Panicking over downsizing

[Hellofromtheotterslide]

Will shortly be downsizing from an average size 3 bed house/garden with shed and greenhouse to a 2 bed retirement flat. Am very happy about the move and for a variety of reasons it's the right move. Have reconciled with the fact that won't need any gardening stuff (as this is all done) but it's just dawning on me that with parking but no garage and no loft, there is so little space to put anything. Any tips for coping? The duvets, bedding and towels gwill go in under the bed storage and I'm culling as much as I can but it seems mountainous!

I think that when I de clutter and give stuff away that’s in good nick where 8 know it will be appreciated I feel better.

Practically, keep the lovely stuff and vacuum pack.

We moved from a 3 bed house to a flat with two children. DH and I were a bit nervous about the change at the time but we absolutely loved that flat in the end. We left it due to emigrating but we have great memories.

We threw or gave a lot away. We made a flap-down shelf thing in the kitchen to give us more space...and I used that as my desk for my laptop!

Coffee table with hidden storage was great too...you can get them with a lift up lid or drawers. Good for crafting stuff, magazines etc.

We had shelving installed above the bathroom door for towels. They looked good up there too. You might have to add shelves in odd places but you'll love the reduced housework!

Thank you! Love the idea about the shelves in odd places. Am happy to donate all the garden stuff but I think it's hitting me that it's not going to be as easy as throw the suitcases in the lift, put the out of season clothing in another room, have a drawer for bags and so on. Even just having a summer and winter duvet and changes of bedding with need to be planned for. Oh well, at least it will stop me buying things! Slightly ashamed at how much money has been spent on non essentials

We did the same. One if the things we did was get rid of summer and winter duvets. Just keep the summer and fold a couple of blankets o the end if the bed to pull up when it get colder

Umm I know that feeling. I spent a year not buying anything new apart from essentials, it has stuck with me how much I’d bought for no particular reason.

About to clear out as moving and it’s been quite liberating lett8ng things go.

Back to practicalities....you can buy sofas that have storage underneath them. Also building slim storage cupboards and thinking how to fit them in corners.

Looking at George Clarke’s incredible small spaces is good too...

A good way of creating storage is thinking 3 dimentional. Eg all the space from bed surface and up. Try pinterest they have all kinds of beds with loads of storage underneath.

Oh gosh it's going to be hard isn't it. I looked round a 2 bed retirement flat with my mum recently and thought where will the suitcases, Xmas decks, sewing machine, vacuum cleaner and other random stuff go. Mum said she'd rather stay where she is than give up her sewing machine

Yes that's it exactly bluerad (and I hadn't even thought of the Xmas decs 😨). God shout about the small spaces programme though

I’ve got drawers instead of kick boards under all the kitchen cupboards. And the shelves over doors is a brilliant thing.
Don’t forget you’ll need fewer Xmas decks for a smaller space!

Wow - drawers under the kickboards is a genius idea!

We have two ottoman beds, one double and one king size. They hold bedding, out of season clothes, Christmas decorations, table linen etc.

Thank you.although it's 2 beds, the 2nd room is just a small single mother

Room! Single room not single mother!

You may have to get storage built. my Great Aunt has had alcove cupboards built eveywhere she can. A big slide robe in the small bedroom that is sectioned so she can put the hoover upright and store other tall bits, a small clothes rack, lots or drawers and shelves. She hates slide robes but it seemed the best solution and now she really likes it.

We are currently decorating our house to get ready to sell for the New year and downsize in the summer and I'm being totally ruthless with my stuff . My tip would be to get stuff out of the house quickly, don't leave it in the hall waiting to give it to the "right" home or charity shop, just get it out. That might mean putting good clothes in a clothes recycle bin in a carpark rather than donating to a favoured charity shop that restricts amount of donations or has parking restrictions. Just get it out. We have also sold stuff on gumtree incredibly cheaply for collection only. Once it's gone you realise you didn't need it anymore.

I had a massive amount of kitchen kit with loads of doubles and devices I rarely use (like a food processor, liquidiser etc. I mainly use a stick blender and like to chop things). There used to be up to 8 people living here but now there are just five and hopefully 3 when we downsize so I'm getting rid of all gadgets that haven't been used recently and doubles as well as my huge pans.

I finally managed to persuade my P to get rid of shelves of books (just keep the "precious" ones). We used to have 4 floor to ceiling dust attracters in the living room. We now just have 1 glass fronted cabinet. The room looks huge and clean, sneezing and cleaning down. I sold a load of the books (and computer games/dvd's)to sites like webuybooks who send a to courier collect them. The rest went to charity shops or the recycle bin. I've culled the bedding and towels down to one on the bed and a spare.(local pdsa got the towels) I've vacuum bag packed some bulky coats and the spare duvet and put in a big drawer that runs the length of the bed (the bags might fail but it gets them in under).

I did one room at a time. not the Marie Knodo method of gathering all one type of thing together. Now, I often see something and think I don't need that and it goes in the basket I keep in the hall for charity shop stuff. I also enforce if I want to get something new then something has to go.

The downside is now that the house looks so fab it makes me very sad to have to leave! Good luck x

sapatsea has some really smart ideas. Culling is really worthwhile as I think we all have too much stuff and don't realise it until we have a good clearout. Less to tidy, less to dust, throwing away that gift ornament coz you don't want to upset the recipient, reducing 'keep just in case' stuff all really helps. I agree with the books - we got rid of loads to the local hospice shop and chucked out several bookcases which gave us lots of new space.
One space saving thing I'm looking to buy is a full length mirror for my bedroom that has a slimline jewellery cupboard behind it that can be fixed on the wall. Seen loads on Pinterest but just need to find the right one. I think decluttering makes you more selective and less likely to impulse buy but you have to be really ruthless. Good luck OP.

It is really really liberating going completely minimalist!

The year I lived abroad in a single bedroom was so freeing, just no "stuff".

Christmas stuff - what do you really need?? Source inexpensive 2nd stuff then donate back afterwards? But really once the Cards up what else do you need?

Use suitcase to store quilts under the bed. We have a tumble dryer so don't have loads of spare bedding wash dry and back on the bed.

There are always friends you can borrow and loan cake tins with and other random stuff. The more storage you have the more clutter you keep...

Think in terms of what you actually need rather than what you need to throw away. Also re bedding etc a retirement flat will likely be warmer than an average 3 bed house.

My friend did this recently. She moved with most of her furniture but has spent the last year replacing most of it with things more in keeping with her new space - worth considering rather than making do with things that are the wrong dimensions.

Lots of good ideas here, thanks. Currently sorting bedroom stuff. Will def need a change of bedding as no space for tumble drier and can't do without my leccy blanket. Think I just though I could get rid of ornaments etc and cut down clothing but realising that it's going to need more thought than that! Some great suggestions herehive mind!

Find out if their is a launderette nearby for winter service washes!

We moved twice in 6 months it was utterly liberating!!! After the final move (major upsize) we still decluttered even more. Those vacuum bags are meant to be good.

If you're moving to a retirement flat, you're probably only a few years older than me, so looking round my house at "stuff I have 2 much of"
Bed linen and towels. You need at the very most one set and a spare per bed. Ditto towels - one set in use, one spare plus a couple of towels for the occasional guest in the single (mother) room.
Glasses - we still have loads dating back to wedding presents. If you are the same, think are you ever going to host dinner for 12 with sherry before and port after?
Dinner plates--my mother had beautiful 'best' dinner service and tatty old everyday kitchen plates. When she downsized she chucked the kitchen plates and used (and enjoyed) her Best plates everyday. She was ahead of Marie Kondo with the spark joy idea.

Very true about the towels, dining sets and glasses (Soo many glasses). In fact that's one whole cupboard down just there! Love having people over for dinner but might have to get used to going out now!!

We use something like this in our wardrobes- one holds towels and one holds bedding (in photo). Plus an ottoman bed for most of everything else. Bathroom storage- cabinet to go under the sink.

NOT having the space to "host" people is one of the advantages of downsizing!
Tea and cake is all you will be expected to do!

Going a bit against the grain but could you look into hiring a small storage unit or garage space? Especially for things like Xmas decs, winter coats and boots in summer, suitcases etc. Would be a shame to get rid of stuff too hastily which you might later regret.