Downsizing Wobbles

sewsilver I would caution against doing anything in a hurry. You may live to regret it. If you have no choice it is a different matter but it sounds as if you do have a choice so please take your time. Put stuff is storage and rent a small place for a few months and see how it goes. This will give you time to see whether it is right for you or not.

So much depends upon your lifestyle. If you have lots of people come to stay, as we do, you may well want more space. If you live close to all your friends and family you may well be fine in a smaller place.

If renting is not an option for you perhaps you could write a list of the things which are really important to you and work from there:

Number of bedrooms needed
Entertaining space
Location - rural, city, transport
Garden
Upkeep
Storage
etc.

Good luck whatever you do.

After divorce I downsized to a small 2 bedroom house, For me it was tiny and I found that I had to move a few years later to a larger house. Take your time and as somebody else said, rent if necessary.

There's always a way round having less room, and I remind myself that the occupants of this cottage managed at the end of the 19th century. 3 adults and four growing children shared it in less comfort than I now have.

I had a formal dining table and now have no dining room. Instead, I've got a big kitchen with farmhouse table that is the hub of the house where everyone gravitates, the children draw, paint and bake, I sit with my friends and put the world to rights over a coffee, and we all crowd round it for dinner parties. I don't miss having a dining room - no-one ever stayed in it when I did have one - they just cluttered up the smaller kitchen. There's a slight change of lifestyle when you downsize, but for me it's been for the better.

Having an OH who has hauled me around the country after jobs and caused many a downsize, it is tough. But cathartic. I have been grateful for the chance to offload large and ugly family heirlooms, but still mourn a few things. Most of our houses have been large, but we have had to exist in smaller rented houses and flats between purchases and I think the biggest upside of a smaller house is the heating bills. Depending on how you feel about housework, you have to stay very organised in a small house and it seems to get dirty and dusty more quickly. But the thought of getting the smaller places clean and tidy isn't so daunting when you feel ill.

We are great hoarders, no matter what size house we live in, and getting dbh to part with anything is tough. I can feel a de-clutter coming on though. I wish you luck, it can be hard, but I have often moved and had to throw even more things out because they don't fit or don't suit the new house. Do as much as you can, a room a week perhaps. I had a huge house once and got rid of a whole large lorry load of furniture in one go and felt really proud of myself!

I downsized (divorce) from a very large house to a terraced cottage twenty years ago, and I've loved it.

In two years I shall be selling and moving to a rented apartment in the same area. I am already clearing out the loft and anything else that I can
live without.

I'm looking forward to the freedom from responsibility and maintenance costs.

It also means less for my children to sort out when I shuffle off to the Gransnet in the sky

Culag

We downsized a bit when we moved down here, and certainly decluttered. We lost a bedroom and a dining room, but acquired a double garage with a huge loft, as well as two other lofts in the house. As you can imagine, they are filling up rapidly...

I haven't regretted it, apart from missing the dining room occasionally; there is still plenty of room for the two of us. Theseus renovated the workshop in the garden, turned it into an office, set up a separate wifi and that gets rid of gives him a space of his own.

After my husband died a few years ago, I straightway downsized from 6 large bedrooms to a three bed terrace. It was all pretty horrendous at the time but it was the best thing I ever did. I got rid of masses of stuff, and even now I occasionally have another sort out. I don't like the idea of my offspring having to do it all when I'm gone. In someways I feel I'm being myself now, a new start that I'm determined to enjoy.

Having said that I must add that I get down days, and I miss his company dreadfully.

shysal, we must be sisters under the skin. Clutter gathers round me. Don't know where it all comes from. Well, Ebay... Seriously, Sewsilver, I downsized into a skip - or three. You might find a charity shop that will come and collect un-needed furniture. There's one in Poynton that takes furniture, but that's probably too far. Just don't try to get a quart into a pint pot.

We downsized a few years ago, moving from our large family home to a small bungalow. I haven't regretted it at all. When we moved it was quite a shock to see how much "stuff"we had gathered over the 30+ years we had lived there. Gradually we've got rid of so much and it is very liberating. Obviously I have kept the really precious things, photos, some things that belonged to our parents etc, but otherwise it's gone! I wll say though, that we stayed in the same neighbourhood which made the move much easier, still having family and friends around us.

So have a look at the new house with an open mind, try to imagine your things in there and good luck

I thought this was a thread about breast reduction!!

On divorce I moved from a large 3 bedroom to a little terraced house. It was fine at first, but I can't seem to stop adding to the stuff which has accumulated in the tiny box room, as I have run out of storage space. My kitchen is very small and the overflow from the cupboards is in plastic baskets on the worktop, leaving me only a 2ft square space to work on, not ideal, as I love my baking. Financially I have no choice, but would love a larger place with a garage. If I could cure my ebay addiction it would help!
If you are not a natural minimalist, I would advise caution!

Living with less 'stuff' is really quite liberating. However, you do need to give yourself the time to sort through properly making calm decisions about what is really important to you.

We now live in a home where there is no loft space, and so nowhere to stash 'stuff' that has no real purpose. Its very liberating and makes us think twice about what we buy and use.

If at all possible I would try and gain a little extra time to ensure you are not rushed but downsizing itself has worked beautifully for us and I know that my daughters will not have lofts full of 'stuff' to trawl through when we eventually shuffle off this mortal coil.

My move to a smaller house was the right thing for me, Sewsilver. I would have been rattling round in the big house I had when my children flew the nest. Lots of cleaning, expensive to heat, high maintenance and repair/decorating costs. In my little cottage, I have the equivalents of a large apartment, room for visitors to stay over, plenty of garden, but not much cleaning. It's cosy and feels like my sanctuary. Never regretted it. Good luck in your search.

What a challenge Sewsilver, the timescale sounds very tight to make such a big decision.
Since clearing out our family home after mum's death a few year's ago, we sisters have all been attempting to re-cycle/charity shop items from our own homes. Clearing out the family home was a very emotional time for us and I do empathise with you.
Have you considered putting things into storage, and renting for a while. That may give you time to process what's happening, as well as more time to find your new home