You may be moving into a smaller place for one of many reasons, whether due to financial troubles, in order to be closer to your workplace or even just because you’re an empty nester and have more space than you know what to do with. The reasons behind making the decision to change to downsize may differ from person to person, but what doesn’t change is the fact that downsizing is hard. Moving is difficult at the best of times, but having to downsize and getting rid of the things you’ve loved for many years and made memories with can be even harder.
This is why it is always a good idea to give yourself plenty of time when downsizing your home. Ideally, you should start decluttering even before you start looking for property for sale in Reservoir or other parts of Melbourne. Here are a few tips to help make the journey easier and quash the overwhelming feelings of panic:
Plan Ahead
As soon as you have come to the realisation that you need to move to a smaller home, start planning for the move. Walk around the house and take note of everything you own. Then divide this into lists of what you absolutely cannot do without and what you’re okay with giving away or throwing out. Get everyone in the family to make a similar list of the things they own so there isn’t too much on your plate and you don’t run the risk of accidentally throwing out something of sentimental value to a family member.
It can be helpful to start this well in advance to give yourself time to come to terms with throwing away stuff which may be useless to you but have some memory attached to it (such as the folder full of “drawings” your grown up daughter made when she was in kindergarten). These items are usually the biggest culprits of clutter and over the years can accumulate.
- Go Room by Room
One of the easiest ways to downsize is to go room by room and making the big decisions first. What pieces of furniture will you be able to fit into your new home? How many rooms does the new house have? Which of your appliances are on their last leg and need to be replaced anyway? Also take into consideration any large collections you may have collected over the years (china sets, cups, dolls, vinyl records etc) and think if you’re going to have enough space for them in the new house. It can be difficult to get rid of stuff that you hold close to your heart, which is why giving yourself enough time to come to terms with it is essential.
- Delegate Tasks
Don’t try to do everything yourself. This is the quickest way to overwhelm yourself and bring on feelings of negativity and resentment. If you’re downsizing because all your adult children have moved out and you’re living in an empty nest, ask your children to drop down the for a day or two and help you with the process. This will also give them the chance to sort through the things they left behind when moving and would like to keep. Give them deadlines to remove stuff they want from the house including but not limited to old college footy uniforms, school projects, sports or academic trophies or any baby clothes you have saved.
- Sort into piles
Clear out a space in the house and make four designated piles: one for junk that cannot be salvaged and needs to be thrown away, one for stuff that is in a good enough condition to be sold, one for stuff you’d rather donate to the needy, and one for everything you’d like to keep. Then go room by room and start sorting everything you own into one of these piles. To keep the mess at bay, start packing everything into boxes as you go through this activity and pile it one corner.
- Organise important papers
It’s easy to lose papers and important documents when moving. Gather all the paper and documents you can find in the house and dedicate a good part of the day to sorting through them. Get rid of old bills, newspapers, coupons, restaurant menus, instruction manuals, receipts and magazines. With the world going increasingly paperless, consider moving things like bank statements, utility bills and receipts completely online to further get rid of paper waste. Like the above step, sort everything into three neat piles:
Recycle: This is for everything that you’re throwing away.
Scan: Important documents like tax returns, medical files, insurance records, lease documents, photos, warranty documents, old wedding invitations and anything else you’d rather not throw away but don’t need a physical copy of.
Save: This will include everything you need the original document for, such as birth certificates, passports, diplomas and degrees, service records, wills and powers of attorney. Place everything in a designated folder so you’re less likely to lose it.
Finally, downsizing a house can be a difficult activity, which is why it is very important to take it one day at a time. You may have already started looking for homes for sale in Reservoir or you may be moving a year down the line. Even just taking care of one corner of a room in one week or a cupboard in a day will leave you with significantly less stuff in about six months before you even start going through the sentimental stuff. The more time you give yourself, the more likely you are to make smarter decisions.
