downsizing

We have already downsized, from a massive old rectory to a 3-bed detached fairly modern house but built in the style of the old Suffolk cottages. However DBH started to convert the outbuildings... I don't clean out there at all though, apart from my utility area and the lean-to that I treat as part greenhouse, part conservatory.

I missed my old house so much at first. The space, the friends nearby, the garden I had made, the immediate neighbours (who actually aren't quite as nice here).

But the house here is so much warmer, easier to clean, the villagers are wonderful and I have made yet another lovely garden. It was also a good chance to try out new decorating styles and colours and go shopping.

AND a big plus - it forced DBH to get rid of years and years' worth of junk, including 32 demi johns and two barrels from when he used to make wine and beer. Now I quietly remove anything that doesn't belong in the house to outside in 'his' space, and when he can't get through to his desk he knows it's time for another clearout. So just be careful what you move to, have a very clear idea what space you think you really need. We can cope as long as DD doesn't have any more GCs. In which case we too are thinking of going down the mobile home in the garden route - which was always touted as an idea in case she and SiL ever separated.

We downsized a little when we moved here (Devon) two years ago - from a four bedroom detached house with steps up to the front door and on the corner of two steep hills, to a three bedroom detached house. It is more or
less the same only with three bedrooms - and no dining room but that is now in the conservatory. And the kitchen is a bit smaller, but newer.

The garden is easy maintenance, there is a double garage which keeps Theseus very happy, we are very near the sea and to DD. Bliss!

N.B. Gransnetters kept me sane during the selling and buying and the move!

I downsized to a mobile home five years ago, not by choice, but because I suddenly became single and financial adjustment was urgently required!
Have never regretted it though. This estate is so friendly and so well kept and so beautifully placed in countryside. And it's cheaper to live here.
I'm all for downsizing for whatever reason. It's a new start, a new chapter in life. So, good luck middleagedspread. Go for it!

I moved this year from a 4 bedroomed detached house which I shared with the husband I'm now divorced from. I am in a lovely little 3 bed semi so with a sofa bed in the living room and 2 extra bedrooms can still squeeze 2 daughters partners and 2 grandchildren in when they visit ( still a bit claustrophobic for Xmas we are all going to DD1 so the grandchildren can stay put to have their presents) . I have brought from the house only my clothes, personal items, and sentimental objects I just can't do without. Exhusband very nasty over me getting what I needed so left all the furniture behind because he put my share in the garage and it's all spoilt. I have been amazed at how I have not missed anything I had to choose quickly what I wanted on the one day I was able to get into the house to pack when he wasn't there. My only regret is the massive collection of paperbacks I had to leave behind, I brought all my professional books with me. As long as you have the special things you can live without anything else. I'm happier than I've ever been living by myself. Sorry a bit off the subject I know but the rest is only clutter I've found. Good luck with your move when it happens and enjoy it.

I am just about ready to downsize from our slightly damp cottage with far too much garden at the bottom of a very steep lane but in a village I love. DH is not ready to move yet and is still climbing about on the roof, slapping cement about (says he is dealing with the damp) and threatening to build more sheds. He does the grass and the hedges (there are lots) and I do the flower beds and most of the veg. I enjoy it but don't want to be a full time gardener. I keep looking at houses in the village and thinking which will be suitable for us but I think I'd have a job to persuade him if the right one came onto the market. I am trying to sow the seeds of us moving in the next few years but don't want to make an ultimatum.

We nearly bought one that had been used on a farm while the main house was being renovated. The owner had completely covered it in ship-lap cladding and it looked just like a wooden lodge - gorgeous. It even had a woodburning stove. The only problem it was an hour and a half away and would have taken two journeys to get it here as the cladding was the size of a very large shed. Too expensive unfortunately.

We hope it will be warm enough, soontobe. DH has clad the base and we bought some secondary double glazing from eBay. It's made for caravans and is easy to fix into place. There's a gas fire in the living area and panel heaters in the bedrooms. They should be toasty!!

I presume they are warm enough in winter?

You may have just solved or at least given me ideas for a possible looming problem.
Many thanks.

Planning permission is necessary on some sites, soontobe but we are in an isolated spot with no neighbours so we didn't need it to begin with but retrospective planning permission was necessary for insurance purposes.

Buying it took a large chunk out of our building fund. It cost £4,000 then there was almost another £1,000 worth of groundworks, plumbing, electrics, connecting to septic tank, laying a path and cladding the base to protect it during the winter months.

It will be worth it though. It's very roomy and well equipped so when DD moves out it will make excellent guest accommodation. The grandchildren love it!!

Absolutely not kitty - I've heard those kind of promises before

when - thanks for the story of your sister and for the tip of using tubs and planters for plants and shrubs you want to take with you. I have a small twisted hazel that I wouldn't like to part with.

Did you have to get planning persmission for the mobile home?

That is a bit our problem. We could do with downsizing, but visiting hoards will definitely not have room. And they do come and go with some frequency, at least at present.

vegas please may I just put a few boxes in your empty loft? I promise to move them soon!

We're on a kind of down/upsizing yo-yo!

We downsized from a large five bedroomed farmhouse to a two bedroom cottage sixteen years ago. All fine and dandy but I missed having accommodation for the visiting hordes. We then decided to downsize even further by moving into a granny annexe conversion which we hope to start building in the New Year. In the meantime, DD, who was always going to move into our cottage, had to leave her rented cottage so we bought a three bedroom mobile home (luckily we have a large plot of land.)

So.....We will soon have gone from a small cottage with not enough bedrooms for visitors to a total of seven bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The advantage is they are all self contained units so I'm only going to clean my little bit

vegas ny sister felt like you, parting with the family home after 35 years, but in the process of changing and dressing the house to attract a younger family, taking down family pictures, painting everywhere and putting loved plants and bushes into tubs ready for moving, she started to let go of the emotional tie because it wasn't like her home any more. Now she can't wait to move.

Cannot recommend it enough,

A new home built to very high energy saving levels.
No roof spaces......so massive clear out of all that 'STUFF'.....with added bonus of local charity shops doing very well.
Relocated to reassuringly old fashioned area, no schools, no large housing estates just lovely countryside and small villages and towns.

But...the best bit is that grown children do not see visits as duty calls to visit the old folks but as short breaks somewhere new that's quiet and rural where their children have huge adventures, and not to the boring old house they grew up in with all those reminders of angst ridden teenage years.

Good one, FlicketyB.

nina, why not just tell him that's what you plan to do, let him get used to the idea, then introduce a date when you hope to have it done and ask him how he's getting on with looking for a new place.

Not downsizing, rightsizing.

Like everyone else I can only think of it as a positive move and it will hopefully happen in the next 4 years. I can get quite excited at the thought !

ninathenana I had to smile at your post, we have lived happily in our downsized house for 16 odd years, in that time our son has come and gone 3 times, at present we have our 45yr old recently separated daughter ensconced in our one spare bedroom, she's been here 10mths already. So getting rid of son and downsizing is no guarantee that he won't come back at some point..

I am planning to downsize in about 18 months or so, for all the reasons other posters have put forward. I am feeling a bit anxious about it, and about how I will feel leaving what has been my home for 30 years, but I know it makes sense. To try and ease both the practicalities and the emotional upheaval I have already started clearing things out and getting rid of stuff - my loft is now completely empty! Next on my list is the garage. Wherever possible, I have passed things on to people who want them, and I have been amazed by how much I have got rid of like this - another advantage of allowing plenty of time. When I bought a Kindle some years ago, I operated a one in- one out rule on books. Now that's the bit I'm not looking forward to!

I love the idea, but need to get rid of 23 yr DS first Would like to release some capital.

I found OH did not do enough downsizing and now has an even bigger workshop full of tools !!

Devious when but very clever! We downsized 22 years ago but the b*****s still keep coming back!!

What tanith said. So much easier to keep a two bedroomed house tidy and clean, and now my large family have decided I've done my (long) stint catering at Christmas and I can go to them where we can all spread out. I knew the penny would drop when I did two sittings in my kitchen/diner last Christmas!