Downsizing Tips For Your Move into a Smaller Home

Whether for financial freedom, lifestyle shifts, or changing family dynamics, you may find yourself wanting or needing to downsize your home. If you’re thinking about buying a smaller home and don’t know where to start, read on for some important things to know when planning to downsize.

Consider the costs

When planning a move, it’s easy to forget about additional expenses, such as hiring a moving company or renting a storage unit. These minor expenses add up, and if they’re forgotten, will lead to unwanted surprises down the road.

Declutter your home

Don’t tackle everything at once. Downsizing a whole house can be overwhelming, especially if you’ve lived there a long time – but it doesn’t have to be. Instead of thinking about how you’re going to pack up the entire house, go through your home room by room, or area by area. Breaking it down this way makes the task more approachable and will also give you a better idea of exactly how much space you need to be comfortable in a new place.

Figure out what fits. Planning room layouts ahead of time will also help you figure out what you actually need to take with you, thus making your job much easier on moving day. If you’re able, take photos and/or measurements of the rooms before you place your furniture and think about what furniture will fit in each room.

Embrace minimalism. As you downsize, embrace the idea of minimalism. Focus on quality over quantity and only keep items that serve a purpose or bring joy to your life. Letting go of material possessions can be liberating and lead to a more simplified and stress-free lifestyle.

Take advantage of technology. Apps like Decluttr, Letgo or Freecycle allow you to easily sell or give away unwanted items. You can also utilize floor plan creation applications like HomeByMe to help you map out your new space.

Embrace Your New (Smaller) Space

Once you’ve downsized, you may find that you still have too many belongings for your new, smaller home. Here are some tips for getting the most space out of your new home.

Create the illusion of more space. As you settle into your new home, consider making a few adjustments to your smaller home that enhances the space. Installing things like floating shelves and mirrors or painting rooms with light colors can create the illusion of a larger area. As you shop for furniture, avoid oversized or heavy furniture, as that can make rooms feel smaller.

Get creative with storage. When moving from a larger home to a smaller one, you may need to get creative to store items that came with you from your former house. If you find you have more items than you have storage, look at functional multipurpose furniture with storage capabilities, which will keep your new space organized.