10 Ways to Downsize For a Happier Life

Hi friends, Kandace here with 10 tips on downsizing for a happier life. We did it and you can too!

Before becoming somewhat of a minimalist, I was one of those American women who loved to shop. All kinds of shopping, clothes, shoes, housewares, antiques, craft supplies, beauty supplies… you name it and I had it. By the age of 50 I had accumulated A LOT of STUFF! Then in 2021, Justin and I were about to move out of our 1,100 square foot condo and into our 20-foot Airstream to embark on a journey of a lifetime and we quickly learned that excess stuff and small living spaces don’t mix. This was the catalyst that catapulted me into a downsizing frenzy and looking back, I am happy and thankful for the experience.

Downsizing can be a very overwhelming task that keeps most people from even starting, but once you get the ball rolling, it does get a whole lot easier – I promise.

So, here are some idea starters that helped us through our downsizing process.

1. START SMALL
   • Getting rid of things is often a difficult and sometimes emotional undertaking. Collecting is the easy part, letting go, not so much.  Starting with small things can help get the ball rolling.  Start with things that you don’t have any emotional attachment to.  Almost every kitchen in America has a catch all drawer, more commonly known as a junk drawer.  It’s a perfect place to start! There are probably several things in junk drawers that are rarely used or even seen.  The first step in downsizing your life is finding a place to start, so why not start small with your junk drawer .

2. DECLUTTER
   • We spent many weekends going through our belongings and got rid of items we no longer used or needed. Our general rule – if we haven’t used it in 6 months to a year, we probably don’t need it!
   • A great place to start on the declutter process is in the garage and/or closets.

3. DO IT IN STAGES
   • Whenever we try to do something “all at once” it can bring on undo stress and anxiety. One way to combat this is to break down your downsizing practices into small bite sized activities.
   • Here is a helpful practice we learned from a good friend of ours that will help you do just that. His suggestion was to eliminate clutter one day at a time. Start with 1 item on day 1, 2 items on day 2, 3 items on day 3….. until you reach 30 items on day 30. If you can stick to it for an entire month, you will have gotten rid of 465 things! If you are feeling ambitious and go for another 30, that will be 1,830 items!  It’s a fantastic practice and can help free you from all that excess clutter.

4. ORGANIZE
   • Efficiently organize each space to make the most of the available area.
   • Do a walk-through of your home and take notice of things sitting about that just really aren’t useful.
   • Put things in bins and/or baskets and label them.
   • If drawers and cabinets are difficult to close, reassess what is really needed for that space.
   • If there are items you are unsure about getting rid of, put them in a box and label the contents of the box. After about 6 months, any items used in the box can stick around and unused items can be donated.

5. DIGITIZE
   • This is great for small items, pictures, mementos etc.
   • In today’s world, it’s very easy to take pictures of things we cherish and store them in the cloud or external hard drive.
   • Cloud storage is relatively inexpensive and is an easy way to hold on to large bulky items we have a hard time parting with that we can look back on in digital form.
   • How many of us have been carrying around a set of 4 heavy yearbooks from high school? If these are memorable keepsakes, perhaps take a picture of the cover and some of your favorite pages or consider only keeping your freshman and senior year books.

6. ELIMINATE DUPICATES
   • This can be as simple as reducing the number of plates in your kitchen cabinets from 10 down to the absolute necessary number like 2 or 4 to much more difficult choices like going from a 2 car to a 1 car family.
   • The idea here is to take an inventory of your “stuff” and prioritize what is necessary and avoid excess items.
   • What made it mentally easier for me to let go, was thinking that someone else could get better use of these items I was holding onto but only using occasionally.

7. IS IT A NEED OR WANT?
   • While taking inventory of your household items and deciding what you can part with, asking yourself if it is a need or a want can help make the decision much easier.
   • You can apply this philosophy to the things you currently have as well as in the future when you are considering new clothes or an item for the house.

8. REDUCE WARDROBE
   • Clothes were very hard for me. I like fashion and I had lots and lots of clothes. The first thing I did was count my jeans, I had 75 pairs! I forced myself to eliminate 50%, then did the same with tee-shirts, shoes, dresses, etc.
   • Another exercise is to hang your clothes in the closet with hangers in the opposite direction, after wearing the item replace it with the hanger in the correct direction. After several months have passed, any hangers still facing the opposite direction are items you haven’t worn and could be boxed up, sold or donated.
   • Lastly, practice the one for one rule. For every new item of clothing you buy, make a pact with yourself to give another item of clothing away.

9. SELL OR DONATE
   • By now, you have been able to identify those needs vs. wants, boxed up all your duplicates, digitized, and decluttered. This is a perfect time to have a garage sale, put things on consignment, or simply donate to charitable organizations. What an amazing feeling to be free of clutter and to help others in the process.

10. DOWNSIZE LIVING SPACE
    • Now that you have downsized your things, there is no longer a need for all that extra cabinet and storage space you have in your house!
    • And if you haven’t been able to downsize your things, forcing yourself to move to a smaller home can certainly accelerate the process 😉
    • We moved from an 1,100 square foot condo to a 450 square foot house then to a 20-foot camper all within a one-year period. Now, not everyone sells everything they own to go live on the road for 2 years, but you get the idea on the concept and with the right attitude and willingness to make a positive life change, anyone can downsize their life in one way or another.

Here are just a few more ideas and thoughts on downsizing: Consider renting or borrowing things you may not use often like power tools etc. and Invest in multi-functional furniture that can serve multiple purposes to save on space.

Hope this helps and good luck on downsizing for a happier life!

-Kandace (Justin and Sato too!)