How to downsize

Is your home too large for your needs? If so, you may be considering downsizing. Moving to a smaller property can be a good decision if you want to pay less for your rent or mortgage and utility bills or you want to live somewhere that’s easier to maintain. If you’re wondering how to downsize, read on. Over the years, Darvills has helped many local people to relocate to smaller homes. 

Advice for downsizing your home

Downsizing your home can be an attractive prospect, particularly if you’re older and your children have flown the nest. You may not need so much space anymore and no longer want to maintain a big empty house. Cleaning empty rooms and paying to heat them up every winter can certainly become a burden. For advice on how to downsize, keep reading. We’ve created a short guide to help make downsizing your home a breeze.

Start with decluttering 

When it comes to downsizing, it makes sense to start with decluttering your home. Some people leave it until a week or so before the move to declutter. However, you should start well before this if you want to avoid running out of time. Begin the process a few months before you move house, throwing out only a handful of items each day. Take it slow and steady rather than getting rid of everything in one go. This can make the task much less overwhelming.

Work on a room by room basis

Rushing from room to room throwing out random items can be chaotic. So, when decluttering your home prior to a move, we recommend focusing on one room at a time. Start with the most high-traffic area in your home. This is likely to be the living room or kitchen. You could choose to separate your belongings into three different lots – keep, throw away, or donate. Once you’ve tackled the most cluttered rooms in your home, the process will become easier and seem less daunting. 

Measure up your new home

Your tape measure is your new best friend when downsizing your home. You need to measure the rooms in your new property and decide what furniture will go where. You can ensure it will fit perfectly before you move in, making the moving day less stressful. If you don’t fancy getting on your hands and knees and measuring up yourself, you could always use the floor plan provided by the estate agent. This can help you work out which furniture to keep and what to get rid of before moving into your new home.

Digitise your paperwork and media

In this increasingly digital world, it makes sense to digitise your important documents and media. Not only will it save you significant space in your new home, but it can also make it safer and more secure. By storing it in the Cloud, you can ensure that it can only be accessed by those with the password. This is ideal for sensitive or confidential paperwork. You can also access your files from wherever you are, which is highly convenient.

Consider your furniture options

One way to save space when downsizing is to opt for multifunctional furniture. Many types of multiuse furniture have hit the market in recent years, making life so much easier for downsizers who suddenly find themselves with less room for their old furniture. Good examples include dining tables that fold down when they’re not in use and coffee tables that raise up to become computer desks. Another option to consider is investing in a sofa bed or futon for guests to sleep on. This means you won’t need to turn a room into a guest bedroom when you may only get visitors every once in a while.

Hire a local removals company 

Since downsizing your home can be such a demanding task, it makes sense to enlist the services of a local removals company. You might be tempted to hire a van and move yourself, but this isn’t advisable with this type of move. At Darvills, we’re widely considered one of the leading removals companies in Halifax and Bradford and over the years we’ve helped hundreds of people to relocate to smaller properties.

We can help you to ensure that your move goes smoothly from start to finish, assisting with everything from packing and loading to unpacking at the other end. Downsizing your property can be more challenging than you might anticipate. Therefore, it’s a good idea to have an experienced team of removals assisting you every step of the way.

Do you require storage services?

Downsizers often require storage services for belongings that won’t fit in their new homes. Even if you’re skilled at decluttering, you may still find yourself with items that can’t come with you to your property but you can’t bear to part with. In this case, we recommend investing in professional storage services. 

At Darvills, we offer secure storage units in a range of sizes. Suitable for many different items, they are ideal for storing your belongings on a temporary basis. Whether it’s antique furniture, treasured toys from when your children were little, or even clothes that you hope will come back into fashion, our units are the perfect place to store them.   

Contact us 

Now that you know how to downsize your home, you may be looking for a local estate agent with an excellent reputation. At Darvills, we are proud to be one of the leading removals companies in Bradford and Halifax. Call us on 01274 963 057 or 01422 747 036 to discuss your removal needs with one of our friendly team. You can also complete the form on our website to get a free quote today.