YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Downsizing advice

YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Downsizing advice https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Mon, 27 Apr 2026 19:18:10 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php anne on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1138366 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 08:49:00 +0000 anne 1138366@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Runcarla - I think your job is going to be harder than ours! Firecracker - I think we will entertain that number pretty often. It pretty much goes with the territory of being a pastor's wife (especially because our church plant won't have any building of its own). But if I really can't fit it all in the cupboards we might have to go with your paper plate suggestion! I love the idea of a study/ dressing room, though that wouldn't work with this particular house! JAileen - I can tell I am going to have hours of fun on that great website. Thanks I had a look at storage solutions in australia and think something this could work for my kids wardrobes <a href="http://www.hsw.com.au/?product&id_prod=3294&id_cat=4&id_dept=21" rel="nofollow">http://www.hsw.com.au/?product.....id_dept=21</a> The youngest 2 can't actually reach normal hangers yet. It is a bit pricy for me though, so am looking for cheaper alternatives. JAileen on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1135940 Sat, 11 Jan 2014 06:20:17 +0000 JAileen 1135940@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I enjoy reading the Apartment Therapy website. There are lots of ideas for maximizing small spaces. Like YLF, readers post photos of their own spaces and how they've solved various problems. Carla on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1135920 Sat, 11 Jan 2014 04:59:21 +0000 Carla 1135920@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ We have 6 months to down size! Each weekend, we 'purge' a room. The CDs and DVD's went fairly smoothly. DH balked at the books, when I left him alone to do it. We will try again this weekend! I already did my book collection, and gave the library first crack (they absorbed two thirds of my collection!). We plan on building a library room/office with walls of shelves for our curated collections: the important books, the magazines I tend to collect, the DVD's, the CD's. I think our biggest problem will be when it comes to sports equipment (I own 3 bikes! Yikes!). I do love to run a yard sale though. Maybe this May? No question the instruments come with us...piano, guitars, baritone and alto sax, trumpet...and the sheet music! Firecracker (Sharan) on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1135910 Sat, 11 Jan 2014 04:39:55 +0000 Firecracker (Sharan) 1135910@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ First, just a thought on the kitchen stuff: I would rethink what you need to serve the 20-30 people. Is it just occasionally? If so, personally I would keep the serving platters, especially if they have sentimental value, to use on those occasions, and enough plates for your family to eat daily. For big get-togethers, I would use paper plates that can be composted after the meal. A number of years ago, my husband and I went from a 3-BR house to a 1BR apartment. In addition to storage solutions, I would think about how spaces can multi-task. Instead of having a bedroom that we would use only for sleeping, we had a study/dressing room (i.e., the bedroom, which we filled with our desks, bookshelves, and dressers) and the living/sleeping room, where we had a futon that doubled as our bed and the sofa. It really wasn't a big deal to make up the bed each night and return it to a sofa each morning; we were used to making the bed each morning anyway. We have since gone back to a three-bedroom house, but one with much more carefully chosen possessions. And our rooms still do some multi-tasking! anne on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1135827 Sat, 11 Jan 2014 02:06:57 +0000 anne 1135827@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Ornella, thanks for  coming back to this thread - you aren't too late at all, since we haven't moved yet (It is taking a bit longer for the existing tenants to move out than we initially thought). (Like you, there are lots of old threads I still keep in mind that I haven't got back to, and sometimes do eventually do it) I really appreciate your wisdom about planning for permanent spaces and for horizontal spaces. We will definitely have a permanent nook for DH, and hopefully enough kitchen bench space if we take your advice and don't store everything on top of it!  There is a built in pantry, which I have never had before, which should help. Are you getting more space when the new house is built! Ornella on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1135608 Fri, 10 Jan 2014 22:40:37 +0000 Ornella 1135608@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Anne, I wanted to respond to this thread ever since you posted it, but life... you know. Still, you're on my mind a lot and I hope my 2 pennies worth won't be too late because I struggle so much in our current space and I think I finally nailed it down - it's not smaller living space, or even the lack of storage, but lack of clear horizontal surfaces. You know - places to put things on but more importantly - to work on. I think that in your new house you need to plan where you'll do some things and create permanent areas for that. Minimise multipurpose areas - you'll tire of clearing one set of stuff in order for others to take its place. If hubby needs work place - dedicate one nook for it and let it serve that one purpose only. In the kitchen have clear area that will not be half-storage/half worktop, but only the worktop. Right now my kitchen is tiny and the fact I have to reshuffle everything just to be able to put chopping board o mixing bowl onto something makes me dislike the very idea of cooking. Go vertical. Use wall space and every nook. I hope it makes some sense Gigi on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1070803 Fri, 01 Nov 2013 05:28:21 +0000 Gigi 1070803@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Giving away books, especially those that you really invested a lot of time finding in the first place, is so difficult! I had some very hard-to-find books that I didn't know what to do with, but I had to get rid of stuff and so they had to go. I didn't want to just give them away to the library, because I knew they would just end up among gobs of other books at the annual library sale. So I contacted the local university and got contact information for some professors who taught the subject matter of the books I was looking to give away. I offered them the books, in the hopes that if they couldn't use them, they could at least give them to a starving grad student who would appreciate them. So that made me feel better about giving them away, because I knew someone would be so, so grateful to have them. They did in fact accept them and were very grateful that I had thought of them. Gaylene on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1070197 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 20:39:08 +0000 Gaylene 1070197@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Anne, as another book collector, I totally understand how hard it is to purge a book. It's like turning your back on an old friend--and you never know when you might get the urge to go to reread something. When we built our smaller house, I insisted on built-in book shelves in every room, except the bathrooms (although I sort of wonder about that, from time to time!) my builder thought I was nuts, until he came by after we had moved in... But I recently did purge a good third of my collection when I realized the numbers were seriously getting out of control. For what it's worth, here is how I did it: First, I told myself that books, like friends, are not all equivalent. Some are dearer to your heart than others, so I classified them as (1) beloved friends who I can't conceive of not having in my life, (2) good friends who I want to keep in my life, (3) former friends whose paths have diverged from mine--probably closer to acquaintances these days, (4) people who I met briefly, enjoyed but made no effort to stay in touch with--sort of like former work colleagues, and (5) passing acquaintances, or people who I didn't feel much affinity with after spending an evening together. Books that were in the first two categories were put back on the shelves immediately. Books in the 5th category went into the donate bin. Books in the third and fourth category were put in a bunch of bins. I then put the word out to my other book-loving friends and family that these books were up for grabs, as long as they stopped by for a coffee or a drink. It was fun watching them eagerly grab onto so books which had delighted me in the past, recommend others to them, discuss ones we both had read and really ought to give to X, and so on. The pile went down surprisingly fast and I think taught me that many books deserve to be shared instead of hoarded. I'm still a book collector and will remain so until the end of my days, but my favorites are now easy to see and there is room for new discoveries and friends beside them. I've also got in the habit of sending on a book once I've finished reading it to someone else who I think would enjoy it, with the proviso that it be passed on in due course to someone else. Seems somehow right now not to be stingy about introducing one friend to another. Ariadne on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1069920 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 16:42:42 +0000 Ariadne 1069920@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ We live in a small-ish space by first world standards--family of four in a small two-bedroom townhouse with a galley-style kitchen.  My biggest suggestion is to invest some money in storage solutions.  When we decided to stay in this place after baby #2 we priced it out and realized it would be cheaper to sink some money into better storage solutions than it would be to move to a bigger place with higher rent.  Bins, boxes, over-the-door storage solutions of various kinds (hook racks, shoe pockets, etc.), and floor-to-ceiling shelves or free-standing closets/armoirs are all hugely helpful.  Stacking shelves for your kitchen cupboards.  Use vertical space as much as possible.  We just had to do a big second round of decluttering because I've develope dust mite allergies, which means we can't store things under the bed and had to cut down on what was in the bedroom in general.  I swapped all our mismatched thrifted baskets for plastic bins with lids because the open baskets were dust-collectors.  I'm amazed at how much better everything fits now (and I purged a lot in the process). I also recommend a labeller so that you can label all your storage containers and shelves. El Cee on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1069637 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 12:31:58 +0000 El Cee 1069637@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ So many wonderful suggestions here Anne. I will only add that in our recent downsize it helped to make all our spaces more efficient for storage. The closets in our current place are much smaller than our last place. We paid to have a custom  "closet system" installed in each room with extra shelving and drawers built right in. We can now hold more in each closet. We still had to get rid of stuff, but not as much as we had expected. anne on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1069498 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 07:49:32 +0000 anne 1069498@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Thanks Joy, I responded to you but have lost that too (what is happening today!!) Anyway it is a good idea. We gave the girls a tiny box each for the duration of their time at Mum', but I did have a sinking feeling when I saw the DH had given them a huge packing boz each for stuff in their rooms. The book thing is hard for me. I find it almost impossible to throw away or donate books, though I seldom buy them (apart from my specific area of book collectting). I did get rid of a few of the dozens of ex-library non-fiction that had been given to the kids. Anonymous on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1069435 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 04:25:39 +0000 Anonymous 1069435@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Just wanted to add this idea for your girls. Whenever we moved when I was a child, each kid had a foot locker (large suitcase would do) and everything personal that we wanted to save had to be packed in it or it wouldn't be moved...toys, books, keepsakes, stuff we had made. Our clothing was exempt as was a bicycle. It was hard but forced us to really consider what we wanted. anne on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1069430 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 04:20:42 +0000 anne 1069430@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Yes I think you'll be at an advantage over me there Adelfa - in that my stuff is already packed up so I will be having to make decisions over each item. Of course we did do a little culling as we packed up, but I think some more may be necessary. I was in the stage of grieving over moving, and felt completely exhausted by that emotion when we were packing, and didn't actually do a lot of it until the last few weeks - DH did 90% at least - he was a powerhouse!  He tossed a lot of junk from the shed, but most of that had really deteriorated in its time in the shed (it wasn't waterproof) so there wasn't much decision anguish there. Adelfa on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1069359 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 03:13:05 +0000 Adelfa 1069359@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I am definitely watching! What I am hearing over and over (IRL too) is to start with what you love. This makes sense, rather than starting say with a box of thoughtlessly put away stuff and laboriously making decisions about each item. anne on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1069302 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 02:18:04 +0000 anne 1069302@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Well I wrote a long post on this an hour ago and must have forgotten to press send... Oh well. Thanks so much for all the advice and anecdotes. I hope Adelfa is appreciating them too, expecially those about much more drastic moves than I am having to make I have thought about a couple of ways our move is a bit different from others 1) one is that we have, and will still need capacity to feed at least 20-30 people at a time. So we have lots of mugs, glasses, dinner plates,and some largish pots etc. They are not negotiable. I may however have to bid farewell to some of my numerous decorative glass platters that I recieved as engagement and wedding presents! I am used to needing more storage than my kitchen provides and have some very efficient cupboards that are actually Ikea bookcases with cupboard doors on the bottom half. 2) We aren't living in the old house. It has been packed up since July. All our furniture and most of our possessions are packed in a friend's garage in the regional town where we used to live. We need to hire a moving truck, go down, measure the furniture and decide on the spot whether to keep it! Maybe we'll have an impromptu garage sale with the reminders. Dianthus I love your idea of a CAD program. Totally trumps my idea of using squared paper. Can you send me a free CAD recommendation? Traci, I don't actaully know the size of our house (I know the block size) but at a rough guess, (based on an former flat whose size I do know) I think the house is about the same size as yours. We have a family of 5. Interesting your mentions of clothing purges. There is actually enough wardrobe space in our bedroom, and I already have a small amount of clothes by YLF standards, but I am getting the itch to purge already (But I have to be careful, as I am on a small wardrobe budget, which could dwindle to almost nothing, so I can't necessarily replace anything purged) Gigi on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1069162 Thu, 31 Oct 2013 00:49:08 +0000 Gigi 1069162@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ When I've had to downsize (although I've only lived in apartments), I found that what was helpful was a lot of organizational tools--drawer dividers (you can fit a lot more stuff in a drawer by using drawer dividers, but still have it be accessible), stackable bins and extra shelving for closets so as to make use of otherwise-lost vertical space (esp. on top of a closet shelf), and bins for storing stuff underneath beds and couches. Von on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068723 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 19:02:00 +0000 Von 1068723@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I would say it's all about "curating" your stuff. Only the best of the best can go.  We have a home that's about 1550 now, and I feel like we're bursting at the seams. The thing is, when you get to your seams, you either become a hoarder and start piling things up, or in order to make your space liveable, you decide to stop being emotional and be rational and let go of things. It's not easy at all, because that also means you have to be mindful of what you bring in.  My closet is tiny + shared with the husband. In order to actually have room, I donate probably two garbage bags of clothes per year (just me). Why? Because it takes a while to come to the conclusion that you CAN live without something you've had since you were 21 (but is ratty and old and doesn't fit well).  I threw out 15 pairs of shoes this month also.  I would LOVE to hold onto some pairs until just the right outfit, or they got popular again, but I don't have space.  As for the kitchen, it's teensy. I don't have wine or champagne glasses, only enough plates to fit our table, and nothing that's super delicate because everything must squeeze in.  Bare minimum appliances because I can't afford counter space.  But, life without a microwave is fine, and my blender is multi-purpose, and I had a very long talk with myself about a pretty Kitchen-Aid blender because I really, truly LOVE buying baked goods...making? Not so much!  Problem solved. This winter, my plan is to get rid of all of our random pieces and buy a neat set of Fiestaware for 8 (heck...maybe 6!)  Just plates + gusto bowls. That way I can reclaim at least 2 cabinet shelves (it's small victories!). I like the idea of moving in just enough and seeing how it feels. If you put everything in all at once, you will end up stacking, piling and cramming, and you will not enjoy your new space - you'll enter it with the mindframe that it's already too small, and you won't be happy. Mo on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068460 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 14:53:33 +0000 Mo 1068460@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Heh, I have to laugh at the kitchen stuff.  My BF and I had like 20 coffee mugs.  He doesn't even drink coffee!!  Now we have about 6   I think downsizing forces you to choose your cream of the crop things and let the rest that has simply accumulated go by the wayside.   I like Gaylene's description of moving in the stuff you want and then seeing what's left over still at the old place.  A BIG garage sale could help!   ramya on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068395 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 14:09:03 +0000 ramya 1068395@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ In my experience, it was the kitchen that was the culprit. Why would a family of 2 have cooking things that would work for 20? I have moved 2 homes since and I am now veeeery careful about adding anything to the kitchen. Admidtedly, I need multiple coffee mugs, 2 for our morning green tea, 2 for coffee with breakfast else you would see me at kitchen sink doing dishes all the time cheryle (Dianthus) on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068261 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 11:33:11 +0000 cheryle (Dianthus) 1068261@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Taking accurate measurements is vital.  I would suggest using one of the free CAD programs that are available and creating a floorplan well in advance so you can map out the options.  Try to keep in mind the three dimensional aspect too.  I made the mistake of forgetting about the depth of pieces of furniture when planning in my head or even on paper and it was a costly mistake.  Also think about the uses of space and potential for multi-purpose spaces.  You might also want to approach this in a fashion similar to a closet purge and keep only what you really need.  I moved in summer and did a thorough clear out before the move and am shocked at how much I have already accumulated in the months since the move. Good luck lyn* on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068187 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 06:23:53 +0000 lyn* 1068187@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I went from about 780 sqft to 650 sqft and found I had extra room because of the way the small place was appointed; there's a lot less hallway and more room for storage!  My parents are moving from 2000 sqft to a smaller place in the future and they have about 2-3 years to sort through all the things that our family has accumulated - they are shocked at how much stuff that we have! We never moved from our old place since we immigrated and there are still some sealed boxes from that move! I guess that stuff wasn't important! HAHA. Gaylene on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068184 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 06:15:52 +0000 Gaylene 1068184@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ We were lucky when we downsized because we had a couple of weeks to move into our new, smaller home. Our old home was around 2500 square feet, while our new home was around 1500 square feet. Since we had the luxury of moving in slowly, and did much of the moving ourselves with the help of friends, I set up our new home as we went along. The most telling moment was when we had our new home basically set up with everything we wanted and drove back to our old home which, to my dismay, still looked quite full. That made me realize exactly how much stuff we had accumulated over the years. Everyone is different, but I guess my approach was that downsizing meant being extremely picky about what I took into our new home. I also tried to pare down--from 55(!) coffee mugs to 15 and to only one vegetable peeler instead of five. For most of us, duplication creeps in over the years. Keeping some sentimental items is fine, but I tried to draw a line that not everything we had kept for several years ought to be classified that way. Some stuff was kept simply because we were too lazy, or forgetful, to get rid of it. We also contacted our local immigration and refugee centre to see if they knew of any families who needed furniture, household items, winter clothing, children's things, etc. We were able to contact five families who had recently moved to our community who were astonished and very happy at being able to select items that they could use that we would have otherwise boxed up and/or had to store somewhere. It was actually quite easy to part with our stuff when we could see how much it meant to someone else. That overflowing box of children's DVDs and toys found a better home than the basement of our new house. Deborah on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068146 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 05:07:48 +0000 Deborah 1068146@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ This sounds like a challenge, particularly when there are kids involved lol.  They tend to like to spread themselves out :) Anne, we were in a situation when we relocated where we lived for a short time in a small rental house.  This was always short term and we used the garage to store the things we couldn't fit and didnt' need.  I think the house would have been half the size of our home in Melbourne. Keeping in mind my experience was short term, I do think someof the same principals apply.  We had to assess what we really needed and wanted.  And how the house was going to work best for us.  I am a bit of a neat freak so adopting systems that would work was important, say for example with your nook in the dining room, I would review it, measure it and work out how that can work most efficiently, with tidyness and how I make it look as though it 'belongs' there.  I have a pet hate for 'make shift' arrangements :)  It's a good time to clean out.  You may find there are kids toys that are following you around that are not really required any more.  When I moved into our current home which thankfully is much larger, I purged my kitchen items very ruthlessly.  Even though I had even more space now than when in Melbourne I wanted order and not cupboards full and stacked with stuff.  I got rid of heaps of things and haven't wished for any of it back in over 12 months:) I really don't know if my comments will help but I think it's one thing at a time, slowly working out how things are best going to work in the new space and being open to the fact that something will have to go. anne on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068145 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 04:57:01 +0000 anne 1068145@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Wow - that is a big reduction Adelfa! Lets hope YLF comes up trumps for us! Adelfa on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068143 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 04:53:22 +0000 Adelfa 1068143@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Anne, this literally was going to be my next post. I'm moving from a 2000 square foot house to around 600. Help! anne on "Downsizing advice" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/downsizing-advice#post-1068129 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 04:36:00 +0000 anne 1068129@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I know we have discussed pros and cons of downsizing before - well I am getting ready to do it. We have bought a house in the city, and will move in in a few months.  Although it has the same number or rooms (minus an entry hall)  as our previous house in a regional town they are smaller and there is less wall space.The girls' bedrooms are particularly tiny. My DH won't have an  work office anymore so we'll need to fit that in too;  there is a dining nook that looks suitable. All our furniture and most of our possessions are still in the country in a friend's garage. My current plan is to take careful room measurements and they go down there and work out what we can keep. I am interested in hearing experiences and advice about the actual process of fitting into a smaller dwelling.