Downsizing

We are down sizing as we need to release capital to boost the pension - which was the plan when we brought the property 27 years ago. Hopefully will be moving within the next few weeks. Having lived here so long had to have the biggest clear out ever. Sentiment had to go out of the window.

OH still working (aged 67 and hopes to go on for another couple of years). We are going to spend some of the capital doing the place up, adding new kitchen/diner etc.

We live in a small hamlet and are only moving 1.5 miles but it is back into our home town which will be easier once we can no longer drive - family nearby, public transport, doctors, shops etc.

Really looking forward to it.

We have been trying to down size a little while now, we almost got there once only to have it with drawn at their end at the last minute but we are over that now. We are carrying on looking but at the moment we have had no luck

nanaej - same here. Failed totally lol - but we just love space! Only clean and heat the part of the house we use- and then have a quick clean and tidy before visitors come to use the rest.

Like when, I downsized from a big 4-bed detached house to a two up two down end terrace with a good-sized garden. I have never been keen on housework and always been adept at accumulating clutter. And after almost 12 years I find myself needing to de-clutter again. Help!

Like merlotgran the get-togethers have to be more creative. I have a trundle mattress on wheels that slides under a single bed, and a sofa that turns into a bed, so people can always be put up at short notice. If a couple are stopping, they can have my room and I'll use the single.

And, yes, it's just like living in a holiday cottage but with all the mod cons.

teddymac We had to downsize from a large farmhouse to a small cottage style bungalow when DH was made redundant as the house went with his job as a farm manager. A much smaller property was all we could afford but we haven't regretted it for a moment. To begin with it felt like we were permanently living in a holiday cottage. I could do the housework in half the time. Once the novelty wore off I started to worry about where everyone would sleep if we wanted to have family get-togethers but somehow everyone squashes in - the best invention for me has been the Eazi-bed. Don't worry about the work that needs doing just think of the money you'll be saving not having to maintain a large property.

We planned to down size but failed! We moved last July from our family home, a We looked at small and quaint cottages, modern 'estate' houses, 1960's town houses, bungalows, 1930's semis but we felt comfortable as soon as we looked around this place.
I think if you feel comfortable when you see a place then you will make it your home.
Think our big adjustment was moving to a new town and maybe moving to a similar style house helped. If you are staying in the same town maybe that will help the adjustment to a different house? Memories will be connected to your current home but sometimes that 'life laundry ' effect of a house move helps you to keep and highlight the things that really matter and to get rid of the unimportant clutter. Good luck in the decision

6 years ago, I downsized from 4 bedrooms to a tiny cottage - 2 beds, sitting room and dining kitchen. There is an outbuilding that used to be a henhouse, containing a separate outdoor loo that I've converted for use as a potting shed with a sink. It's absolute heaven - very little housework to do and easy to maintain, but I have still have gardens to enjoy and it backs on to a large wood.

It was relatively easy to do. I left some furniture for the new owners of my big house, and my children all took their beds an wardrobes to their own houses. Got rid of the mortgage when I retired, which took some doing, but the running costs are so low.

I had a new kitchen so I could fit in a large farmhouse table and get lots of people round it, as I didn't want to lose out with having family round for dinner. I had some other structural work done and now it has my stamp on it, and I love living here. Go for it - life's too short to clean rooms you don't need