There may come a time when you look around at your surroundings and think, “this place is just too big.” Whether you’re an empty nester or looking to move from a large condo to a smaller one, there are some things you should do when considering downsizing.
What Do You Really Love?
Making a list of everything you love and can’t live without is a good place to start. You might find you have things that have either outlived their purpose or that are dated and tired. If there are more of these items than you thought, you may want to look into disposal bin rental to get rid of everything in one fell swoop!
Start Months Before
Once you’ve decided to look for smaller digs, give yourself about three months before the actual move to look through your stuff and start making a dent in it.
Compare the New to the Old
To get an idea of how it will feel to live in a smaller space, you could compare rooms. If your new living room is about the size of your bedroom now, have a good look. Maybe you won’t be able to fit all your current furniture into your new living room. But what you can do is figure out what will fit and what to take, what to sell, what to donate to charity and what to use that disposal bin for!
Use the Three R’s
Reduce, recycle or reuse. Many things won’t have to be tossed, but can be recycled, upcycled or repurposed. Make sure you can’t recycle or reuse before you reduce. By finding a good use for most things, you’re being environmentally responsible.
Become Friendly with Labels
Storage containers can be labeled “keep,” “sell” and “donate.” If you’re like most average downsizers, plan on keeping about one-third to half of your things.
Going Once, Going Twice … Sold!
Hiring an auction service to sell your high end belongings may get you the best price for them even after paying the auctioneer a commission. You will be able to find reputable antique dealers or auctioneers who will come to your home and have a look at what you have. They may even buy some items outright.
Colour Code Boxes When Packing
Save yourself some grief and extra work by allotting a colour for every room and marking boxes that contain things for that room with the same colour sticker.
