Downsizing a little and panicking there won’t be enough space

[newyorkparis]

Kids have flown the nest and DH and I feel our large 4 bed semi is just too big. There are some things about the layout of our house we don’t like, it’s getting on a bit now and the ‘quirks’ that we lived with whilst the children grew up are getting tiresome. One thing we don’t lack though is space.

We’d like a detached house, something a bit newer than we have where everything is neat and feels new. We’ve found a potential 3 bed detached which means we will pay only 10k less for it compared to us so by the time we factor in moving we won’t be any better off.

Pro’s are location, house only 20 years old, almost brand new kitchen and bathrooms, pretty garden, beautiful finish - it’s been really well looked after. A garage - we don’t have one at the moment but slight downside it’s an integral one which does obviously impact of the downstairs floor space. We’d rather not convert it as that’s what we did in our current house and we missed the storage.

Im wobbling over little things - mostly how to move down into something smaller. Cons for me are having to house a tumble dryer and chest freezer in the garage (only entrance is up and over door). No airing cupboard as it houses the hot water tank but we’d switch to a combi boiler so that could be remedied. It’s little things like not being able to leave an ironing board up in spare room (both spare rooms will be full of our drawers for clothes, also WFH desk and spare wardrobe for linen).

DH says we have way too much stuff anyway and we need to clear out. He’s probably correct but I’m worried that I’ll feel annoyed we’ve moved from a house where I needn’t think about where to store things and I’ll feel resentful that we moved.

So, where do you keep your ironing boards? Under the stairs? That is the only downstairs cupboard we will have.
Does anyone have an integral garage with the only entrance through the up and over door? How do you find that?

Tales of successful downsizing please! Especially if you still needed to occasionally host your kids and partners for the odd birthday or Christmas

We keep our ironing board under our bed.

For bedding, we have two duvets on the spare bed both made up so that we don't have to store anything anywhere. Our own bedding gets washed and dried and put back on on the same day so no need to store.

Towels are stored in a box under our bed so no need for an airing cupboard.

Oh ironing board hangs on a wall.
We have ottoman beds where we store spare duvets, bedding, towels etc but only have 1 spare set per bed.
We have a boarded out loft but the only thing up there is suitcases. No garage...dh has 2 sheds.

I have none of the issues you describe with my combi boiler. It's fine for baths, good water pressure for showers and the hot water comes through quickly 🤷🏻‍♀️

You are lucky. Lots of my friends, plus NDN (recent large output combi installed and regretting it) have these problems with a combi. I believe it could be tdue o with the mains water pressure.

I haven’t read all the responses but we recently downsized from a four bedroom town house to a two bedroom flat and it’s been really liberating. There’s only the two of us but we still had a twelve place dinner service, twelve of each sort of glass etc etc and a life time’s accumulation of ‘stuff’.

We've always been reasonably minimalist but we kept asking ourselves if we wanted the DC to have the responsibility of getting rid of things after we’ve gone - if not it went straight away.
We love our new home and haven’t yet missed anything we got rid of.

That's reassuring @onlyoneoftheregimentinstep .

I'm downsizing to a smaller four bed without a garage or much outside space. I know I am being ridiculous (it has four lots of built in wardrobes, there are two of us full time and one outside term times) and I am panicking about where I put a lifetime of things like Christmas decorations, sports equipment etc., etc..

I really need to get over it/on with it as I am thinking more than I am doing.

Can you put a door into the garage from the hall or kitchen? Then set up a utility room in it.

I wouldn't fixate on a 3 bed being the same price as a 4 bed if it's detached, in a better area, needs less modernising etc.

Stuff is like baggage round your neck

My mother downsized recently from a 4 bed to a 2 bed. We spent 6 months decluttering and there wasn't anything she has missed so far.
Airing cupboard full of ancient towels, He Man quilt covers and "guest" hand towels, all gone. 6 porcelain tea sets, 4 dinner services and a canteen of gold plated cutlery, all unused all went. 20 wedding guest outfits, some wonderful 1980s going out dresses all went to very grateful homes.
Why do you have so much clothes that you'll fill 3 bedrooms? What do you really wear?

I'm planning on downsizing from a five bed detached to a three bed bungalow. I would like a garage attached so it can be used as a utility room. Putting a doorway through from the house is a small job though I think the door has to be a fire door.

Whilst I didn't really downsize all in one go I moved 3 times in 4 years and actively decluttered each time and continue to do so. I'm now in a two bedroomed bungalow with an attached garage which has the washer and dryer and I love it.

I have two sets of bed linen, two weeks worth of towels, just enough cups, water glasses and crockery that I use.

I saw my DGM struggle with a massive house and I refuse to do so. I want to be in a position where I'm not spending all my free time storing, looking after or cleaning all the time.

Already life is so much easier and tidier

You don’t need a chest freezer for 2 people.

Thank you all, we’ve been back to the house tonight but it’s just not right for us.

Not so much the space (however we took our daughter and she said ‘OMG mum it’s small’. It’s more the access to the garage, the overlooked garden (we counted 12 windows) the old boiler system and the ancient double glazing. There are also no doors separating any of the downstairs rooms which could be draughty. Also, I’m not sure how warm a room above a garage would be.

You and Dh will be worrying about different things
who does the practical maintenance side of things
theres no need to leave an ironing board up but surely you’ll have a spare bedroom anyway
I would try and accommodate freezer even if it meant getting rid of a cupboard
dryer non issue

Did you decide not to go through with buying that house OP?

It might not be the right house for you. I'd be wary of buying a house with little built in storage, or the space to add in cupboards to store stuff like ironing boards, vacuum cleaner, mop, etc. Our house has no built in storage and it's really annoying to find spaces to put the essentials out of the way, and we don't have lots unnecessary clutter. I would look for somewhere with a utility room and somewhere which isn't overlooked.

We didn’t proceed with this house. There were too many things that weren’t quite right. A shame as the location was spot on but the north facing very overlooked garden, too small lounge and impractical kitchen were things we just couldn’t get past. The owners have clearly very loved it and it’s absolutely immaculate, I still think about it but I don’t think we could make it work