Downsizing is the new upsizing as rampant consumerism makes way for more care, less glitz, and a return to less opulent values.

Once upon a time (not too long ago) upsizing was a natural part of life’s order. The more you earned the more you owned. How times have changed; now downsizing is all the rage with tiny homes and Scandi-inspired minimalism.

Moving from a palatial space in the country to a city condo, owning a home to suit your needs and not a home where you have to fill it with stuff.

Embracing the minimalist movement or finally making the decision to move in with your significant other; it all puts a positive spin on what was once considered a step backward; Downsizing!

Of course, there is one glaringly obvious problem and that is moving your stuff from a large home into a smaller space, something that requires you to master the dark art of downsizing.

Sure, you may think it is just a matter of throwing out the stuff you don’t need, but you’ll realise just how tricky this is the moment you decide to get stuck in.

Here are my top tips for making downsizing a doddle:

 

1. Start With A “Can’t Live Without” List

Doing it the other way around and making a “stuff to go” list is just too hard. Nothing will get done.

But having a list of things you can’t possibly bid adieu to will make it so much easier to start tossing things into piles labelled rubbish and charity.

If you know you are keeping the things you truly care about, you won’t be too upset about the stuff that’s going.

 

2. Start Months Ahead Of Your Move

Trying to make sense of this mess the weekend before your move is going to make the third most stressful thing in the world even more stressful.

So, about three months before, look for the best price skip bins and start chipping away at your stuff. Do a little bit each day, like finally tackling that closet you barricaded closed for fear of it bursting open or that cabinet of drawers you have been scared of for too long.

So long as you do a bit every day, you will make great progress.

3. Go To Town On Unsentimental Rooms

Yes, we’re talking about your kitchen, bathroom and garage. Having ten mixing bowls in three different sizes is excessive.

You know this. But you also won’t get all sad and teary-eyed about getting rid of the excess. The same goes with your utensils, those lotions you never used, the snow shovel you never used or the lawn-mower that has become redundant since you decided to move into an apartment.

You will get into the swing of things by starting here.

4. Sell The Stuff You Don’t Want

Throwing things into a giant skip will make saying goodbye to certain tidbits a lot harder. But if you are getting rid of them in exchange for cash, glorious cash, then your incentive changes slightly and so does your willingness.

If you want to go down the yard sale route, then do that. But it may be worth speaking to a high-end auction house and having them come around to look at your books, breakables and other bits.

You don’t want to sell a Jane Austen book you’ve never read for a dollar only to see it crop up in the news having just fetched $35,000.