SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN HOME DOWNSIZING

There are many reasons that people are home downsizing these days. One reason is that the baby boomer generation has reached retirement age and many are downsizing for a simpler, less expensive lifestyle. When moving from a bigger home, there is a need for reorganizing/decorating. This process is made easier by 3 things:

• Floorplan Thoughts;

• Storage Areas;  

• Standard Features and/or Optional Items for your home.

Floorplan Thoughts:  When designing a floorplan, allow as much open space as possible while still leaving room for the necessary furniture. Re-think what “necessary” furniture is to a new lifestyle. For instance, do you really need end tables in the living room or can you make do with a coffee table and floor lamps in strategic areas? There really is something to the Feng Shui concept too. When a pathway through a room is interrupted by furniture or accessories, the energy just doesn’t seem quite right.

When choosing a color scheme for walls in a smaller home, consider picking one neutral color to use throughout the home for the walls and use similar shades of that color. If you paint walls in bright colors or change colors from room to room, it will not give you the open, cohesive feel that you want to achieve.

The same goes for furniture colors and textures. Go neutral with smooth textures and you can change the contrasting colors using pillows, throws, rugs, drapes/curtains/shades and lamps. You might even change the accessories with the seasons or with holidays.

If you’re buying new furniture, think flexible. You can often find what you need at a consignment shop and maybe consign what you no longer need in your smaller home. Buy a dining table that seats 4 with a leaf that pops up or folds out and will seat up with 8. Buy the 4 extra chairs and place them in another room when not in use. (Or if you need a smaller dining table, use a bistro table that usually seats 2 with pop up leaves to seat 4 people.)  The extra chairs also serve for living area guest seating when entertaining or at a desk in another area. It’s a win-win. Another flexible idea is to buy a sleeper sofa for either the living room or even the guest room. It pays to purchase a comfortable sleep sofa for seating and sleeping. Also, if you decide not to use your end tables in the living room, you can place them in the bedroom as bedside tables for lamps and there’s a bonus because you get more storage space.   

If you are not a natural at space planning and decorating, ask a friend who is good at it.   

Storage Areas:  A place for everything and everything in its place. Your smaller home stays neat when you have efficient storage spaces. First, the kitchen. No matter how many cabinets/drawers you have, make the lower cabinets be pull-outs . . . every single one possible. If you have to strain to get items out of the back of cupboards, you won’t like it. And if you can’t see every item in your cabinets, it’s as good as not having it. If you are lucky enough to have a pantry, pull out shelves are great there too. There are storage solutions available with pull-out drawers/shelves too. Same goes for refrigerator storage. You can choose a refrigerator with pull-out shelves for better storage.

Next, bedroom closets. Master Bedroom: If you have a lot of hanging clothes, install an upper and a lower hanging rack rather than one hanging rack. The side areas that are not so accessible for items used less often are perfect for stackable storage bins. Label the bins for later use. You may also want to install a 2^nd storage shelf if you don’t have two hanging racks. It is recommended to have a step stool handy to access high spaces. Closet lighting is a good idea too. It doesn’t have to be wired lighting; you can buy battery lights that stick wherever you need light.

For 2^nd and/or 3^rd bedroom closets. If you have a guest room or extra bedroom and don’t need hanging space, it’s the perfect closet to place a small dresser or even a desk.  If your extra bedroom is lived in, you can make the same installations mentioned here for the Master Bedroom.

For cupboards/cabinets in laundry, bathrooms, etc. Use clear plastic shoebox size boxes to store smaller items to keep them separate from other things in your cabinet. Keep same size items together. For instance, have a box for batteries, one for light bulbs, one for small tools, one for miscellaneous. They are stackable and you can see what’s inside of each. For other cabinets, use portable/stackable wire shelves for items such as towels or sheets. The small stackable shelves work for under sinks too, short items under the shelf and taller items such as shampoo or dish soap on top. This way, you fit twice as much under the sink and you can still see everything.  Save space by NOT having towel bars in bathrooms. Instead, fold a couple of towels and face cloths on the back of the toilet. Match the towels to the bathroom décor. Also, don’t have toilet paper dispensers installed. Use a free-standing paper holder that sits on the floor and is easily moved to where its most convenient.

Hooks! Get the hooks! Use 3M moveable hooks on the back of doors for hanging coats, etc. Place hooks inside of cabinet doors to hang dish towels, hand towels, etc. You never know when you’ll need a hook!

Standard Features and/or Optional Features for your Home: Your home will have some nice standard features. However, you can add some features. Here are a few. Door lever handles rather than doorknobs are easy to open as people age or even if you have your hands full and want to open a door. A farmhouse sink, also called an apron front sink with a gooseneck pullout faucet/sprayer is a dream. The sink is big and deep for large pots plus you can wash and rinse in the same sink. Soft close drawers are nice to have too – no more drawers slamming. A linen cabinet in the full bath holds a lot of storage. Cabinets over the washer/dryer rather than shelving are also a great storage solution. You can install a bar under a cabinet to hang clothes freshly washed. If you choose a stackable washer/dryer, you will have extra space for a pantry or closet for cleaning supplies like vacuum, broom, etc. You can choose full size or apartment size washer and dryer that are stackable. Special lighting can accent your home, such as pendant lights over the kitchen island/bar. And a tube ceiling feature adds sunshine or moonshine to your living area too.

If you find yourself downsizing your home, or just moving to a new home, consider some of these solutions to make life nice and easy!