When downsizing from a house to an apartment, you are most probably instigated by a need for greater convenience in your everyday life. Taking care of the house and the yard is simply taking to much of your energy, and not giving much in return. That is why a simple flat makes more sense, and you deem yourself ready for such a transition. However, before you delve into the process itself, you ought to familiarize yourself with the way of doing it properly. Mind you, it’s not all about the technical tasks. Let us further elaborate.
Get to planning as soon as you can
The moment you decide you are downsizing from a house to an apartment, and are sure that your decision is final, start planning. Downsizing is often a cause of a lot of emotions and conflicts. Especially if your family is involved. So, before you break it down to them, make sure that you have firm reasons behind your resolution, as they will be put to the test. You can go so far as to make a list of all the things you love and aspire to, and the things you can most certainly live without. Let your family members know what your intentions are, and try to ensure that they are on the same page before you start clearing out.
Think through your lifestyle needs
Just the thought of fitting your current belongings into a smaller place, and adapting your possibly grandiose lifestyle to a more modest one tends to be quite intimidating at first. That is why it is smart to ‘sit with yourself’, be honest, and determine your lifestyle needs prior to moving. As a matter of fact, it would be smart to do this even before you start finding your new home. This will help you decide what is truly important for this next chapter in your life. Furthermore, it will help you find exactly what you need.
When downsizing from a house to an apartment, you need to change your mindset
If the reason behind you taking this step is of financial nature or the lack of energy for physically managing your family home, it can be easy to fall into a negative mindset. Yes, you will be losing some square footage. However, there are still a lot of things to love about going smaller. For one, lower costs are a truly positive aspect of this change. Let’s not forget about the easier upkeep and less pressure to host large gatherings. You might even get a better location, making you closer to great cafés, entertainment, and shopping strips.
Purge your current home
Now we arrive at the technical part of your move. Downsizing from a house to an apartment means having to live with a smaller number of items. It’s simple math, really. The best way to go about this process is to go through your home, take everything out, and decide what you can and cannot live without. In most cases, you want to divide your possessions into three groups:
- keep
- toss
- donate/gift
Although it may sound simple now, you will find the fist group to be the most populated one by far. This will, however, change. Once the first sorting is done with, give yourself some time, and go through it again. Items that you haven’t used in over a year are a clear redundancy. Items that have personal and emotional value can stay with you, just try not to get too carried away with your pick. After all, you can give some of those belongings to your family.
In an ideal situation, you want to reduce the clutter as much as you can and ensure you are only taking the important items. In the same way you would pick the best moving quotes Los Angeles, you would also want to pick the items that will suit your lifestyle and possibilities best.
Consider a garage sale
When it comes to the ‘toss’ group, you might want to rethink the trash can. Of course, if a certain item has lost all of its original and any other purpose, the bin is the only place where it belongs. However, perhaps there are items you yourself no longer have use of, but someone might find them handy. And, let’s face it, a little extra cash in your pocket would never be a real issue, especially in a time of relocation. So, before you think about getting rid of antiques, furniture or homewares, consider selling them. A garage sale or an auction are both great ideas. You might get the chance to get rid of that old china set that is just collecting dust, and get some money for it along the way. Talking about killing two birds with one stone.
Play with the floor plan at your new place
Before you schedule your furniture delivery service Los Angeles it would be wise to see what furniture pieces will and won’t fit. This would be rather hard to determine without a floor plan. So, once you get one, make sure to measure the pieces you would like to take with you, and draw them on to the plan. Do not forget to double-check your apartment’s access as well. It would be quite an unfortunate event to transport a heavy cabinet only to find out it won’t fit through the front door.
Consider storage options
When downsizing from a house to an apartment, it can be hard to get it exactly right on your first try. So, if you need to move out of your current home, but haven’t yet found a place for some of your items, do consider renting a storage unit. It will provide you with peace of mind, and your belongings with a temporary home. Once the dust has settled, you will be able to address the options you have regarding those pieces with a clear mind and the lack of pressure.