Tips to help you downsize in Shropshire

Downsizing is an increasingly common reason for wanting to move, but it can be daunting to consider selling a house which has been your home for many years.

We have spoken about decluttering before on this blog and unsurprisingly, the ability to discard items that you no longer need becomes even more important when downsizing.

There are any number of reasons why you need to downsize, the kids may have left home, the stairs are becoming an issue or maybe it’s just too far to walk to the shops nowadays. Or perhaps you are no longer fully capable of running a big house or it has just become too expensive to maintain. Whatever the reason, the place to start is with a big clear-out and a plan.

Plan ahead

Planning ahead helps lessen the stress of any forthcoming move. As soon as you have decided to move, set the decluttering process in action and that way you can do it a bit at a time.

The trick is to identify and purge your life of those things you don’t need without getting rid of those you do need! This takes time and consideration. If you don’t give yourself enough time to think through each item, you may end up making mistakes you will regret. So, here are some tips for freeing up space in your new home.

Start with furniture

Firstly think about how many bedrooms you have in the new place and decide which pieces you actually need and can fit in. It may be that rationalising the clothes that you plan to take with you will have to be done at some point, but for now, put that on the plan, rather than trying to do it right at the start.

Next, you’ll need to think about whether your current furniture fit into your new downsized surroundings. If it doesn’t you might need to think about replacing it for your new accommodation.

While you’re making decisions, it might be worth taking advantage of smart storage solutions which will help you and your belongings to fit in to your new abode. It’s also worth considering multi-use, multi-purpose furniture to lessen what you actually need in smaller surroundings.

Get rid of junk

Before you start giving away, selling or simply binning smaller stuff, start with the junk! We all accumulate things we never use and starting with the low hanging fruit can be a way to get yourself going.

Must Keep v Maybe Keep

Putting your belongings into boxes marked up ‘must keep’ and ‘maybe’ means that you don’t have to make all the decisions in one go. Putting cleaning equipment, for example, into the ‘must keep’ pile, will save you having to repurchase items that you will need in your new home. Ornaments, bedding and even some cookware could go into the ‘maybe’ boxes, so that you can be sure you are making the right decisions!

Moving house is one of the most stressful things you will ever do, but you can make things easier for yourself by ensuring that when it comes time to move you only have to pack up the items you need to take with you.

For more advice about property in Shropshire and Worcestershire, contact us using our online form, by popping into one of our branches or ringing your nearest branch.