Senior-Friendly Guide To Downsizing When Moving
Jun 11, 2021
Downsizing is a practical and significant tasks people, especially elderlies moving to a new residence need to perform. Older people usually move out of family homes to a smaller house, their children’s residence, an aged care facility or
unit in a retirement village. Thus, packing and moving furniture, home decor items, clothes, appliances, and other belongings becomes difficult or impossible due to space and storage restrictions.
By downsizing, you can get rid of property contents you won’t require anymore and discard them responsibly. Additionally, it lightens the load for your hired removals professionals in Sunshine Coast and reduces the moving costs.
If you are a senior citizen
planning a move or helping an elderly relocate, here is a complete senior-friendly guide to downsizing when moving.
Declutter
Decluttering is crucial before performing any other moving-related task because it helps get rid of unwanted items and trash from your home. It reduces your packing and moving burden significantly and decreases relocation or storage costs because removals companies in Sunshine Coast usually charge you according to property contents’ weight and space they take.
While decluttering:
• Get rid of garbage and broken items
• Remove things you haven’t used for six months
• Identify items you don’t use at least once a year
• Get rid of Gadgets, appliances and other items that are obsolete or never used
Evaluate Your Reasons For Downsizing
Senior-friendly downsizing is necessary for a variety of reasons, but each person and their moving circumstances are different. Therefore, it is necessary while doing this activity you evaluate the reasons. Here are some factors that should be taken into account.
• Many older adults knowingly or unknowingly hoard things
• Maintenance of furniture, big appliances and other household items
• Sentimental connection with things
• Cost of using big electronics or equipment
• Frequency of usage
Follow A Downsizing Checklist
In addition to creating and following cleaning or
moving checklist, write/note your downsizing tasks and follow the lists to complete activities according to importance and urgency. Your moving checklist should include these tasks.
• Gifting or giving away items
• Referring to the floor plan of your new home
• Getting rid of items of rooms that your current residence has but the new one doesn’t
• Labelling items definitely as ‘Keep’ ‘Throw’ ‘Donate’ and ‘Resell.
• Take photos and videos of items you don’t need
Remove Duplicates
One of the most effective and efficient ways to downsize is to remove duplicates of everything you have in your home. Start with the kitchen and bedroom because these areas usually have plenty of duplicate things. For example, you can have four spatulas but use only one. Similarly, you can have duplicates of cookware, utensils, appliances, gadgets and much more.
Therefore, assess each room and make sure you only keep items you need. If you have two couches, beds, tables or other furniture but would need only one of each at your new home, then responsibly get rid of the things you don’t need.
Start Early
Start creating an inventory of your belongings and note which things need to go as early as possible before moving. Ideally, you should initiate the process right after selecting the new home and evaluating it to know what you can take. Once items that are not required is decided or downsizing is complete, you can focus on other moving-related tasks such as booking removal experts in Sunshine Coast, packing, cleaning the property etc.
Donate Or Resell Items In Good Condition
After creating a list of property contents you don’t want at the new residence, inspect them for condition and value. Responsibly discard items that are broken or cannot be reused. Don’t forget to ask family members/relatives to see if they want any of these things.
Moreover, categorise the remaining items for donating or reselling. You can contact your
local charities or donation centres to know what items they take.
For reselling:
• Hold a garage sale online or offline
• Keep the event on a weekend
• Post about it on social media or distribute flyers
• Also, never host the sale on a holiday as it can significantly affect the turnout
Rent A Storage Unit
If you are moving at short notice and don’t have the time to sort your belongings, rent a storage unit. Your hired
removal experts in Sunshine Coast can move your property contents to the unit, and the items can remain safe there while you relocate. Once you have settled, you can visit the unit and decide what you can take to your new residence and what you need to discard, donate or resell.
Storage units are excellent for keeping furniture, heavy appliances, electronics, and other important household contents securely and without damage.
The Bottom Line
Elderly people need to let go of many things while moving because most relocate to a smaller house or unit. Due to space or other restrictions, it can be impractical or difficult to bring all their current home’s belongings.
Therefore, downsizing is a responsible and practical solution which you should explore if you are an older person moving to a new home or helping a senior citizen relocate. Use this senior- friendly downsizing guide to manage the process and reduce the moving load for your hired removal experts in Sunshine Coast as well.