Downsizing a home can be challenging and lead to lots of stress for anyone who likes their belongings but doesn’t want to live in clutter. Lone people, seniors, or people moving from a home to a city apartment face the challenge of building a new living space with little room for furniture, collectibles, accessories, and area. But with a manageable plan, before you downsize, you can create a comfortable and cozy environment made for daily living.
Whether you’re downsizing into an apartment or just trying to declutter your current home, it can be a daunting task. Fortunately, there are several easy ways to downsize into an apartment quickly and without too much regret.
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Plan Ahead
First and foremost, start planning your downsizing and set goals.
While moving, start planning about downsizing a few months early. Don’t try to tackle your entire apartment at once. It’ll be overwhelming, and you’ll become confused long before you start making any progress. Instead, go for downsizing your home room by room. Start from one neutral room like the kitchen, and then take out into spaces that may have more sentimental value.
For couples and families, ensure everyone is on the same side to eliminate conflicts and confusion during the process.
Then, Calculate Your Total Space
Start manageable by calculating the total space of your new home. If you want to know how much you can bring, you need to know how much area you’re dealing with.
Include the scope in each room of your house, and also include:
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- Attic storage
- Basement storage
- Bike storage
- Kitchen cabinets
- Closets
- Space under the bed
Be Honest About What You Can Live Without
There are many items in the house that we don’t need. So, ask yourself whether or not you use the thing. If it is purely functional, you can leave it. If you don’t use it, but you find it pretty, keep it. If you have a certain picture, antique book, and old frame, don’t hesitate to use it for decoration just because you love it. Sort through your things and take what’s most necessary. The trick is separating needed items from what we can live without.
Then, Make Lists
Divide your possessions in each room into three lists: things you need, things you would replace, and unnecessary items. Write those items in a list and use them as a guide while sorting through the belongings.
Decluttering Ground Rules
Once you start decluttering and searching through items, it could become easy to make exceptions. You might not notice, but all you’ve done is taken things from one place and moved them to another instead of determining where they belong.
The one way to avoid this is by following some ground rules and options for sorting your items. A common set of options could be:
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- Keep
- Donate or sell
- Throw or recycle
- Pass it down or memorialize
Categories can alter according to your needs and goals, but try to avoid “maybes.”
If In Doubt, Get A Professional Opinion
Take help in sorting and packing the belongings. You can also consider hiring a professional organizer. They can offer an objective opinion when deciding what you need to eliminate or donate to charity.
Sell Or Donate Non-Sentimental Items
Sell or donate items that you don’t plan on bringing into your new space. Many online websites make selling online easy, like eBay, OfferUp, Craigslist, LetGo, and more. Ensure that you use the proper safety and anti-fraud precautions while using these apps or websites to sell or buy items.
Home Downsizing Checklist:
We have made it simple to remember some essential points during your downsizing mission to see if you forget anything:
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- Know the size and style of the apartment you’re moving into
- Measure all the furniture items that are moving with you
- Prioritize multi-functional furniture pieces and freestanding storage options
- Evaluate the clothing you want to keep and get rid of
- Go through all of your papers, books, miscellaneous, and sentimental items
- Consider any added amenities in your new apartment community
- If you’re ever stuck in your decision-making process, then imagine what you want your new apartment to look like.
Getting organized is the best way while planning to downsize into an apartment. Nothing feels impossible once you’ve cracked the largest task down into manageable measures. Minimize to optimize your new space.
Do It Now
Lastly, don’t waste any pre-move time. Decisions caused by late work can leave you with lots of extra things or cause you to lose something. Downsizing is not easy, but some organized and manageable ways can help you with many things.
Final Words
Downsizing may initially seem challenging, both emotionally and physically; you can make it much less daunting by breaking it into the above steps. By starting with the neutral space, room by room, big items, and getting increasingly granular, you’ll create a simplified, cozy, decluttered, yet a significant set of items just perfect for that new, smaller home. By planning and being organized, you can quickly sort your belongings, furnish your new place, and start living with no task left pending.
