Downsizing: UK’s Latest Trend

The simple life: How to downsize successfully when moving home

With recent research revealing that 30% of Brits have considered moving into a smaller property, relocating, or staying with family to save money as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies, the decision to downsize has become quite the trend for UK residents. Downsizing your home can be the right move at any stage of life depending on your specific needs.
Whether you are moving from your family home, making a temporary lifestyle change, or relocating to a new area, downsizing successfully can seem a daunting task, leaving many people not knowing where to begin.

Attic Self Storage has teamed up with Professional Lifestyle Organiser and Declutterer, Sally Walford, whose award-winning company, Declutter Me has been helping people move home and declutter their way through life for over a decade.

Sally has shared her top tips on how to have a successful and clutter-free home move:

Preparation
Let’s face it, moving, in whatever capacity is very stressful. Most people feel overwhelmed at the prospect of even starting a project like this. So, preparation is the key to a stress-free move.
Start off with writing a to-do list or download our printable home-moving checklist. Listing tasks can stop procrastinating and help you focus on one step at a time instead of feeling overwhelmed by the whole picture.

Measure Your New Space
One of the crucial steps to a successful and clutter-free home move is measuring out the new space. Before packing up and transporting all your belongings to the new home, it’s essential to assess the size and layout of the rooms in the new space. Measure the dimensions of each room, including the height of the walls, to ensure that your furniture, appliances, and other belongings fit in properly. This will help you determine which items to keep, sell, donate or discard, and avoid unnecessary clutter and stress in your new home. Additionally, mapping out the new space in advance can also help you plan your furniture placement and make the most of your living space.

Collate
Collate similar items together, you may be surprised to see how many coffee mugs or items of Tupperware you own. Decide whether you have the space or really need them all in your new home.

Decluttering
There is no better time to declutter than before you downsize. It may seem obvious but it’s true! Most downsizers take far too many possessions to their new home causing them even more stress at the other end.

Say Goodbye
Don’t move with things that you haven’t used for a long time. How about that fondue set or ice cream maker that’s just gathering dust? Now is the time to let go.

The 80/20 Rule
Did you know that you only wear 20% of your wardrobe 80% of the time? This rule can be applied to anything in your home from children’s toys to cookbooks too.

The Four-Pile Sort System
The four-pile sorting system is a popular method used for decluttering your home. When going through your belongings, you separate them into four piles: give, donate, sell, and trash. The “give” pile is for items you want to give to friends or family, the “donate” pile is for items you want to donate to a charity or organization, the “sell” pile is for items you want to sell either online or at a garage sale, and the “trash” pile is for items that are broken or unusable and need to be thrown away. This system can help you organise your belongings and reduce clutter in your living space.

Self-Storage
Sentimental items such as photographs, relatives’ possessions, and baby clothes are always tricky to tackle. If you are struggling to let go, consider using self-storage for these items and tackle them when you are ready. Choosing the right storage company is essential and Attic Self Storage offers a friendly and professional service as well as storing your possessions safely.

Packing and unpacking
People often underestimate the time it takes to pack and unpack. To ensure the safe packing and moving of your possessions, call in the professionals. People often run out of time and throw things in boxes causing chaos at the other end plus breakages. Attic’s friendly team and network of trusted suppliers can advise you with the correct boxes and packing materials to ensure you store your possessions safely.

Eloise and her boyfriend Oliver were both living in a two-bedroom flat in Brixton together, however, their rent price had increased immensely. Due to their rent price being more than a mortgage, they
decided to venture out and put a deposit down for their own property. However, due to the UK’s recent economic plans the cost-of-living crisis affected the young couple’s decision to move, leaving them in a predicament. Luckily, Eloise’s mum offered for the
couple to move in with her, whilst they save up to add to their deposit for a flat.

Reason for move:

Eloise, London says ‘What was the reason for your move – Our flat contract was coming to an end after 18 months and rental
prices had skyrocketed since our original contract, meaning we were looking at a rent of almost £500- £600 more per month to stay in the area. We both had some deposit saved and calculated that the mortgage we needed to buy would be less than or the same as
rent, and we’d rather be paying the monthly sum into our own property than someone else’s pockets.

At the same time as we handed in our flat notice, Liz Truss announced her economic plans and mortgage interest rates rocketed, reducing the amount we could comfortably borrow per month and our overall
budget by approx. £50k and meaning that we could no longer afford to buy in the area we wanted.

Therefore, we needed to save up additional deposit money to make up some of the difference, and also hope to wait until mortgage rates either stabilised or came down before buying. My mum kindly offered
for us to move in with her, where the only cost would be to contribute to bills – this was also helpful for her as her bills had skyrocketed and this meant she could share them with us.’

Relevant info:

When Eloise and Oliver were moving out, they were shocked how expensive services such as storage and removals were.
Oliver, London says ‘our moving period came, and we couldn’t believe the high prices of moving services, it had us wondering whether it was cheaper to stay and rent! To avoid having our belongings spread over various friends and families’ houses, we
decided to put into our local Attic Self Storage which was super convenient for us and within our budget.’