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downsizing help.

DH and I are still renters, and our lease is up in a couple months.  We were hoping to find a condo/townhome but with our need to move south -- we couldn't find anything that we liked in our price range.

Anyway, we signed another lease for an apartment (south), but the prices are so much higher in that area we were forced to downsize to maintain our budget.  We're currently in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom with approx 1,070 square feet - but our new apartment is 1 bedroom, 1 bath with 812 square feet.

I think we're going to have to rent a storage facility for our extra queen size bed because I think selling it would be a mistake for when we get a bigger place. 

Have any awesome closet stroage techniques?  I think the second walk in closet will be missed the most.  Any bedroom furniture that offers fantastic storage solutions?  I've been lucky enough to have large apartments before now and not worry about things like this. 

Looking around at all the stuff we have and wondering how we'll eliminate over 200sf is a bit overwhelming. 

 

Re: downsizing help.

  • Where are you relocating to south? I live in Deerfield and they have on site storage and garages. Storing stuff would be your best option if you are looking to move again in the short term. Otherwise it might be best to sell it if storage is pricey.

    If you don't want to post the complex you can email me at gofurr25 at hotmail dot com.

  • imagegofurr25:

    Where are you relocating to south? I live in Deerfield and they have on site storage and garages. Storing stuff would be your best option if you are looking to move again in the short term. Otherwise it might be best to sell it if storage is pricey.

    If you don't want to post the complex you can email me at gofurr25 at hotmail dot com.

    ygm. 

  • Other than the huge, bulky items that just won't fit, I think you may find that 200 sq ft isn't much different.  It'll take a little getting used to, of course, but after a week or so you won't miss it.

    We went once from a 1200 sqft apt to a 920.  For the first week we were literally bumping into eachother... after that we were fine.  I kinda miss being in a small space with my DH.

  • I don't have any great suggestions, but wanted to encourage you that you can do it. Our apt. before moving to our house was only 777 s.f., if I recall correctly! Thankfully, there was a relatively large closet outside next to the front door, and we piled things upward in there quite high.

    Oh, another technique we used was using the under-the-sink area for things like mixing bowls and food storage containers. A lot of people might do that anyway. 

    Anyway, it can be frustrating working with a small space, but overall I think it's worth it if it means a much better, more practical location. Welcome to the south end. Smile

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  • It sounds like at least half of the space you're losing is in the guest room department, so putting that furniture into storage will take care of the bulk of your downsizing problem. Are you losing any particular type of storage space (eg linen closet, bedroom closets, pantry, kitchen cabinets)?
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  • My DH and I lived in a 900 sq ft old house for a long time (we finally added more onto it).  BUT, our closets were TINY.

    So, i divided my clothes and shoes into winter, summer, year round.  Durin the offseason, i put the clothes i didnt use into those little space bags, and put them into rolling storage under the bed.  also sorted them by items i was most likely to pull out first, so those were easily accessible if weather changed. same with coats - they all go into space bags!

    for stuff that had to go into storage - i bought color coded masking tape for every room of the house, then put an itemized list of what was inside.  sounds nitpicky, but makes it super easy to find things when you realize you forgot something.  We arranged the storage unit by color so all of the room stuff is near each other.  Crazy I know - but it works.

  • Leigha12 - we're losing mega closet space! That's my biggest concern.

    The kitchen is similar sized, the living room is actually bigger, it's the bedroom that's a bit smaller (and of course, we'll only have one!), but right now our master closet is huuuge and the guest closet is a walk in too.  Our new closet is larger than our current guest bedroom's... but much smaller than our current one.

  • I would definitely use under the bed storage like pp suggested. They even have lifts you can put on the legs of your bed to raise it up and give you more storage space. My favorite low-cost (as opposed to an all out closet system) closet storage techniques are shoe shelves (from the container store) and double layer hanging (metal bars that hang down with a wood rod at the bottom) to utilize the space below shirts for another layer of, well, shirts.  DH is using one of those hangers you see on tv that you put like 5 garments on and then collapse it. We got a clearance knock-off at BB&B but Target has the real thing. I have 4 shoe box shelves in my closet to house some of my 60 pair of shoes. They are stacked two deep next to each other and use up one wall of my closet. They make stacked shoes easy to get to. I keep all the boxes so they take up a lot of space. If you don't use the boxes, you can probably get a whole lot in there. I also have an over the door belt/scarf rack with about 8 hooks to hold all of our belts, scarves, and occasionally a purse or two.
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  • I don't have any suggestions but also wanted to mention storage units are not cheap so holding onto the mattress in the long term might not make much sense.  :/

    GL!

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  • imagessinca:

    I don't have any suggestions but also wanted to mention storage units are not cheap so holding onto the mattress in the long term might not make much sense.  :/

    GL!

    I found a Uncle Bob's for $22 a month... which over a year comes to less than I paid for the matress... not including the headboard/footboard/rails.  I just know I'll get not even close to what they're worth if I sell on craigslist... Confused

  • ah, ok - you did get a good deal on your storage unit! 
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