Empty Nest, Full Life: How Downsizing Can Elevate Life

Whether your high school grad is off to college or their first apartment, or if you’re approaching retirement looking to simplify your life and surroundings, there are some key steps to make the process less stressful and more enjoyable.

Downsizing your living space can open the door to new adventures, travel and free up time previously spent on maintaining a large house and yard.

1. Define your lifestyle goals: Are you looking to turn your kid’s bedroom into a home office or wanting to create a low maintenance home so you can travel more? Once you have a vision for how you’d like this next chapter of your home to feel, you can start planning. 

2. Love it or list it: Once you know what type of lifestyle you want, decide if you want to stay in your current home or look at selling it. Either way, downsizing starts with decluttering! 

3. Give yourself plenty of time: Downsizing involves sorting through all the “things” you’ve collected over the years. There can be a lot of emotional attachment to household items. If you take a “slow but steady” approach, you can decide how best to save, pass on, donate or sell special items. 

4. File in piles: It’s best to work specific areas of the house at a time instead of trying to tackle everything at the same time. For each area of focus, make three piles: 
- Keep: Items that are in good condition, that you need and use regularly. - Donate: Gently used items that can be useful to others, and duplicate items. - Recycle/Trash: Items that have seen better days, that are broken or not functional. Take advantage of local specialty recyclers for computers and environmental products like old paint.