Traditionally, many people would downsize their home once their children grew up and moved out but today home owners are choosing to downsize for a variety of reasons. One of the more popular reasons these days is to achieve a less cluttered and minimalist lifestyle, in an effort to live a simpler way of life. For others it may be a change in life stage or a need to save money, but regardless of the reason downsizing a home is a big task.
We have been helping homeowners to downsize for many years and so in this post we share a few tips to help you with the process.
- First things first – organise the home
One of the easiest ways to reduce the stress associated with moving and downsizing is to start early. The process of decluttering can take a lot longer than anticipated and so it is best to know in advance what you want to do with your items before you start the process.
It is a good idea to have boxes available for packing the items that will be making the move with you. Then, consider donating items you don’t need and find a trusted and reliable self storage company to safely store the items you will need later on or simply can’t let go of. At Storage King we offer a variety of different sized units to suit your needs, ranging from the size of a locker to the size of a tennis court.
- Embrace the declutter process
When downsizing, you’ll find that you have to choose between belongings that you need and those that simply won’t fit into your new, smaller home. The first task to tackle when downsizing is to decide what your actual needs are through a thorough decluttering process.
An effective way to do this is to walk through each room in your home and prioritise your belongings according to how often you use the item, what its purpose is and its realistic value. This will give you a good indication of which items to keep, donate or safely put into self storage.
Once you have a list of items created to keep, you need to create another two lists. The first category is for items that you no longer use regularly, but are not to be thrown out. Perhaps they hold sentimental value, or they are used seasonally - sporting or camping equipment for example.
The second category is the ‘donation’ or ‘throw out’ group of belongings. Whether you throw out or donate these belongings will depend on the quality and usefulness of the items.
- Consider your new lifestyle
Once you have done a preliminary screening of your belongings and put them into their respective categories, you need to consider your new home. Will you have space or use for the items that you wish to keep? If not, will you add the belongings to the category of selective use (for self storage) or the category for donation? Another important factor to consider is the size of your furniture and whether or not the items will fit into your new home.
- Be smart with how your store your items
When decluttering for a downsize, you may come across items that leave you indecisive on whether or not to keep them because you do not need them at that exact moment. For example, if you are downsizing in winter, you may look at your summer clothes and see no need for them, in which case self storage is a great option as your unit can become an extension of your home.
Seasonal clothes, excess furniture, lifestyle and hobby equipment are just a few belongings that are best stored in a convenient and secure self storage facility. Our Storage King self storage facilities offer the safety and security of your home, without taking up precious space. A good rule of thumb for storing items is to keep them for six months and reassess if they were worth storing or not. At Storage King, we allow you to upsize or downsize your unit depending on your needs at no additional cost.
Although a challenge, the process of downsizing your home is made much easier with a little bit of breathing space. So, make sure that you start the process earlier rather than later, and take advantage of service providers that allow you to make these decisions in your own time.
If you are in the process of downsizing and need a convenient and accessible self storage unit to store your belongings during this transitional phase, give us a call on 0800 0852 954. Alternatively, you can visit any of our conveniently located stores and chat to our friendly experienced staff.