5 Lessons I Learned When I Downsized My Home
April 17, 2015
I am especially thankful this past Easter because I moved into my new house. The kids are away at college so I decided to downsize and move to the city. After almost a year of living in temporary housing, my newly renovated, 19th century row house was ready. Yeah! I was like a kid on Christmas morning as I watched the moving truck arrive and the movers bring in my belongings that were in storage for the past year.
Seven hours and a gazillion boxes later, I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Was this all mine? Gosh, I didn’t remember having so much STUFF. I’ve spent the past three days unpacking and working very hard to turn what looks like a hoarder’s paradise into my home. Here are some lessons that I’ve learned as the boxes get unpacked:
Stuff multiplies in the dark. I decluttered my previous house before listing it for sale. Then before the moving truck arrived, I donated countless bags of clothes, sold furniture on Craigslist, and then filled a dumpster with all the other things that I knew I couldn’t or wouldn’t use anymore. Still, I am overwhelmed with all the stuff that arrived this weekend and am convinced that it multiplied while in storage! How else can I explain the four identical cookie sheets, six baking dishes, and five black sweaters?
This house just can’t hold as much stuff so I’m re-packing boxes of gently used cookware, clothes and furniture for Goodwill. It’s a shame that I paid the moving company to pack, store for a year, haul 600 miles to my new house, then unpack a lot of things…all to give it away. That’s a lot of money spent on things that I didn’t need.
Protect the priceless. I spent 24 years collecting things to provide a warm and inviting home for my family. We had countless sleepovers, family gatherings, and home cooked meals throughout the years and I loved those times. However, looking back, I know that I could have provided the same great times without all the household stuff that I acquired.
As I unpack, the things that moved my heart the most were the pictures. They triggered the memories that are truly priceless. However, they were just placed in regular boxes and the elements destroyed some of them. I will go through the stacks of pictures, throw away those that were bad shots, and make digital copies of the keepers. I will store the digital copies on free online sites like Google Drive or Dropbox or store them on an external hard drive.
When moving, pay for full value protection. I chose a national moving company because my move was across a few states and I wanted the convenience of having one contact during the entire process. This company came highly recommended by people that I trusted but I had a fair amount of damaged items. In particular, my buffet server and my grandmother’s cedar chest were badly broken.
I don’t have receipts for either. However, because I purchased full value protection insurance, I should be able to replace the buffet with something comparable. My grandmother’s cedar chest was nothing fancy, but it was priceless to me, and my claims agent has already reached out to see how it can possibly be repaired. Only time will tell, but this was insurance that I’m glad I bought.
Think very hard before buying anything else. Before the move, I’d been pretty good about staying out of the stores. I struggle with being inside Target or Bed, Bath & Beyond and making impulse purchases, but I need bath rugs, window coverings, and other miscellaneous (but expensive) things for the new house.
I will be very deliberate on what I buy this time around. I have a list and a budget in hand before I go. I also do my best to speed through the aisles and not linger. This way, I don’t happen to see some new, fancy thing-a-mo-bob and convince myself that I need it.
Keep the ibuprofen handy. I absolutely love my row house except for the stairs. I have easily climbed 100 flights over the past few days and my legs are in serious pain.
Add the fact that I’ve carried boxes up and down those said flights, and it’s easy to understand why my back, shoulders and arms all feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. I think I’ll cancel my gym membership. Thankfully, I remembered to pull out the pain meds as well as other important items like my passport, prescription medications, bank account statements, jewelry, will and living will documents. Now if I can only find the box with the wine glasses….
