Tips and Organizing Ideas
Helping Parents Downsize 5 Things to Consider
Downsizing is a significant project that will take many hours and involve many decisions. Here are five ideas to help you get started.
1. 🔜 Prepare in Advance It’s never too early to start planning! If time permits, start with a few hours a week and do one bookcase or some small corner of a room at a time. Taking on a large garage or the entire basement can be overwhelming. Begin with a small area to see what can be eliminated and start removing these items. If you or your parents or organized, this can happen months or even years before a moving.
2. 🎁Gifting Possessions If your parents start gifting you their possessions, accept their gifts graciously. They may give you things they think you might like or that you can use. You may not want these gifts but consider how you might pass them on to people who do. There are many options including passing on unwanted items to a friend, a shelter or even Freecycle Facebook group. Your parents will be happy knowing they are contributing to someone else’s enjoyment.
3. 💵Selling Valuables 💰 Selling valuable items is very time-consuming. If something is worth the time and effort to sell, I strongly recommend you or another family member take on this job. Telling your parents, “Just post it on Kijiji or Marketplace,” can be daunting for them: downloading the app, taking the photos, recording the measurements, uploading the information, and managing all the questions and emails back and forth can be overwhelming. I have a hard time with it, and I know what I’m doing! Please take a few items at a time and post them for your parents. They will be happy with the extra money, and you will have gotten things out of their house.
4. 🏡New Home Measurements🏘 Be realistic about what possessions will fit into their new home. Are they moving from a big four-bedroom house into a one-bedroom condo? Try and get measurements or floor plans for their new space to see what furniture will fit. Perhaps the queen bed is too big, or the china cabinet won’t fit along the dining room wall. It’s always better to find out before they move into their new home! Scaling down the size of the furniture is often part of the downsizing process.
5. Storage & Closet Space 📦 Consider the amount of closet and storage space in their new home. Will they really need all their coats and boots? Storing out-of-season clothes is difficult when you only have one closet for two people. Will they have enough storage for all the Christmas decorations or surface area to display their tiny village? It may be time to pare down what will fit into their available storage space.
Start small, take the time to look at photos and mementos that bring back fun memories. If you need help with any stage of the process, please reach out and give me a call. I can make this process much easier for everyone!
