You’ve been in your home for years, maybe even a lifetime. You have closets full of memories, and well, a few things you don’t need, use, or even remember. The thought of going through everything and paring down what you don’t want or need can be daunting, so much so that you may choose to avoid the idea altogether.
But if the house you are in is not working for you, if the yard is becoming more than you can manage, if the space is too large or you just want a fresh start, don’t give up! Instead, tackle the overwhelming task one small step at a time. Here’s how.
Create a 5 Pile Organizational System
The items in your house basically fall into 5 categories: 
- What I can take to my new, smaller home
- What I am giving away to friends or family
- What I can sell
- What I will donate
- Trash or dump
So where do you start? Know yourself. Are you more productive if you tackle the largest job first and get it out of the way? Or are you more motivated by small victories? After three back to back downsizes, I know that the best plan for me is to start with something small and non sentimental, like a hall closet that holds coats and hats, or the linen closet. Put your items in their definitive piles, and plan to leave them there (we’ll talk more about that, later.) Think about the space you are moving into, and if you don’t know where you are headed yet, think about where you want to go. Headed to Florida? You won’t be needing those winter boots. Headed to a patio home with landscaping services provided for you? Most of that lawn equipment will go in your sell, donate or give away pile. Be careful not to unload anything you may wish you had later, but also be realistic. That large armoire may possibly NOT fit into your new bedroom. Once you have tackled the smaller areas, closets, junk drawers, the cabinets where you store your kitchen appliances, it’s time to move on to the larger rooms, such as the garage, basement or attic space.
Try to work on this every day, separating your items. As you determine which items are in the “going to my new home” pile, go ahead and pack those up if they are things you don’t use regularly. Everyday dishes? You’ll still need those. The extra set of dishes you bring out for company, or the large collection of books you plan to take? Those can go in a box. I advise my clients whenever they get ready to list their home and are downsizing to go ahead and start decluttering. Packing the things you don’t use every day is part of the process, and it helps declutter your home as well. I remind them that their future buyer wants to be able to visualize their own things in the home, and since they are already planning on moving anyway, why not take advantage of this opportunity of decluttering to also start the packing process?
So now that you have the process down and have started to accumulate your piles of stuff, your home may be starting to feel a bit overwhelmed and disorganized. Go ahead and make those trips to your favorite donation spot such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, Matthew 25 Ministries, etc (Check down at the bottom of this blog for a list of places to donate to.)
It’s also a good time to reach out to your kids, siblings, nieces and nephews to ask them if they are interested in the items you have set aside in your “what I am giving to friends and family” pile. Have a plan in place though for where those items will go if your family members don’t have a need or want for the items you have set aside for them.
Selling your items
Yard Sales Full disclosure, I hate yard sales. I hate the planning, the logistics and setup, the haggling over a $5 shirt, the weather, the looky loos, all of it. I’d rather stick pins in my eyes if I’m honest. On our last downsize I stole an idea straight from a friend in a local neighborhood group, that being a Facebook Virtual Yard Sale. The process is simple: Create a Facebook page called “Smith Family Yard Sale,” whatever you want to call it, and start posting pictures of what you have to sell. Kitchen table with 4 chairs, $500 or best offer, Treadmill, 5 years old, works great, $750. Go through your house, snap a picture or two of each item, post it on your yard sale page, then invite your friends to the page, post the link on your local neighborhood Facebook pages, and allow those that are interested to join the page and see what you have to sell. Be prepared to accept electronic payments via Zelle, PayPal or Venmo. I was amazed at all the stuff I unloaded that way. It does take patience and organization to do this, and I was starting to run short of both after awhile, but honestly it was way easier for me than sitting at a yard sale because my life was not allowing me to be in one place for more than 30 minutes at a time.
Consignment Shops. Some items just aren’t going to sell at a yard sale. For those items, such as that large armoire, consider sending them to a consignment shop. Don’t expect to get rich off consigning items, but I did find that the consignment option worked for items that just didn’t seem to move at my virtual yard sale. When you contact consignment shops, ask them about picking up the items. Some will coordinate pickups, others won’t, so be sure to nail this down first. If they don’t do pickup, ask them to recommend someone that will.
Donations. I used this option especially for clothes. I had no interest in trying to sell used clothes. To me, it just wasn’t worth the headache. Not when I had so many other things I needed to do.
At some point you start to run out of time, energy and patience. I know I did. At that point I just wanted things GONE. We have a local Facebook Freebox Page (a place where you can post things you are giving away, and people will claim and take the items.) At one point I put a whole bunch of random stuff on my garage floor on top of an old blanket, took a picture, and posted on the page “Freebox Free-for-all, see something you like? Set up an appointment to come take it.” This got rid of ALOT of odds and ends without having to pay someone to come haul it away.
And in the bitter end, when I ran out of time, patience and well, ME, I called a haul away company and paid them to take everything else.
What NOT to do. If you don’t use something, get rid of it. Don’t make the mistake of carting things to your next place over guilt or remorse. Don’t pay someone your hard earned money to pack and move items you don’t need or even have room for. Don’t torture yourself over the things you want your kids to take that they just don’t want. And, once you put something in the “not going with me” pile, leave it there.
Resources for Downsizing
Recycling
Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub
Consignment
This and That Furniture Consignment
Donations
Salvation Army of Greater Cincinnati
Goodwill of Greater Cincinnati
Cleanouts
If you are a Senior Citizen and all this seems too overwhelming for you, or if you are in the process of downsizing a family member (or yourself) into a retirement community or assisted living, consider reaching out to an organization that will assist you with every step in the downsizing and moving process. Start with Amy Lewis, Owner of On Cue Organizing. Call 513-301-0071 or 513-342-2244. She can help you with as much or as little of the process you need. amy@oncueorganizing.com Or, reach out to Caring Transitions to find a representative in your area.
downsizing smaller home retirement downsizing decluttering moving selling Cincinnati Wyoming Loveland
