10 Fast Tips for Downsizing Done Right

We’ve got your downsizing planning down pat so that you’ll be downsizing like a pro. Here are some ways to achieve this undertaking that will leave you feeling liberated and ready to face the future with positive expectations. Here are 10 fast tips to get you started:

1. Start sorting through closets and getting rid of things several months before you move. If you’ve live in your house for many years, six months is not too far ahead to begin.

2. Declutter in stages. Professionals advise starting with little-used closets where items have lived for many years. Do one closet then reward yourself. This will help you build momentum. Taking it in stages also helps you shed more items. What you thought you couldn’t part with last month may seem less precious with the passage of time.

3. Donate, recycle, or sell. Invite family members to choose what they want, then donate or sell the remaining items you don’t plan to take to your new home.

4. Consider auctioning higher-end items; select a reputable dealer. Ask your MRC marketing director for recommendations on professionals who can help you. In many cases, your future MRC community can set you up with people that can handle the entire downsizing process, plus coordinate your move.

5. Heavily edit the non-sentimental items. Who needs 10 mixing bowls? Surely you can part with those extra spatulas.

6. If it is chipped, broken or stained, let it go. Same thing goes for duplicate items, like that extra ice tea maker still in the box. Give the old one away.

7. Divide items into bins labeled “Keep,” “Donate,” “Sell.” Clear an area of the garage to begin your yard sale inventory.

8. Use scaled drawings to plan furniture layout in your future home. Measure your new space and measure the furniture you want to take. You may find you will be willing to part with more items as you see how the new space fills up.

9. Be prepared to let perfectly good items go simply because they are too large for your new space or don’t fit the new lifestyle you have planned for yourself. You could decide to treat yourself to a shopping spree to purchase that just right piece for the new home.

10. Take photographs of treasured items for a special album and let them go if you have no space. This goes, too, for those mounds of photo albums. You can have all your photos converted to digital files and save tons of space while keeping all your memories.

If you’re selling a house, you’ll probably spend time de-cluttering the place so it looks good for prospective buyers. But go beyond the house and declutter your garage too. Since MRC communities provide all the maintenance, keep only the tools you’ll need for your hobbies. Getting rid of garage clutter can turn it into a well-organized “man cave” that buyers will appreciate. But remember, the trick to downsizing done right is to start small and build momentum as you see progress. So instead of starting with cleaning out the garage, you might want to tackle a desk drawer first.

You’ll feel liberated and accomplished and ready to face your bright future ahead.