Downsizing means moving into a smaller and more cosy space, a space that better suits your pace of life and lifestyle (and your desire to clean a large house!). Downsizing can be a rewarding lesson in learning to live with less, although for many of us we find it difficult to know what we need to live with and what we can do without. When your downsizing, it’s crucial to make the right decision about what to bring and what to leave behind, to make your new home into the place you will love to be.
The Importance Of Storage
When downsizing from a larger living space to a smaller home, storage is a critical consideration to take into account. In the process of clearing out your previous home, you may have more that you want to keep than you’re able to actually fit in your new smaller home. In this case the need for extra storage space will be necessary to store excess home contents. Storage space is provided by a range of commercial storage spaces who offer a range of small and large lockers for you to securely store your belongings offsite from your home. One organization providing units for storage on the Gold Coast provides the innovative solution of a storage space estimation calculator. With this calculator you can accurately and easily assess the amount of storage you will need based on how much of your home contents you have to store which helps you to save money and make your choice of storage unit easier.
As well as securing external storage in a storage facility, it’s important to ensure that your new home has plenty of storage options as well – an aspect that is important in the case of downsizing to a smaller home that won’t have the space to allow for clutter. Having storage space including cupboards, shelves, closets and even garage space means that everything in your new home has a place and there will be a lower tendency for clutter to build up in the home.
Take an Inventory
Before moving out of your home, it’s a good idea to take an inventory of the belongings that you have and what you do and don’t plan to take with you to your new place. It’s useful to get a complete but broad picture of everything you have, to see what you really need to take with you and what you can probably live without. Imagine that all your belongings were lost in a fire – what would you need to replace, and what wouldn’t you bother with. This is a good exercise in learning how to be brutal with your choices.
Check up especially on things that you have doubles of or that serve peripheral purposes. For example, avoid doubling up on dinner sets, excess pots and pans and pieces of furniture. If you have a hand held blender, and a benchtop blender, try to choose just one to take with you. Making an inventory of what you have and what you need really helps to organize and control what you take to your new place.
Be Organised and Ruthless
Taking an inventory has the added advantage of keeping you organised and encouraging you to be ruthless. An inventory allows you to clearly see what you can get rid of without the excuses and defenses you might put up otherwise.
Be especially ruthless on excess stuff that comes from rooms like the kitchen and the bathroom, because unlike the belongings that come from your living room or bedrooms, you’re less likely to feel sentimental about the objects in these rooms.
Don’t Throw Away
Rather than throwing away the things that you don’t need why not try to recycle them, give them away, or sell them second hand to save the environment, and to possibly also make yourself a little money.
Throwing your belongings away causes excess waste and damages the environment by contributing to pollution and landfill. Recycling not only helps the environment by avoiding creating excess waste, but as they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
With these tips you can ensure a smooth, comfortable and stress free approach to your downsize.
