Is it possible to downsize without compromising? I don’t think so. Marni Jameson says the trick is to downsize up. Marni’s idea of downsizing is: “an intimate home, but not a broom closet. I want an easy keeper, with enough usable canvas for me to imprint my soul in three dimensions.” She want to live in comfort, be close to some city life, but not so close that she can’t see the stars at night. “I want gracious but not grand, lovely but not lavish, pretty not pretentious.” Is all that possible? Perhaps.
I have a friend who was recently widowed. Originally from Missouri, she’s lived in New Orleans for the past 50 years. She sold her home right after her husband died and has to move before mid-March. She has friends and one son here, another in Missouri and a daughter in Arizona. Her solution is to rent a 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment for a year, enjoy the company of her friends, visit the son in Missouri during the hot, humid summer and the daughter in Arizona during the cold winter months. She will be able to take most of her furniture that matters, give children anything they want, have a garage sale and donate what remains to a non-profit. I think she has found a way to downsize without much compromise. Here are some advantages to downsizing.
- more freedom from taking care of unnecessary space and stuff
- lower overhead, such as house expenses and property taxes
- possibly more access to services such as markets, shopping and also less driving
Designer Becky Dietrich has a Houzz ideabook on how to edit your belongings. It’s the beginning of a series addressing small items, clothing, furniture, etc. Here’s the link to the first installment which tackles photos, kitchen and garden tools, seasonal decorations and collectibles. I can hardly wait to see all of her other suggestions!
At Casart, we keep moving and downsizing in mind as all of our designs are removable AND reusable. It may have graced a wall or an entire room in one home, but could find a new life in a new space in many ways-accent wall, bookcase backings, stair risers, covering a piece of furniture, applied to a folding screen, etc., etc.
– Lorre Lei
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