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Downsizing Your Home in 5 Simple Steps
Downsizing Your Home in 5 Simple Steps
Are you looking to downsize your home? Maybe the children are gone, or keeping up with a large house has become too much to handle. Downsizing offers an array of benefits. For example, it allows you to save on your bills and lead a more comfortable life. However, the process is often confusing or cluttered. Whatever your reason for downsizing, here are a few things to keep in mind to ensure that your downsizing goes smoothly. Let’s take a look at 5 simple steps to downsize with ease.
1. Ensuring That You Have Storage
When you downsize, you move into a smaller area meaning there is less room for all the belongings you have accumulated. Simply put, some items may not fit. It’s important to have a storage or disposal plan.
It is likely that some items may have sentimental value. Consider finding room in your new home or getting a small storage unit to store these items. Label boxes well so that you can easily find items that you want to bring out for holidays or special occasions.
Another option is to gift sentimental items to family members with space that you know will appreciate them. In addition to freeing up space, this maintains your family heirlooms and continues their legacy.
2. Assessing Your New Home
One of the simple steps to downsize your home is to take a look at the house. Get to know the layout and map out where everything goes. Doing this will help you understand what will fit in the home and what will not fit. For example, if you are moving into a condo and you have a riding lawnmower, you will no longer be using this item. You will be able to sell this and have extra money.
If you are moving away from somewhere that does not have the things you used to do, you can get rid of that equipment. For instance, if you have ski equipment, but you are moving to a warm sunny location, you may no longer need that equipment.
3. Decluttering
You should go through your belongings to see what you want to keep and what you do not wish to keep. Declutter any item that is not important or useful.
For example, you might run across something you like but don’t use very often. If you haven’t used it in a year or more, it might be a good time to let go. You will also want to go through your closet during this time, as you may not have the closet space you had before.
Make piles as you go for keep, donate and trash. Throw out the trash and donate the items in the donation pile before packing. You may even be able to claim a tax deduction for these donations so keep good records.
4. Saying Goodbye
If you have decided to downsize your home, you probably feel sad at the thought of leaving the home that you have been in for many years. You have likely built fond memories in the home. It is essential that you say goodbye to the home. This allows you closure and enables you to move on when downsizing your home. Take pictures and even consider throwing a going away party to savor your last moments.
5. Digitize
Another one of the simple steps to downsize your home, is to have it digitized. When you downsize, you will be moving into a smaller place where you might not have room for pictures and videos like you had in your old house. A great way to keep these pictures is to digitize them and put them on your computer or even on the cloud.
This allows you to access your digital photos and not have physical photographs clutter your space. If you do not know how to add pictures to the cloud or device, recruit the help of a family member or friend experienced in this area.