The Wheaton team is here to help! This blog will guide you through the process of downsizing and moving into a smaller space.
Commit to the Move & Focus on the Positives
The first step in downsizing is committing to the move. As you transition into retirement, downsizing offers numerous benefits that can simplify your life, reduce stress and enhance your comfort. Embracing a smaller space doesn’t just mean letting go—it means optimizing your lifestyle to focus on what truly matters.
- Single-Level Living: Many opt for single-level homes to avoid the hassle of stairs and make daily living more accessible.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Downsizing can significantly reduce the expenses associated with larger homes, such as maintenance costs, property taxes and utility bills, freeing up finances for other enjoyments.
- Efficient Use of Space: Though families often use only 20 percent of their home’s space actively, downsizing encourages more efficient and creative use of space, ensuring every area has a purpose.
- Combined Living Spaces: Integrating functions and activities into fewer rooms does not mean sacrificing enjoyment; it often enhances the functionality and comfort of your living environment.
- Custom Comfort: Define what comfort means to you in retirement—whether it’s amenities, proximity to services or a certain budget for ongoing costs.
Deciding what comforts are essential for your retirement and where you can compromise is crucial. By answering these questions, you not only prepare mentally for downsizing but may also discover excitement for this new, streamlined chapter of your life.
Avoid Procrastination
It is so easy to put things off until the last minute, especially if you’re nervous or not overly excited about moving. But mad dashes to go through your belongings and pack up what will be moving with you can often lead to stress, anger and even resentment. If you’re able to start going through items before moving it will be easier to really consider what will and won’t be coming with you as you downsize.
If you’re selling your home before downsizing you will especially want to be on top of organizing, decluttering and donations. This will help your house show better and ultimately sell faster.
Ask for Help
When downsizing, involving family and friends can greatly simplify the process. Allowing loved ones to assist in sorting through your belongings not only helps you but also gives them a chance to keep meaningful items and reduces your need to manage everything alone.
- Engage Your Circle: Invite children, siblings and friends to help sort through your belongings, taking items like furniture and keepsakes that hold sentimental value.
- Focus on Cluttered Areas: Start with the rooms that have accumulated the most clutter, such as the kitchen, living room and family spaces. Organizing these areas can be emotionally and physically liberating.
- Methodical Sorting: Encourage your helpers to sort through items slowly and systematically, allowing everyone adequate time to decide what really needs to be kept, given away or thrown out.
- Organize as You Go: Create distinct piles for items to keep, donate or give away. This not only helps in reducing the clutter but also makes the eventual packing process more manageable.
By methodically organizing and delegating tasks, you transform downsizing from an overwhelming chore into a shared experience that benefits everyone involved. This strategic approach not only clears your space but also ensures that cherished memories are preserved as you transition to your new home.
Be Realistic (And Patient)
As you’re downsizing, you need to be realistic. The mountains of keepsakes and mementos, while important, may need to be sifted through. Find the things that are most important and bring those with you.
To make this process easier, consider scrapbooking with photos and stories of the keepsakes. You can also reach out to others who carry similar sentimental value to items and ask if they’d like to keep them.
If you have multiple large photo albums and are looking for a solution to cut down on the space, consider getting them digitalized or framed so you can display them in your new home.
Be Practical
Downsizing is, well, downsizing. You’re not going to be able to bring everything you own into your new space, and that’s okay. To help visualize the space and get an idea of what you can fit in there, get the floorplan for your new home. Having the dimensions will help you lay out where your furniture and items will go in the space. You may find that some pieces simply just won’t fit in the new space. Finding that out sooner rather than as you’re moving everything in will help save you money, energy and time.
Get Help with Packing and Moving
A professional moving company, like Wheaton World Wide, knows how to carefully and efficiently pack up and move your belongings. As you transfer into your retirement, taking life slowly is important for your mental and physical health. Professional movers can come in alongside your friends and family to help quickly get your belongings loaded into the moving truck and transferred into your new home without risk of injury or breaking sentimental items or furniture.
If you decide to tackle some of the packing yourself, make sure you go room by room to avoid a chaotic and cluttered home. Completely finish packing one room before moving to the next and remember to leave out items like snacks, toiletries and hygienic essentials that might be needed throughout the packing and moving process. Keep those in a central area that is kept clear of obstacles and debris.
Get the Downsizing Experts On Your Side
If you are considering the help of professional movers, look for one with ample senior movie assistance. This way you can be sure that your belongings are handled with care, compassion and professionalism. At Wheaton, we are dedicated and passionate about providing you, or the older adults in your life, with services that’ll make your move as worry-free as possible.
