Downsizing Checklist

Published: February 28, 2022

Are you an empty nester who’s ready for a smaller house or a person in a major life transition who requires a reduced footprint? One of the most challenging aspects of downsizing is figuring out what to do with all the items you’ve collected over the years.

As you prepare to simplify your lifestyle and declutter, you’ll want to stay as organized as possible. Here’s a downsizing checklist to help you throughout the process.

Start early

Like with a traditional move, it’s a good idea to start preparing for your transition as early as possible. As soon as you can, start thinking through how much you’ll be able to take to the new place. You can even start selling high-ticket items you don’t need on online marketplaces and donating what you don’t want to your friends and family. Targeting these unwanted items first will make it easier when it’s time to make bigger, more sentimental decisions about what to let go of later.

Evaluate your new space 

After you secure your new space, make sure to take the time to walk through with a measuring tape, so you can calculate the total space you’ll have. How many closets will you have? How large are your garage, basement, and other storage spaces? Knowing these answers will give you a good idea of what will fit and what you’ll need to store elsewhere in a place such as a local storage unit. 

Only take what you can’t live without

Downsizing requires you to get rid of things, and in most cases, a lot of things. The best way to begin this process is to take inventory of everything inside your home. Make piles of items to take to the new place, donate, sell, and put in storage. Only take the essentials to your new place and put items of sentimental value and seasonal usage in a storage unit. Consider selling items that you don’t want (or need) that can generate significant money and donating items to shelters or discount stores that may not have resale value but can help needy people in your area.

Get rid of duplicates

Over the years, you may have accumulated duplicates of items big and small. Take a hard look at everything from multiple crockpots to several hammers. You’d be surprised how much space even the smallest items take up in your home. An easy and usually less stressful way to declutter is to donate, sell, or throw out duplicates.

Stay organized 

Staying organized before, during, and after your transition into a smaller space will be a huge stress reliever. You can do this in a multitude of ways, including keeping inventory lists of all your belongings, collecting all moving paperwork in one folder, and clearly labeling all your packed items, especially ones you plan to store in a storage unit. This way, you’ll know where everything is and where it needs to go, which will also be useful when it’s time to unpack at your new place. 

Rent a portable storage unit

We’ve already mentioned how a storage unit can aid your transition by providing a safe and secure place to house the items that won’t fit in your new place. But renting a portable storage unit in particular provides extra convenience for downsizers. At UNITS of Baltimore, expert drivers can deliver a 12ft or 16ft storage container right to your door up to one month in advance of your moving date at no additional charge. That means you can take your time sorting through sentimental items. When you’re finished loading your container, UNITS picks it up and safely transports it to one of its two storage facilities, making the downsizing process more seamless.