Downsizing Your Home is Hard (1)

Downsizing is a challenge! Many decisions have to be made about what sentimental things to keep and what to give away. My Husband and I made the emotional choice to downsize this year. In August we moved from a 3200 sq ft suburban home to a 1300 sq ft city bungalow.  

Downsizing your Home takes an Emotional Toll

Being a Designer who values building decor around the things we hold dear, our home was the ultimate example of homey beauty. It tastefully exhibited all of our stories through treasures carried and displayed from all of the lives we have lived in various fell-in-love-with locations.   This was the end of an era for me. At our age, downsizing is downsizing, you can’t take it with you. It’s hard. I felt like I was breaking up from a serious relationship. I painstakingly had to choose the few most special and memorable items that would work in our new little bungalow, and either give the rest to our grown children, or watch it be sold in an estate sale.  

Once the furniture had been cleared out, I approached my favorite French chandelier that still hung in the breakfast room above what had been a Vanderbilt estate foyer table.  I touched it, held it, gazed in longing at it, and a voice said to my soul, “This is idolatry.”   Whoa.  I understood why I had to go through this.

It was a merciful confrontation that enabled me to see the actual value of the things I was losing, and put them in their proper perspective, making it easier to let go.  

So how did we practically do this and how can our experience help you?  

My general principle in decor for myself and my clients is to preserve the beloved pieces we already have, to create a beautiful and healing aesthetic, and this is no different.  

Start with a space plan

Obtain floor plans of your new place.  If you don’t have them, take room measurements and sketch or make a space plan for each room on the computer. Edraw is a great tool for beginners. If you’re overwhelmed, don’t worry we’ve got you covered, just reach out to us if you need help.  

Measure positions of windows and doors and sketch them in to properly assess free wall space where furniture pieces could land.

Measure your furnishings to see what will fit and sketch them into position on the page.  

Make sure you have a minimum 17” between the coffee table edges and seating. Give 32-36” wide space for pass throughs if possible.  

Choose the large pieces first.

I kept the furniture that fell into one of 2 categories: Newest and Most Loved. For example, I had to choose between a favorite large comfy chair that I enjoyed my coffee in every morning, or two smaller arm chairs.  I chose my Papa bear chair because I loved it the most, even though it wasn’t the practical choice for providing adequate seating for visitors. I decided that I am living there, not my visitors.    

If you have keepsake furnishings that don’t match and need to be used in one room, tie them together with a new colorful rug or piece of art that picks up the different hues.  A modern piece of art is often the perfect statement for tying together different colors and styles.  

Mixing Contemporary and Traditional Styles

Choosing Accessories

You may have only a couple of surfaces for displaying treasures, and don’t forget, the mail has to be stacked somewhere. Choose your most cherished couple of pieces for your coffee table, console table, or dresser. Consider hanging only your latest and best family photos in a condensed wall collage rather than standing them on a surface. Or make a Shutterfly photo book to stack on your coffee table instead. Keep other tier-one specials in the family and retain the right to have them back if you have space for them later.  

Create unique pieces from sentimental items

For example, I have a friend who made leather coasters from the worn leather sofa she raised her boys on, another who created mosaic urns from chards of old dishes.  

How to create unique pieces from sentimental items.

Incorporate new pieces

You will undoubtedly need a couple of new furnishing solutions for your new space. Finding new pieces to retrofit into a design that is an amalgamation of pieces from a larger storied lifestyle is often a tall order.  

I finished the space plan for the bungalow and creatively mapped out how I could use the remaining pieces of furnishings and accessories I had lovingly preserved.  

But I had a dilemma: neither of my dining tables would fit and the holidays were just around the corner.  

I began my search for one that would fit the tiny eating area.  It was important to me to complete an aesthetic of beauty and cohesion for our mental wellbeing, especially after the heart-wrenching experience of downsizing. In small spaces, one piece can represent success or failure in this endeavor. That table had to be perfect! So I thought…