Text Us
You may have reached a point in your life where your home is simply too big. All of your children may have moved out, or you may have retired and no longer need a home office. Maybe your knees make it difficult to go up and down the stairs, so you need to downsize to a single-story. Whatever the reason, downsizing means one thing: you’re going to have to get rid of some of your stuff.
Moving into a smaller home can seem like a challenge, especially if you’ve got a lot of stuff and are moving to a significantly smaller home. Those who are moving into an apartment from a home or into an assisted living facility may especially find this process daunting. What can you do to make it easier? Here are some tips for downsizing that will help you get a better handle on what to do with all of your possessions.
Give Yourself Time
One of the most important parts of downsizing is to not rush it. If you’re rushed, you’re much more likely to stop looking at things critically and just toss it all in a box. You’ll either end up keeping much more than you should or tossing things you’ll later regret getting rid of. You could also fall into the trap of renting a storage unit for things so you can sort through them later. Unfortunately, many people do this and then never go back to sort the items. They end up paying for that storage unit for years. That ends up being nothing but a waste of money in the long run.
Once you’ve decided to downsize, start going through things as soon as you can. You don’t have to begin boxing things up, but start deciding what you want to keep and what you’re ready to let go of.
Start by Making a Must-Keep List
If you’re finding the task of downsizing a little overwhelming, one place to start is with those items that you know you will keep no matter what. These may be family heirlooms, or they may be items that are very special to you. A pot with handprints of your children would fall into this category, of course, but do be careful that you don’t put everything that has some kind of sentimental value on this list. You may find that it quickly becomes too long.
One way of shortening this list is to consider making digital copies of items. For example, photographs could be scanned and saved to a digital picture frame. You could do the same with handmade cards and other items your kids may have created in school. By keeping a few of these items and digitizing the rest, you can save a lot of space. This also makes it easier to share them with others.
If there are heirlooms you don’t want to get rid of but also don’t particularly want to keep, pass them on to your children or other relatives now. Many people get stuck on the idea of passing things down when they die, but there’s no rule stating you have to wait.
Let Go of Junk
Some people hold on to things that really aren’t worth keeping. If you have items that are broken and cannot be repaired, this is the perfect time to let go of them. If you can repair or fix them, let the move be the thing that pushes you to do that. For example, you may have an old oil-burning lamp your grandparents have that needs a new globe but have never replaced it. Now’s the time to do so if you plan on moving it to your new home. If you’re not going to replace the globe, see if anyone else wants to take the lamp and fix it.
Old furniture that’s wobbly or that has deep scratch marks or torn coverings should potentially go. Again, if it’s a family heirloom, you may want to look into restoring it, but if it’s not, now’s the time to get rid of it. You want your new, smaller home to contain furniture that looks amazing and that you truly love, so don’t move pieces that aren’t comfortable, usable, or in good condition.
Know Your Measurements
How much space will you have in your new home? If you don’t know the measurements of each room, it can be difficult to know what furniture will fit. Be sure you have the measurements and the measurements of your furniture. This will help you determine what pieces you can use where. Remember to leave space to walk between pieces and between rooms. It may help you to draw out the layout of each room so you can better visualize how it will look. If you have too much furniture for a space, you’ll have to determine what you want to keep and what simply won’t fit.
What Do You Use Regularly?
Consider a normal day in your life. What items and pieces of furniture do you use? You’ll want to move everything you use regularly, but you may be able to part with some things you don’t use that often. For example, if you have a large sofa and several chairs in your living room, where do you usually sit? If you and your spouse use the chairs, you may be able to replace your large sofa with a smaller one. This still gives you space for guests, but you don’t have a big piece of furniture taking up a lot of space in your new, smaller home.
Do you need every baking pan, pot, and serving dish in your kitchen? If you don’t plan on hosting large dinners, you may not. This is especially true if you have two or more of some items. Consider donating or giving away the duplicates unless it’s something you use often. For example, you may not need two roasting pans, but if you bake muffins a lot, you might want to keep all of your muffin pans.
If you’re going from a large walk-in closet to a smaller one, you may have to pare down your clothing, shoes, and accessories. Again, look at what you use. If you have several pairs of shoes you haven’t worn in years, will you really wear them anytime soon? Probably not. You can pass them on to those who will wear them.
Will Decorative Items Fit Your New Style?
Your current home may have had the same style for years, but will your new home retain that style? This is your chance to switch it up. You might go with new colors, for example, which means some of your current accent pillows, throw blankets, and rugs may no longer fit in. If your new home is modern while your current one is more traditional, you may not want to use the same curtains or other pieces because they won’t fit in.
If you purchased items just for decoration, those may be some of the first pieces to put in the donate pile. They likely hold no sentimental value, especially if you bought them from a big box store. If they’re not unique, hold no sentimental value, and don’t have a place in your new home, do you really need to move them?
What Do You Do with Stuff You Don’t Want?
Once you’ve sorted out the things that you want to take to your new home, what do you do with what’s left? Your children or other relatives may want some items, especially family heirlooms or things they have an attachment to. You may have some friends who are in need of some of your furniture or kitchen utensils.
After you’ve passed out what you can, what about the rest? Junk King of Katy can come in and help you clear out what’s left in your home so you can sell it. While we do cart off junk, that’s not all we do. Before going to the landfill, we will sort through everything we picked up. If you have anything usable, including furniture and appliances, we set it aside. These items go to one of our partners who help those in need. These charitable organizations will see to it that these items get to those in need. It’s a great way of donating, and it doesn’t cost you anything extra. We sort out donations from every job as part of our standard service.
If we can’t donate it, we will look to see if it’s made from recyclable materials. If so, it goes to one of our recycling partners. If there’s no way the item can be used or recycled, only then does it go to the landfill. That’s always our last stop.
Call Junk King of Katy Today if You’re Ready to Downsize
Junk King of Katy is here for all of your junk hauling needs, whether it’s a single broken appliance or an entire house of stuff you no longer need. For a free, no-obligation estimate, give us a call at 1-888-888-JUNK or send us a test to 1-737-888-5865.
