Buying
How to downsize
03-Apr-2017
Life has changed – happily or regretfully, surprisingly or inevitably. Now the house is too big, too crammed with stuff from previous lives; gobbling way too much of your time and budget, anchoring you miles away from where you want to be.
Have a Process
Choose the items you cannot part with, nominate the ones you can happily live without, and in between is everything else. The everything else pile may be the largest, so then work through that pile, stronger decision making may be needed to decipher what stays and what goes.
Be Realistic
There are the practicalities – issues like access at the new abode (can you really get a baby-grand up that stairwell?) Think about the room size in your new home, and cull accordingly.
Then there’s the design
Many down-sizers might relish the opportunity to throw out the eclectic paraphernalia acquired through need and necessity along the way and pare back to a clean, defined aesthetic, reflecting who they are now.
Looming above these are emotional considerations, which have the power to turn the most mundane detritus into cherished memorabilia. Next thing you know you’re clawing back unloved chattels at your own garage sale.
Many downsizers relish the chance to pare down to a clean aesthetic reflecting who they are now
Finally
There’s the unforgiving truth that there’s only so much a body can take.
This is a very physical and exhausting job to do, yet the urge or need to downsize often strikes when people are at their most vulnerable – perhaps they are unwell or older and frailer than they thought, or still coming to terms with some sudden shift in their personal or household circumstances.
The physical toll of decluttering, of clearing and scrubbing out the old life and setting up the new, should not be underestimated. Ask for help – from your family, friends, neighbours. Delegate tasks where you can – organising garage sales, transport arrangements.
Clearing and scrubbing out the old life and setting up the new, should not be underestimated
I can’t decide
What do you do with things that don’t fit the new life, but you can’t quite part with them just yet? If your budget allows, storing some items for a year, and then making decisions based on how much they have been missed or needed is often a great idea.
Give yourself time and space to adjust – and treat yourself along the way, celebrate your new compact living with new cushions, linen, towels, maybe a new dinner set and glassware. Get a professional art hanger in to make a beautiful display of your treasured art and memories in the new space.
SOURCE: realestate.com.au
Have a Process
Choose the items you cannot part with, nominate the ones you can happily live without, and in between is everything else. The everything else pile may be the largest, so then work through that pile, stronger decision making may be needed to decipher what stays and what goes.
Be Realistic
There are the practicalities – issues like access at the new abode (can you really get a baby-grand up that stairwell?) Think about the room size in your new home, and cull accordingly.
Then there’s the design
Many down-sizers might relish the opportunity to throw out the eclectic paraphernalia acquired through need and necessity along the way and pare back to a clean, defined aesthetic, reflecting who they are now.
Looming above these are emotional considerations, which have the power to turn the most mundane detritus into cherished memorabilia. Next thing you know you’re clawing back unloved chattels at your own garage sale.
Many downsizers relish the chance to pare down to a clean aesthetic reflecting who they are now
Finally
There’s the unforgiving truth that there’s only so much a body can take.
This is a very physical and exhausting job to do, yet the urge or need to downsize often strikes when people are at their most vulnerable – perhaps they are unwell or older and frailer than they thought, or still coming to terms with some sudden shift in their personal or household circumstances.
The physical toll of decluttering, of clearing and scrubbing out the old life and setting up the new, should not be underestimated. Ask for help – from your family, friends, neighbours. Delegate tasks where you can – organising garage sales, transport arrangements.
Clearing and scrubbing out the old life and setting up the new, should not be underestimated
I can’t decide
What do you do with things that don’t fit the new life, but you can’t quite part with them just yet? If your budget allows, storing some items for a year, and then making decisions based on how much they have been missed or needed is often a great idea.
Give yourself time and space to adjust – and treat yourself along the way, celebrate your new compact living with new cushions, linen, towels, maybe a new dinner set and glassware. Get a professional art hanger in to make a beautiful display of your treasured art and memories in the new space.
SOURCE: realestate.com.au