To wonder how we're going to fit everything in

[Mapleleaves]

About to move from a 3-bed house to a 2-bed flat (north to south).

I'm excited but packing is a nightmare, I don't want to get rid of lots of stuff. It's only for a year, I don't want the hassle of buying everything again! We've agreed on some furniture to sell and I'm sending lots of my clothes to a charity shop but we still have way too much stuff to comfortably fit.

DH is keen to 'travel light' rather than put things in storage, as the cost of storage will end up more than buying the things again in a year.

AIBU?

Get hold of the book by Marie Kondo - think its called the Magic of Tidying.Will make it much much easier to decide what you really want it to keep.Cos I'm afraid your DH is right - there's no point putting stuff in storage if it costs more than buying it again when your year's up. Unless of course it has massive sentimental value in which case take it with you or try to get someone to look after it for a year if it won't fit into your new place.

Good luck!

It's just stuff and money. Get rid.

If it's only for a year could anyone store the stuff for you in their attic/garage rather than paying for storage?

I second the Marie kondo advice!

Unless you have anything really expensive or sentimental/irreplaceable it's almost certainly cheaper to get rid and buy again later if you decide you need to, rather than paying for storage.

You never know, you might find you like having less stuff and a major declutter could be really refreshing. I always find it useful to think 'if this was destroyed in a fire or flood, would I replace it' to which the answer is usually no.

But it depends what you've got. We would struggle with things like tools/gardening equipment/bikes and sporting equipment more than furniture and clothes if we had to move from a house to a flat as we have a garage and a large cellar full of this kind of stuff.

We moved from a 5 bedroom, 4 reception home to a small (but perfectly formed!) 2 bedroom terraced cottage.

It won't fit. My advice is to get rid of as much as you can.

We still have too many books/clothes and a coffee table/armchair we have to move around the room so we have space to walk around. I think I haven't gotten over not having a large laundry room anymore and that is my biggest struggle - too many clothes and not enough wardrobe space.

It is liberating having less. Every month, I find more things to give away.