Moving house and downsizing can be a stressful time but can also be liberating. Here’s our 10 top tips to make downsizing easier.
1. Make a plan
Before you decide what you need to get rid of, make sure you have a floor plan of your new space and compare this to your current home’s floor plan. It will make it a lot easier to decide how much you’ll have to get rid of before you move.
2. Sentimental vs Practical
Try to get into planning mode and not become too sentimental. We know it’s hard, as our home becomes an extended part of us but there are some quick wins to help to keep memories safe yet take up little room
• Scan or photograph precious children’s art, school work or certificates and either store on a USB stick, in the cloud via Dropbox, or create photo memory books via online companies such as Photobox.
Instead of keeping all your books which take up space on your shelves, keep the few precious ones and donate the rest to a local charity and sign up to an online book service such as Amazon Prime or Ibooks which you can read on a kindle, laptop or mobile phone.
3. Ask yourself this- ‘what would you miss if you came home and nothing was there?’
This is a great exercise to focus the mind and can help you decide, what is important or essential to keep.
4. Need to reduce or changing your furniture?
Check out the floor plans to your new place, get armed with a tape measure and create scale pictures of each large item and move it around the new home plan to see if it fits. If you need to buy new space saving furniture, why not try the following;
• A dining table and chairs that folds away or has storage draws
• A bed settee instead of a separate bed for guests
• Storage bed – ottoman beds are perfect for storing bedding, towels and clothes you don’t wear often.
• Storage coffee table
• Use a footstool with a tray as a coffee table
Cube seats that have storage in them
5. Storage is King!
Downsizing means decluttering and when you declutter you'll need good storage! Ideally, fitted furniture is the way to go as it maximises the storage space available, however, if you can’t afford this option, why not try the following: -
• Use double hanging rails in wardrobes or under the stairs cupboards
• Use hanging shoe racks
• Add hooks to the back of cupboard doors and doors.
• Try space saving vacuum bags for clothes, curtains and bedding
• If budget allows, create storage cupboards beneath banquette or bench seating
6. Minimise Duplicates
Look at what you have multiples of and only keep your favourites. Do you really need all those cork screws or sets of drinking glasses, mugs or silverware? What about all those pens and pencils? Box up what you don’t need and either give away or sell. Also, don’t forget to throw out any food or ingredients that have passed their shelf life or if you haven’t used them in a while and are still in date, then why not donate to your local food bank.
7. Rent or borrow goods
There are some things we own in our homes that we very rarely use, such as a garden mower, or carpet cleaner, so instead of owning them, why not borrow from friends, neighbours or family, or even rent them when needed instead?
8. Earn money from the things you don't want or give items to others
Why not earn a bit of cash by selling all the things you don’t want to take with you - sell via online sites such as Facebook and Ebay or why not try a yard or car boot sale.
If you would prefer to see your belongings go to a good home, then think about who could really use or want them - try Family members, friends, charity shops or even put them outside your home with a sign saying, “ Free to a good home”
9. Stop clutter now!
Once you have moved into your new home, and you are living in your clutter free space, make a pact to not let it back into your life. Why not keep things to a minimum by;
• Opting out of junk mail
• Going paperless with your utility bills
• Stopping subscriptions to magazines/newspapers you don’t really read or opt to read online
• Using online TV instead of DVDs
• Listening to the online music, podcasts and books
10. Opt for short term container storage
Finally, if you’ve done all the above and still can’t decide what to do with your excess belongings, then why not store them in one of our storage containers, You can rent them from as little as £15 a week on a short term flexible contract and can access them 24 x 7. If you have never used storage containers before and need a little advice, our team of experts are always on hand to help, so do give us a call today.