So, the family has flown the nest and you are now living in a house which is far too big for your requirements. You probably have a large amount of furniture and many years worth of other possessions, but it really is time to look at downsizing.
Many people move to Fareham and the surrounding area for their retirement. Possibly to be near family and grandchildren, or just to be near the coast.
This article provides a few top tips on downsizing from your current home and how stop & Store Self Storage Fareham can help in this process.
Downsizing with Self Storage
Where Are You Moving To?
The first thing to assess is the property you are moving to. This will dictate how much you can bring with you, in terms of your furniture and other belongings. Chances are if you have lived in a large family house for many years, there will be a huge amount of sorting to do. This will involve decluttering and getting rid of many obsolete items that have been stored in garages and lofts for many years.
What Storage Space Do You have at Your New Property?
How many cupboards do you have? What about built-in wardrobes? Is there any loft space, or storage under the eaves? Do you have a garage at the new property? If it is an apartment is there a storage space allocated in the building?
Although it’s a big job it is time to assess what you really do and don’t need. Clearly, several things will have sentimental value that you do not want to get rid of. However, do you need them in your new property, if you do not have space? This may be the time when you consider taking a small storage unit, to store several things that you only use or require from time to time.
Therefore, the first job is to assess the new space and how you will use it. This will then enable you to decide on what to bring to the new property and what needs to go.
In a new property, there may be lots of space that you may not have thought of, such as under beds or adding some built-in shelving. Also, look at the clever storage units that really utilise all the space that you have. Look on the internet at storage ideas and you’ll be amazed at how many ingenious designs there are for furniture, which incorporates storage, as well as ways of utilising areas in your new property that you thought were redundant.
Getting Rid of Stuff!
The way to assess what you need and what is nice to have is to do an inventory of everything. Make a list and decide the essentials, the nice to haves and the not required. Then you have a list to work through.
You can start sorting through these items and dispose of the not required items. You can assess how you can fit the nice to have items in your property. The alternative is to place them in storage for the time being, if there is not enough room.
Once you have done your assessment of what is not required, then it is time to dispose of these items. This may be a garage sale, or donating various items of furniture, clothing and other things to a local charity shop.
Why not list items on Facebook Marketplace or eBay and sell them? You will be amazed at the demand for second-hand furniture and electrical items. Even if these are just used for spares. Generally, there is someone out there who has a requirement.
Over several years many households buy duplicate items. This may be tools or cooking equipment. This is the time to deduplicate your possessions. You only need one of each item. Then sell the others or donate them to charity or give them away to family members.
Once you have exhausted these avenues, then it may be time to consider taking the rest to your recycling centre or ask a junk or rubbish removal company to take them away for you.
Another way of disposing of unwanted items is just to place them outside your house with a notice saying “FREE”. Depending on your neighbourhood and how much traffic passes your house, before you know it, these items will disappear.
Then you are left with everything that is essential or nice to have. You can then plan how everything left will fit into your new downsized property. If there are things that you really do not want to get rid of but there is no space, then this is the time to look at the possibility of taking a small long-term storage unit. This is a flexible solution and if at some point in the future you decide you do not require these items, then it is easy to vacate and bring your contract to a close.
It may be that you want to keep your sports equipment, such as golf clubs or summer gear in storage. Then swap this out for winter equipment and clothing when the seasons change.
Rather than this being a stop-gap solution, this becomes a lifestyle choice. If your storage facility has good access hours and is clean dry and secure like Stop & Store Self Storage Fareham, then this is a great alternative solution when you lose that storage space at your property.
Even if you get to your new property and find that you have too much stuff, that just does not fit and your tripping over things, then you can always rent a storage unit at this point to resolve the problem.
Are you Storing Your Kids Stuff?
With family homes, many of the possessions belong to your kids. This is the time to say to them, come and get your stuff, otherwise, it is going to the charity shop or will be disposed of in another way.
Chances are, they live in family homes, probably have garages and lofts. They have more than enough space to keep these items. It is also a good opportunity for them to declutter if they really do not require the things that you have been storing for years on their behalf.
This is the time to be ruthless with your decluttering. You do not want items that you never use and are tripping over in your downsized property. Also, you do not want to be paying for these possessions, to sit in storage and never be seen or used.
However, if there really are items that you want to keep but there just isn’t room, then a small storage unit is not a huge expense on a monthly basis. But it is best to use this for things that you really do want to keep.