(for more on downsizing, see my post Live large in a small house)

The secret to successfully downsizing your home is to have a plan. Downsizing is the newest trend in homeownership: some older couples no longer need their children’s bedrooms, others just want their home to feel cozier, some people downsize their home in an effort to simplify their lives, and others do so for economic reasons. (see my post Simplify Your Home!) Whatever the reason for downsizing, homeowners reap all the benefits of small home, including lower utility bills, lower mortgages, and less time, effort, and money spent on upkeep. The hardest part about downsizing is deciding what to keep. Planning ahead ensure that you will have everything you need, will keep what is important, and that everything you keep fits in your new home.

STEP ONE: THE NEW HOME

When you see your new downsized home, take the opportunity to measure everything. Make note of window heights and door widths. Note views through windows and natural traffic patterns. Make a map of the floor plan. Take pictures of features, windows, doorway, and natural focal points. Get color swatches if available.

Note the size, height, and depth of cabinets in baths and kitchens. Take pictures and measurement of any built-ins. Write down ceiling and moulding heights. Measure how far out the baseboards jut and how tall they are. Take pictures of everything. Did I mention measuring and taking pictures of your new downsized home?

This may seem extreme, but in order to make well-informed decisions about your furnishings, you really need to know exactly how much space you will have in your new downsized home.

STEP TWO: WHAT YOU LOVE

Back at your old home, go through every room and write down everything you own. This will also come in handy when you insure your new downsized home. Do not list your stuff by which room it is currently in, but by object type: furniture, lighting, accessories, art, etc. For furniture and any other large objects, measure its height, width, and depth.

Look at your list: what objects do you love the most? Star or highlight these objects. No more than 25 percent of each object type should be chosen. Now is the time to make value judgments. Do not consider how useful anything is: we will get to that later. Just pick out your favorite stuff. We will found a place for all of these in your new downsized home.

STEP THREE: WHAT YOU NEED

What do you need to live? A place to eat, to sleep, to read, to entertain, to watch television, to write letters, to use a computer, and a place for any other activity you do at home. Make a list of the activities and what you need for each activity. Decide which activities could share space and furnishings. For example, the living room in your downsized home could double as a guest room with the addition of a sleeper sofa or futon. Entertaining and television watching could be done in the same room.

Look at stuff you love and try to make it fit these purposes. Be creative. The bed you love could be turned into a daybed. If you love your kitchen table more than your dining table, it could go into the dining room. Favorite tables and chests can be used as television stands or small writing desks in your downsized home. Decide how all your favorite pieces can function in your new home. Then decide what you still need, and assign a couple of your less loved pieces to each function as possibilities.

STEP FOUR: MAKING IT ALL FIT

Look at the floor plan of your new downsized home: decide where you could do each activity. Try to come up with a couple of options for each activity. Fit in the pieces you love in the floor plan. (You measured everything, right?) You may have to adjust your ideas. There may not be room for your favorite pieces to function how and where you had planned. Reassign these pieces. Now see what is missing from the floor plan. Try different combinations of your less-favorite furniture on the floor plan until you have a place to accomplish everything in your new downsized home that you normally do in your old home.

What about your artwork? If you’ve limited yourself to the 25 percent of your artwork and accessories that you love the most, you should have room for all of them in your downsized home. For large artwork, treat it like a piece of furniture and plan where it will fit on the map. Remember, it can go in different room than it is currently. If you do not have enough wall space, keep in mind that framed photos can be unframed and put into an album. Art can also be hung vertically or above each other, rather than horizontally or beside each other. Consider rotating your artwork seasonally, but be sure that you have a place to store the artwork when it is not being displayed.

Too many books? Design built-ins in your new downsized home, and have these built before you move in! If that is impossible, maybe you don’t need so many books in your downsized home. Only keep what you will read again. In your downsized home, use your best linens and china: if they’re worth the effort and expense of moving, they’re worth using.

STEP FIVE: WHAT TO DO WITH EVERYTHING LEFT BEHIND

Do not plan on foisting off items on you children and your friends, but do offer items to them. If the idea of completely letting go of an item if your children will not take it is too terrible, try to imagine someone else loving it more than you. If you can’t imagine anyone loving it more than you, guess what? it goes on your “love” list: go back to step two.

Offer what you are not taking to your downsized home to your friends and family first. Send them all a letter or email listing everything that you are not keeping, with a first-come, first-serve proviso, and expiration date when it’s all is going to be disposed of if they do not pick it up. Referring back to the list you made of everything you own that you made in step two will make this easy.

Consider giving everything to charity. Many charities will come by and pick everything up, and write you a receipt for tax purposes. This is the easiest way to get rid of everything, even much easier than taking everything to the dump. And the tax credit is very nice, too! Plus, helping other feels good.

Valuable items that you are not taking to your downsized home can be handled by auction houses and consignment stores. Less valuable items can be sold in tag and garage sales, or on Craigslist. Freecycle everything that you cannot sell, or donate it to charity.

By following this plan for downsizing your home, you have taken care of everything but the packing and moving. (see my post on Moving Lists!) And both will be easier and less expensive now that you are taking only what you love, what you need, and what will fit to your new downsized home.

(If you are still trying to sell your home, see my series on Home Staging!)

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