Celebrating over 1,000 Clients and Personal Downsizing

How fortunate I am to have been welcomed into more than a thousand homes over the past several years. It is a privilege I don’t take lightly. Those I serve have spent their lives amassing mementos, art, photos, furniture, clothing, books… their belongings. I want to hear their stories and what has brought them to this moment in time and to learn about what is most important to them. Sometimes this is a difficult question to answer because many find significance in all they own and haven’t processed how to cull it down, but some are ready to answer the questions “what means the most to me?” and “what do I want to surround myself with now that I am downsizing to a smaller space?”

Almost a year ago, I began asking myself those questions and I brought my husband along for the ride. It may have been slightly earlier than he anticipated having to answer these questions since we had moved in 2016 from our single family home of 24 years into a townhome. Just a few years later, I was suggesting we put our 2100 square foot townhome on the market and move to a 900 square feet condo. The new space required that we evaluate what we wanted and what could reasonably fit. The exact exercise we go through with our Customers.

I began asking the critical follow up question to the previous two: “What do we really need?”

We love our white sectional (after years of owning pets and raising kids a white couch is so decadent!) and tv, our king size bed, and a teak dining table and 2 leather chairs bought through an estate sale colleague a few years ago. My husband had a bookcase of books he wanted to keep as well. And cooking is a passion so many of the kitchen items had to come. Plus we needed two desks, one for each of us. With the new space in mind, we thinned, donated, and brought some indoor and outdoor furniture to our family up north. We have a small 5X5 storage space for seasonal items.

There were bumps along the road as we had to adjust to not having a garage, in home laundry, a bathtub (shower only), and now navigating three flights of stairs (elevator is not convenient) with groceries. In our new space, we have exactly what we need, and my enjoyment of my surroundings has improved tremendously. I see manatees and dolphins on my walking path in the morning. Stores and restaurants are within walking distance as well. We are 10 minutes by car from a Saturday market, museums, concerts, and ball games. Living in a smaller space in a new location has shifted our world view.

We tell Customers who are moving into senior living communities that their lives are about to change. They will spend more time involved with others (if they choose) as activities are right outside their door. We also advise that their new homes will require less effort with less time spent on internal upkeep and even less on external upkeep. I can also tell them as they move to apartments often larger than my condo that I know what they are going through letting go of what doesn’t fit and that there will be happy ending. What do we really need to be happy? Less than we think.