Top Tips For Downsizing To A Smaller Home

More and more often you hear of people downsizing their homes and you’ve decided to do the same. Downsizing can be exciting but is also a major shift. You need to be financially prepared for the move and more so you need to understand how the change will affect your life. 

You’ll need to part with a fair amount of your things, which is easier said than done. Too much clutter simply isn’t going to work. Here are some tips for downsizing to a smaller home. 

Understanding the Costs

Downsizing is great for reducing mortgage payments and utility bills. But before you up and leave it’s important to understand there are potential hidden costs. You need to think about the costs to furnish your new home, any repairs your current home might need before you sell and the cost to move. There’s also a risk of higher tax for your new home, any storage you might need and more. Do your due diligence and spend a while looking into all of these possibilities.

Declutter Your Existing Home

To make your new home feel cosy rather than cramped you first need to declutter your current home. Getting rid of things you don’t need can be a difficult task, it means splitting everything you have into 4 piles. Have a keep, donate, sell and throw away pile. You can also make a note of what you use or wear over the stretch of a few months and anything you don’t bother with you can get rid of. 

Try a Decluttering Method

There are many decluttering methods to help you along your downsizing journey. Have a google and see what method you think will work for you. The four-box method mentioned above is a popular one, splitting your items into 4 sections: keep, sell, donate and throw away. Once you’ve decided on your method start with individual sections, this could be a specific room or type of item like an old CD collection. 

Throw Away your Broken Items

You aren’t an engineer. If you have badly damaged or worn items chances are you aren’t going to fix them or upcycle them so it’s worth letting go of them. If you’re struggling to get rid of your things it might be worth trying to enlist some help. Get a friend in or your partner and ask them to go through your things. They aren’t attached to these things so it’s going to be much more simple for them. 

Get Rid of Your Unnecessary Appliances 

Remember your new home is going to be smaller, that’s the point. So you need to get rid of some of the ones you don’t need. That blender or bread maker you bought a few years ago and used once needs to go. Donate them or better yet sell them and get some money back. 

Extra Tips

Here are a few extra tips for when you make the move to your new smaller home. 

Shop for the Right Furniture

Choose the right size for all your new furniture. Having multi-functional pieces like a bed with storage can be a very handy thing to have. You don’t need to have storage in every single piece of furniture on your own but having a few bits can help you keep things looking tidy. 

Make Your Room Look Bigger

Downsizing doesn’t mean having to compromise with your style. Here is a quick list of things to include in your room to make it seem bigger:

• Use multifunctional lighting like wall mounted lights.
• Make use of mirrors and shiny surfaces; these can make your room look larger. 
• Create zones in a multipurpose room think about furniture placement and folding screens.
• Don’t overdress your windows with big heavy curtains.
• Stick with light colours as they make a room feel more open. 

So there you have it, a few top tips for when you are downsizing your home. Don’t rush the process, moving can be stressful. Why not check out some of our other blogs for more tips or get in touch and see how we can help you with your move.