’t keep it all. A good rule to follow is to make three areas: keep, donate, discard. Of course, we always leave open the option to store some things, but that depends on your personal situation.
When you downsize your home, keep your favorites, donate what someone else can use, store what must be stored, and discard the rest. We try to pass along items someone else may need, and donate the rest. If an item is truly to be discarded, we try to recycle when possible, and upcylcle anything else. Throwing items away is always a last resort for us.
It takes time and a lot of decision making. Be diligent and consistent and you will get there! I promise.
Step Five: Pack It All Up
When you downsize your home it takes decision making, thought, and a lot of effort. But once you’ve done the hard work of decision making, it’s time to box up what is left. Pack up remaining items in an organized manor. I go about packing in a different way than most people. Whereas some people pack bay room, I prefer to keep like items together. Here’s how that looks:
Instead of packing up a bedroom and labeling everything in the boxes as “Primary Bedroom,” I prefer to pack up like items together. That means, sheets from every bedroom go in the same box. Pillows from across the whole house go in the same storage bag. Artwork from every room gets boxed up together. Decor from every area goes together.
Each box or storage container gets labeled generically with “artwork,” “pillows,” “decor.” When moving into the new location, you get a new set of eyes so to speak. The artwork you had hanging in your bedroom may fit or look better in your new living room. The throw pillows from your sofa may look better on your bed. Packing up items in kind, gives you a fresh start as you unpack in your new place.
Obviously, some rooms get packed up together like kitchens, or children’s bedrooms. Those items are important to keep together. Everything else gets a second chance at a new life in our new space.
Step Six: Create The First Night Box
I also like to pack a box for the first night. This includes things you will absolutely need right away. Toiletries, bathroom tissue, towels, wash cloths, etc, all go in a “First Night” box. I also label this one with a specific tape or label if possible. If I have, for example, a zebra print duct tape, this box gets labeled with that tape. Then, when all the boxes become a sea of brown in the garage or storage truck, we can easily spot the zebra print tape and find the box we need immediately.
One last but very important tip – keep all of your boxes small or medium sized. That ensures that no box gets too heavy or injures your back. It’s easier to move two smaller boxes without injury than it is to move one and end up with a bad back.
Step Seven: Move It Out
How to downsize your home all comes down to the final part – moving it all out. This is where you enlist family and friends or hire movers to help. John and I have given a lot of thought to our moves and have chosen pieces we can box and move ourselves. It’s important to us as we move every year that we don’t sink a ton of money into hiring movers. We want to be as self-sufficient in this process as possible.
If you’re interested in how we do that, you’re invited to read these posts: relocating, downsizing from a house to an apartment, and downsizing to an apartment.
List of items we can’t do without
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