8 Easy Steps to Artful Downsizing

The Coronavirus has made many of us unpack our lives, our situations and how we plan moving forward. Some of us have sold our homes, while others have closed businesses, shops, offices and made other moves and different plans. Many of these changes are positive and many of them have made us think about how to move forward in a forever changing world. 

But what do we do when we have sold our homes and given up our office space and don’t know where our next home or job is going to be or how we are going to operate our businesses moving forward? Many of us are now finding ourselves downsizing, moving from large offices and homes filled with excess items and clutter. Many of us are working remotely from our home offices and finding smaller places to live in. This leaves us with a bit of a dilemma – how do we artfully downsize especially if we have many years of accumulated clothing, appliances, furniture, desks, chairs, and more. 

No matter what the next new chapter in your life is, there is a definite art to downsizing. 

Here Are Eight Artful Steps to Downsize 

• If it is a home you are downsizing, are you planning on taking two appliances for washing and drying and if not, are you are planning on opting for a two-in-one machine that will save a lot of space? Selling your old machines and investing in a single machine might be a wonderful space-saver for a smaller place 
• Moving appliances could prove to be a costly exercise – weigh up the cost of moving large appliances, or selling the ones you have and investing in new appliances to be delivered directly to your new address 
• Downsizing can be fun – take one room at a time, take notes, and decide what you absolutely cannot live without and what should be donated or sold. Alternatively, there might be items that you cannot decide on, such as heirlooms and inherited sentimental items that you would prefer to store in self-storage units to decide on at a later stage 
• Decide what you are going to keep, gift, sell or donate – this especially applies to any large collections (memorabilia is a good example). If you have inherited a large, sentimental family heirloom, it might be time to pass it onto someone else who would appreciate it 
• If you are keen to keep items that won’t fit inside your new place, ensure you find storage to take care of these, such as self-storage units 
• As you sort out for downsizing there are four distinct categories that you should create – these include items to give away, items to donate (there are numerous charities that will also collect from your front door), items to sell and those that you should throw out. Use black plastic trash bags for each pile and stick to your guns… 
• When clearing out your space, start with those areas that are not visited often. These include storerooms, the garage, the tops of cupboards, the bathroom cupboard, and under the sink 
• You will often stumble upon junk in these nooks and crannies 

The feeling of satisfaction when clearing out is like lifting a weight off one’s shoulders. Mentally and physically downsizing, saving money, and letting go of excess stuff is a feeling one cannot describe. Make use of self-storage units to make the transition that much more efficient and a lot easier. Contact Easy Store today