Celebrate downsizing and discover your liberating adventure

Downsizing. It’s a word laden with emotion, a word that’s been known to strike terror into the hearts of the most stalwart house owner. How will I fit my stuff into my new, luxury condo? I’ve got so many memories. Where do I start? Help!

In this issue we aim to calm all of your fears as we chat with Heather Knittel, owner of Good Riddance Professional Organizing Solutions, about how to transform downsizing into a joyful, liberating adventure.

New Home + Condo Guide: What misconceptions trip people up when they start downsizing?

Heather Knittel: The biggest one is not allowing themselves enough time. People simply don’t realize how much stuff they’ve accumulated over the years. So, they’ll look at the garage or the basement and think, ‘Yeah, I can do this in a couple of hours,’ when, in fact, it’s probably going to take them several days. I tell people to allow at least twice the amount of time they think each room will take.

And, here are two simple tips to start: Make sure you have bags and boxes, so you have an easy way to separate things to be donated, thrown out because they’re broken or unusable, or kept. Don’t pile stuff on the floor because that’s how items get mixed up.

NH+CG: Leaving the family home is an emotional experience. How do you decide what to keep?

HK: You really need to look at your stuff with a critical eye. Remember, downsizing is about how you live your life now and will live it moving forward into the future. It’s not about how you lived in the past.

Sure, when the kids were growing up you might have enjoyed summer camping as a family, but do you really need all that camping gear now? Probably not, so get rid of it. I often see the same thing with crafts. Clients will look at something like macrame supplies and say, ‘Oh, I used to enjoy doing that in the ’80s.’ But again, it’s unlikely going to be part of your new life, so reclaim that space.

NH+CG: What items do people find most difficult to part with?

HK: Clothes are hard because they’re often associated with memories of a special event or person. I once had a client with 20 suits from his professional life — all hanging unused in his closet. We decided to keep one to represent that part of his life and donated the rest so somebody else could make use of them. People like to know their clothes are going to a good cause like a church or non-profit thrift shop, and that makes it easier to relinquish them.

Books are another potential problem area. Just because a book is old, doesn’t mean it’s valuable. They’re also heavy to move — especially those beautiful coffee table books. My suggestion is to keep a few that you love and will actually re-read, then simply deposit the rest into one of the book-drops you find around town.

NH+CG: What about family mementoes?

HK: Surprisingly, parents are often more attached to memories like their children’s sports trophies, scholastic awards and grade school artwork than the kids are themselves. A great way to keep the memory and not the clutter is to just take a picture — and if it’s digital, you can share it with the whole family.

Heather and Brittany, her partner and daughter, can be found at goodriddance.ca.

Original source: NextHome.

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