How to Downsize Your Home Before Moving Out
Good planning and good judgment are key to clearing out items you no longer need
Moving can be a pretty exciting time in terms of getting organized. It presents the perfect opportunity to look at your belongings and make decisions about what has a place in your new living space and what can be donated, recycled, or thrown out. This is especially important if you are moving to a smaller home—by virtue of your decreased space, not everything from your old home can come with you.
Although the thought of downsizing may fill some people with dread, it shouldn’t. This process is simple to start and once you get going, it can be a great stress relief and even a lot of fun.
Read on for our top tips for downsizing your home before moving out.
3 Steps to Downsizing Your Home Before a Move
1) Schedule time for this task
Here at Home Sweet Home Organizer, we’re big believers in the idea that what gets scheduled, gets done. Carving out a specific time to tackle downsizing, as opposed to just assuming you’ll get rid of things naturally as you pack for the move, sets you up for success. Set a date and time to go through all of your stuff and mark it on your calendar.
2) Start with the big items
Decisions about big items (and by big we mean big in size, such as furniture and major appliances) tend to be easier since practicality often has the final say in what stays and what goes. Consider what, if any, major appliances come with your new place and then assess if you need to bring your existing ones. When in doubt, make a floor plan of your new place to get a clear sense of how much furniture and which appliances will fit in the space and use that to determine what to bring with you.
3) Use the SAVE/OFFLOAD/MAYBE METHOD
If you find yourself hitting a wall of indecisiveness, the save/offload/maybe method can help. It involves quick decision-making to sort your belongings into three piles: things to keep, things to offload, and things that are “maybe.” Once you’ve gone through everything, take another look at your maybe pile and consider again what to keep and what to toss. Many people find that using this method reduces some of the anxiety around downsizing, since it allows you to approach decision-making in stages, rather than all at once.
Get In Touch With Us
If you’d like more tips or a customized plan for downsizing your home before moving out, please feel free to reach out to us at Home Sweet Home Organizer. Helping people improve their lives through organization is what we love to do.
[Sources: https://www.dumpsters.com/blog/how-to-downsize-your-home]
