Packing to move. Downsizing. Yes right!

DH & I down-sized last year. We had the moving firm do most of the "packing" and were very glad that we did. They made a brilliant job of it and we had no breakages. (We did some of our own packing of clothes, personal effects, etc.) We did ensure that we packed (and held on to) a kettle and the wherewithal for a cuppa! Also a full set of bedding: making the bed ASAP in a new home, was advice I was given, decades ago. At least you've then a bed ready to fall into, at the end of the moving day.....

I prefer to declutter when packing rather than unpacking, but each to her own!

Pack the kettle, tea or coffee and pot, mug, breadboard, knife, fork, one tea towel and a towel with a roll of toilet paper, some sticking plaster and a tin of soup, plus a bowl and spoon to eat it with, and a pan heat it in, plus breakfast for next morning in the last box to go into the removal van AND label it clearly, KITCHEN. FOR IMMEDIATE USE.

To be on the safe side, cart it into your new kitchen yourself. Pack a bath towel with your bedclothes, after all you might just want a bath before falling into that nicely made bed, or when you get out of it in the morning.

I started with the attic and cleared it, then I moved round the house, one room at a time.

I have been living with my parents for the last seven years. I sold my house in Warwick 4 years ago. Just before my last holiday in India, I have my furniture in storage paying £390 every 4 weeks. I thought I would have a look. If I move into a flat or 2 up/2 down, a big table and 6 chairs plus a 3 and 2 seater settees will have to go. Cleared out tons of paperwork into the bonfire as it is way out of date. My daughters keep telling me that they will get a skip ?

We downsized five years ago. Despite endless trips to charity shops and to the tip, and a few items sold, we still have too much stuff. DH got the loft boarded and filled that space, only a couple of boxes up there are mine. He also filled the garage as his workshop. He has a bedroom as a study, full of books, so when he dies or if we have to move again, heaven forbid, there will still be a huge amount of stuff to get rid of. I am far from minimalist but I would love to have less stuff.

At least we don't have to downsize our house as we never upsized! Downsizing our possessions is an ongoing task though - for me! DH doesn't seem to notice such things...

We are not downsizing yet but I am in the process of clearing my parents home that they had lived in for 65 years Five bed roomed house plus cellar full to the brim . Dad died 12 years ago but we only cleared out his clothes really . Mum died aged 96, 2 months ago . It is a huge task and the house is about to go on the market ?. If you have a "freecycle" network nearby we have managed to shift quite a lot that way plus one or two items on EBay but really wonder if it's worth the hassle tbh .It's the 1000 + books that no-one seems to want .....

I apologise if somebody has suggested this already, but Oxfam Book Shops may help you out there.

We did it almost three years ago. We had to rent a flat until the new house was finished, which meant storage! My cousin is a born organiser/fixer and was in charge of the packing. We did part with quite a lot of things to the charity shops, including our lovely dining table and chairs, as it was too big for the new open plan living area, though this turned out to be bigger than we imagined. As we bought off plan, we didn't see the house until it was finished! I don't know if I'd do that again!. I did hate parting with some of the things. I can't say it was therapeutic, as, on top of a new house, it took me out of my comfort zone. However, the more minimalist look suits the new house. Like most of our friends, we weren't 'entertaining' so much, so needed less tableware etc, and I certainly didn't need my late mother's china and other household goods, though they had sentimental value. We lived in the rented flat for seven months, and managed well without the majority of our 'stuff' !

I did probate as well as all the clearing after my husband died and luckily for me was always the one with my hand on the finances, the banks etc so knew where everything was, all the passwords and so on. It still took me a stressful amount of time and made me resolve, after I had settled, to make a file for the children for when I die. I did that and will be updating everything after I have moved and finally settled

The downsizing is really not to be minimalistic but to get rid of stuff that I will not be using again plus ornamental dust gatherers. I see my neatly packed boxes here and they will not overwhelm me in the new house, as long as I can get in to sort out the garage/workshop first

I hope the water company get cracking on producing the last bit of paper needed, so I can exchange, I need to get started

MawBroon yes we have taken lots there they have a fixed grin when we appear with more bags ! The majority sadly will be pulped as they are mainly non- fiction science and history way out of date . The pile just doesn't seem to go down !! As soon as I've done this I'm starting on our place - strike whilst the iron's hot .

I downsized to a narrow boat nearly 2 years ago. I read the Marie Kondo book...it helped...well except with my craft stuff and fabric 'cos it all brought me joy....hahaha. Good luck in your new home x

You crafters! You can never have enough ‘stuff,’ I knew that my son’s Aussie MIL liked to do patchwork. I had a large bag of cotton pieces, and was going to visit the family in Oz. In a mad moment I asked MIL if she would like them, and she was delighted. The fabric took up quite a lot of room and weight in my suitcase, but she was thrilled with it. Then she took me to her ‘stash cupboard’. She already had enough stuff in there to last several lifetimes, but spent some time reminiscing about various pieces she just ‘couldn’t resist buying, then lovingly added my offerings to the mountain.

I decided to start the big declutter today and, in 2 hours, I managed 2 kitchen cupboards. I found 1 Heston Blumenthal Christmas Pudding with a use by date of 2008, a box of Mexican Enchiladas, use by date of 2016, and several jars of spices that have been there since God was a lad.

On the upside, I've decided to start using up larger items from the freezer and were having that nice big lump of silverside beef for dinner tomorrow.

We downsized almost 5 years ago - very positive experience!
Did it ourselves - used smaller boxes ( all colour coded for different rooms - stickers) so easier to carry! Charities benefitted enormously, as we had lived in our family home for 30 years. Best advice - do it before you think you must - we have friends who feel they can't face it as they don't feel physically fit enough. So good luck to all you removers!

Wish i could get my DH to read these posts. He has a man cave filled to the brim with his models plus he has a large shed with lots of tools and goodness knows what and it fills me with dread that i might be the one left to sort it all out. Some of his models are really valuable and jokingly i ask him to write in a notebook the values just in case, but to be honest i wouldnt have clue about selling them or even donating them somewhere.

travelsafar, I empathise with you. My dh barely started to sort his stuff out because we had had the conversation but I had to bite the bullet after he died. Sorting his stuff was horrendous

He was a superb photographer with several prizes and of course had the cameras to match, he had already given some lenses to a son in law, who was keen. In my mindset after he died, I offloaded the lot to him, including a rare set in a case but he has gone on to teach photography to some pupils in after school club and I know that dh would think I made the right choice. I sold nothing but I get plenty of karma

Wood carving stuff, well that was the incentive for me to learn and I am learning. The house maintenance stuff was much harder, I got rid of the heavy things to AC. Plumbing, electrics etc, I kept what I could/might use

Tomorrow I have the second house visit from my buyer, bringing a different realtive. It will probably be the last viewing. Storm forcast overnight and I hate being woken by the loud wind, normally come downstairs so am planning ahead. Stripped and made the upstairs bed with fresh bedding, all prepared for viewing and I will sleep on the sofa

Tbh it already looks tidy downstairs, even the packed boxes look ok, just the en suite, utility and kitchen to sparkle clean and I am off out before the viewing

Greengran, what can I say! my stack of gorgeous fabrics is taller than me, honestly. Chebacca, that is how I started, I did 3 passes in the kitchen alone, thought I needed stuff then did the next 2 passes a month apart and got rid of much more

LK, very positive post, thank you. I bought stickers, must use them. Trick really is to use smaller boxes and for me, to refer to my scale drawings

I look around me now and tbh it is just a question of taking out of drawers and cupboards and putting into the new house. Except the garage because I cannot see the wood for the trees until I am allowed in to new house.to set the storage up

ok, last viewing is over and appeared to be successful. I have to have confidence now, a bit difficult because of being in limbo but from past experience, time moves quickly in the final stages. I think I will start to stack packed units finally, out of cupboards. I have spaces eg a big landing. Towels can go into a large laundry hamper etc. I have some chests of drawers to sort still, realising that they will remove full drawers

I did pack much stuff several months ago, used lakeland vac bags in the cube shaped outers with handles. Everything is secure from moths and fully labelled. Today I start with the airing cupboard, just need to pull out those packed cubes

I salute those downsizing on their own, How on Earth do you decide what to move to. For example with a big house, downsizing to a flat, a bungalow, did you move areas ? Those with family to help must find it easier, but those without how did you come to the decision you did?

Cosmos,I moved 30 minutes closer to a dd and the place I decided on appeared to me one day, accidentally, on RM. Fate!! but I was drawn there, went to look at the little market place and the moment I got out of my car in the free car park, at least 5 people spoke to me. I loved the shops and there are about 3 buses an hour to various other places. 5 minutes on my bike from house to shops, doc, library and a public loo

I wanted stairs and a new build because I have simply had enough of maintenance. I have a population near me, so can get access to a cleaner and gardener for my old age. I will not be isolated nor will I be next door to children nor be in an old peoples ghetto. Finding an area was more frightening than finding a property. I found an old property but the money I spent on a survey was very well spent and this turned me towards a new build and I accidentally found my builder, who is older than me, old school and old school standards. No survey needed as I know a fair bit about buildings and could see quality

I have a super female solicitor who is super diligent and I have no worries about paperwork.

So my house is definitely sold and there will be no more viewings. Final steps in packing today, designated rooms so that I can stack and leave to removers. 10 lampshades taken down and some pictures and 2 mirrors, screws and rawlplugs removed and holes filled

I cannot sit back, that new house will exchange soon and I don`t want to be spending time here when I could be making that one into my home

I do have family but too far away because my new home is still on a building site and I need permission to get in, family are all working and I am not desperate, they trust my judgement

re house, I had certain criteria, main one being to accomodate my several hobbies. I started with a wants list and gradually whittled the list down

another prep is to learn how to use a drill/driver with the right screws and plugs. eg I will be drilling into plastered thermalite blocks and will be using fischer universal plugs. I will not be rushing, one at a time and carefully, knowing that I will be able to fill and reverse any mistakes

Pilot drill bit plus various drill bits, plugs and screws, not to forget the very important spirit level, metal tape measure and pencil. Also pipe and electrics detector. Be sure that we ladies can do these jobs, just go slow at first. There are plenty of men on site but I prefer to take my time, to work out exactly where pictures and mirrors will go

If furniture is mis-placed and you are on your own then you can buy furniture sliders, I already have them in, don`t want to risk scratching the floor

One sewing room is finished, all neatly packed and stored on the floor. I extended the back of a desk to reach over a radiator and to hold my heavy overlocker and coverstitch machines. Worked brilliantly ever since. Took that shelf off this morning for the new house, I will be taking it, these things could get lost during removals, it only looks like a length of wood with small metal angles on it but took me ages to saw and fit it the first time around

2 easy bedrooms next and that is me done for the day

we had viewers at the weekend who were quite odd,the woman insisted that as we were downsizing we wouldn't surely expect to get the full asking price ?? Why would she think that? We've put the price under the valuation price as it is for a quick sale but because we're buying something smaller doesn't mean we 'll accept a lot less than its worth.We're in Scotland where its offers OVER asking price so this surprised me .Is this normal in England where its a different system?

the woman insisted that as we were downsizing we wouldn't surely expect to get the full asking price ??

What a cheek!!

It's a different system in England I think but the Scottish system is better because once you have offered and been accepted doesn't that make it binding?
Not so here, it is fraught with difficulties.

You can offer under the asking price in England (and Wales I think) but obviously the offer may well not be accepted.

Sometimes property is advertised as o.n.o. (or near offer) or o.i.t.r.o. (offers in the region of) etc.

I didn't want to get accused of being anti English just wondered if she thought this as it was normal in England where she currently lives .Now I know its not so I can have an answer ready for anyone else who says it!