Tips for Moving Into A Smaller Space

Published: July 07, 2021

There are five stages in your life that require real estate. The first stage is when you are young and moving into your first apartment. The second stage is when you are ready to move into a home and start a family. The third stage is when your family grows and you move into an even larger home. The fourth stage is when your children are all grown up and they move out, so you have to downsize and sell your home. The final and fifth state, is when you retire and move into a smaller home or apartment. Our homes are a direct reflection of our lives; something that continues to evolve.

Here are three tips on how to move into a smaller space:

1. Gather your current belongings and make a pile. Before you actually move into your smaller space, make a mountain of your clothes in one space and make a pile of your other belongings such as kitchenware, shoes, accessories, important paperwork, etc. For your clothes, shoes, accessories kitchenware use the Japanese KonMari Method which is based on the simple principle of Joy – founded by organizing consultant and author, Marie Kondo. When you find an item that you love, keep it and place in one pile. When you find an item that you maybe have worn for so long and can see yourself parting with it, put that item in a donation pile. For your important paperwork, scan the not-so-important documents to your computer and throw it away. Do keep the important paper files as hard copies.
2. Measure all of your furniture. Before you do this, it will be good to visit your new home and measure the space you have for furniture such as couches, tables, desks, anything large really that might take up more space. Once you have that measurement, then measure all of your current furniture and if some will take up too much space in your new home, it might be time to donate it and buy that couch that may fit better.
3. Check out your new home’s storage. Does it have enough closet space? Does it have an attic or a garage where you can store your belongings? Will you have to purchase some simple racks and storage boxes to organize things? All these questions will help you to answer how you will store your kept belongings and how much space you will have in the end. Always plan ahead.

Are you preparing to move into a larger space? UNITS® can help you transition, whether that move is the next town over or across the country!