Downsizing and parting with furniture

Yes I read this story, and giggled as I read it. We are in the process of doing up our down size house. The idea of beautiful plans and everything carefuly measured is OK in theory, but does not always work in practice.

To start with you have to know in advance exactly where every bit of furniture is going to go. I have yet to meet anyone who has planned meticulously, then leaves furniture where they thought they would put it. You regret what you got rid of, while trying to dispose of what you took. The current owners might object to you crawling around their house doing detailed measuring, allowing for skirting boards, door handles, odd little bits just sticking out,, pipepruns etc, how wide doors will open, where the points are. You will need to calculate how you will get furniture up the stairs along the landing and into the place you want. Some houses have so much clutter in them (like the one we bought) that such measuring is impossible.

We were fortunate, because our house is a multiperiod old house we commissioned a full measured survey of the inside, done by a suitably qualified surveyor. Its main purpose was to have a full accurate architectural plan of our purchase

So we did, in effect, have the plan the OP suggests. But there is many a slip between cup and lip. Our furniture fits, but we cannot get one chest-of-drawers around the 360 degree turn from stairs to bedroom, the long narrow landing has a pinch point we failed to notice, another door is just that inch too narrow to get a piece of furniture through.

Furniture arrangements carefully measured actually do not look right, so everything has been moved around to form different arrangements that look better.

As for removal companies! No matter how you try to organise them, they ignore everything you do to help them. For our first three moves everything was labelled where it was going and there were clear plans everywhere. Three different removal companies and I spent my afternoon of each moving day telling the removal men where everything was going.

For our last three moves i have not bothered. It has saved my time and the removal men's. I just tell them where everything is going as they bring it into the house - and provide plenty of tea and biscuits.

As for taking paintings, photograph's, small ornaments, favourite pieces of jewellery etc would be much more important than taking furniture is how you end up with boxes and boxes of photographs ornaments, plus pictures, books and other bricabrac in the garage because you have run out of wall, furniture and window sills to display them.

We have no garage, so we have a storage room with neat heaps round it labelled: sell, donate, car boot sale etc, plus lots of kitchen stuff awaiting the kitchen extension.

M0nica I agree totally about the best laid plans... we got into a right pickle recently even though we haven't downsized. We bought a new dining table and carefully measured everything to make sure that it would get into the house, fit in the room etc.

What we hadn't realised it that when we had a new front door and window a few years ago we lost about an inch of door space. The dining table we already had, which was round and didn't come apart, wouldn't fit through the front door to remove it. We took it out the back way and managed to squeeze (force!) it through the gate - we did think at one point we would have to the the gate out. Fortunately it wasn't scratched but it was a major pain.

Monica is absolutely right the removal staff just need to get your furniture in as quickly as possible.

We recently moved it was a bit of a downsize but the biggest change is old to new.

We put a lot of our furniture and art through the auction and bought new.
It’s wonderful to have lovely new contemporary things, we miss nothing.

It’s a new chapter in our life and it feels great.

You can’t hang on to the past, no one will take the memories away.

Yes, MOnica, no matter how well you plan, you can't really tell if that's how you want the room to look, until you get in and start to change things around. With help, of course.

M0nica when moving into this house we planned meticulously, with scale drawings and cut-out furniture "blocks". We put several big pieces of furniture where we thought they would go and many have stayed put.

We had enormous pieces and had limited choices!

...and we didn't try to do the 360⁰ turn on our top landing with anything bigger than a small chest of drawers and two medium sized desks!

You are right about skirting boards though. My daughter forgot about them when she moved. We didn't - as they are clearly enormous ones and very obvious!

When I downsized, I had to part with furniture which had belonged to my great grandparents, French East India Company style. My children didn’t want it. Broke my heart but what can one do?

some of the furniture people have to rehome when downsizing is out of fashion so people just do not know what to do with it. the charity shops will not take it as they know they will not be able to sell it so sadly a lot has to be dumped. at auctions often it does not sell either or goes for peanuts.
its a real shame as a lot of this furniture is proper wood not chipboard so they do stand the test of time not to mention is really lovely

We moved into our present house 8 years ago and there was a bad entrance to get our furniture in so some had to go into the garage until we found a window firm to take out a window to get it all in , now we are on the move again and had to have the firm out to get a large L shape sofa out , luck has it we passed that on to a friend and we have a new suite for our new home

We downsized 2007. I loved it for the fact we had the new apartment gutted to our liking and virtually everything new. A time for new begginung not reveling in the old. Very therapeutic.

I've moved house more than 20 times and have always told the removal people which room to put boxes/furniture in and they have done so quite happily. I make sure all my boxes are clearly labelled even the ones the removal men have packed themselves and as they come through the door I tell them where items should go. I think it all depends on the removal firm you choose.
During international moves I have always measured large pieces of furniture and when searching for a new home have taken these measurements along with me and the tape measure to check against any likely properties. I also take a very small compass with me to check the aspect after being once stuck in a north facing property with a lovely back garden that rarely saw the sun.

That would break my heart too.

If that keeps you happy.

I bet!

We moved 4 years ago. I gave all furniture I could to charity if in good condition which it was. Kept 40 year old sofa in excellent condition after a refurbishment. Very proud of its age. Clothes to charity. Bought new furniture and a few new clothes. Strange feeling.

I inherited a large grandfather clock. It fits my house but in my will it goes to my daughter. Her house is smaller and has lower ceilings. I'm hoping she wants it having been in the family for over a hundred years.

Judy54

Nadine Dorries wrote an article in the Daily Mail talking of her pain and sadness on parting with certain items of furniture that She and her Husband bought when they first married. We don't have any such pieces going back that far except for our dining table and chairs which we bought about five years after we got married but I would gladly part with it to buy something more suitable for a smaller home. For me taking paintings, photograph's, small ornaments, favourite pieces of jewellery etc would be much more important. Nadine says she is now surrounded by furniture that does not fit her new home, big mistake! Ideally do or get someone to do a scale drawing for you so that you know exactly where each piece will fit. This not only helps you but the removal firm who will be very grateful too.

If you take measurements of the room then transfer to paper in the shape of the room. This is your 'room plan'. Then take measurements of the pieces of furniture, length, width etc. transfer the furniture measurements to another piece of paper and write within the shape what they are, armchair, sofa, sideboard etc. Cut out the furniture shapes. Then you can move them around on your 'room plan' to see what will fit where.

When we downsized to a small bungalow the only things we kept were our king size bed and 2 Italian leather armchairs. It almost broke my heart, but we had a wonderful time refurnishing in IKEA! However, we still have boxes of family treasures the kids won't want. Fortunately we have a huge garage and a basement.

having just moved out of a house with a south facing garden, I would never have one again.

It was a wide thin house with all the living rooms, kitchen abd most ofthe bedrooms facing south. In hot summer weather - and we get a lot of it these years - we had to have all the blinds down and curtains shut to try and keep the internal temperaures down to an acceptable level and the only cool seating are was right atthe end of the garden 150 feet away.

When we moved last we couldn't fit in the big sofa so my partner cut it in half and made it into a snuggle chair (for me and the dog) couldn't bare to part with it. 🤣

The only furniture that is non negotiable when we move are the various pieces of Ercol, which have been in the family since they were bought in the 60/70s.

I'm downsizing but as I have not sold this or bought another house yet I'm in a kind of limbo.

I intend to put my house on the market later in the Spring.

I am selling and giving away some furniture and stuff I know I won't want especially books but the very large pieces I think should go to auction at a later stage. I may have to remain in this house ages while trying to sell and do the furniture is still in use.

What I should be doing is going through the sideboards and chests to slim down the contents so that the minimum of stuff will need to move with me.

It isn't easy is it.

Advice welcome!

We need to downsize shortly (both in late 70s and in 5 bed house which is too much upkeep now due to health issues.)
My mother downsized and organised the removal men herself. She had a whole room full of boxes she had packed, and the men wrapped her pictures and antiques. She was actually moving to a BIGGER house than her current one, as couldn't face living in a small pensioner's house. Sadly she passed away two years later. We then had the job of emptying all her 'stuff'.
So be careful - do you really need to downsize?

We aren't moving, however we downsize furniture by giving furniture to our children. Our daughters typically paint or stain old furniture for their needs.