Downsizing

[street]

I need to start throwing and selling stuff at sometime also. I will have a hard time parting with some of the stuff. I don't want to leave a mess for the kids to take care of either.

We have a 200sf home and is just about right for two of us. I could live in a small home but I don't think my wife would.

The talk on 3 stall garages are a huge selling advantage for home sales. I would love a 3 stall garage. My son has had two homes and both had 3 stall and I fell in love with all the space.

[Jerry1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst My parents raised three kids in a home just like you described, if it also has a full basement. There was a tiny den that served as a "fourth bedroom," which was mine until I got too big for it and another sibling moved out. As the youngest, I had to use the half bath, which I shared with the cats' litter boxes, unless actually bathing. That was the only part that seemed too small to me! Quote: Originally Posted by Jerry1 We're in a 1700 sq/ft ranch. Of course it's enough for two people. However, I think if I had built this house, I probably would have done a little more in the master and master bath and that probably would have taken the house to 2000 sq/ft. Unfortunately, they just didn't build like that in 1956. I'm sure at that time this was considered a pretty large home having 3br and 1.5 baths with a family room and attached garage. The two car garage is actually oversize for the time period, but there'd be three bays if built today. Still, it's good for now as it's just the two of us.

We don’t have a basement. We have a slab. Basements are the norm around here, but we’ve come to learn that there is water just about 6 foot down which prevented them from building a basement. When we put in our pool, it was clear why there is no basement. They would have had to do some significant engineering to make it work. Anyway, we really like the slab. Like many things, it’s not perfect, but we literally have no steps in our house. There is one step from the garage into the house, but the previous owner built a small ramp for that. My understanding is that his wife was in a wheelchair. So, it will be a good house for aging in place from that perspective. Unfortunately, being on an acre will require a significant landscaping expense. We’ll cross the bridge later in life. For now, we can handle the yard work.

[Romer]

I bought this house at 47 planning on dying in it. It's my dream house. My daughter 17 at the time complained I made her move 3 miles away from her friends and I responded that I bought her a car so she can drive

13 years later, still love this house and added a two car dettached Garage (for a total of 6) for my toys

The main floor is 3 bedrooms and a study and all nicely sized fin 3000 sq feet. My wife uses one bedroom as her study. The basement is 80% finished and has a Home Theater, A billiard room, A bar, A gym and a 4th bedroom. That 4th bedroom is really the only thing that doesnt get use much. Used twice in 13 years. We also live on an Acre so great place for the dogs and plenty of landscaping to keep me busy

It's big, but has everything I want. We have started decluttering the stuff the kids left after they moved out and when I retire will work through decluttering more. My brother and I had to empty my Dad's house who told us it would be our problem. I wont do that to my kids

I can appreciate downsizing and simplifying your life. It isn't for me right now as I spent my life getting to where I am so I can enjoy it all. Maybe in my 80's I will feel like downsizing. That is 20 years away.

It is all a personal preference thing

[PatrickA5]

For all of my decluttering work over the years, I can't seem to get rid of my two daughters prom dresses. The girls say they want them but "don't have the room". DW says we have plenty of room so why not keep them here. I've tried everything including the guilt trip thought of some less fortunate girl somewhere that's love to have one of them. Nothing works, LOL!

One of these days......

[Amethyst]

Send them to me. I will cut them up, use them in quilts, and no one will ever be able to trace them. Bwah-hah-hah!

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatrickA5 For all of my decluttering work over the years, I can't seem to get rid of my two daughters prom dresses. The girls say they want them but "don't have the room". DW says we have plenty of room so why not keep them here. I've tried everything including the guilt trip thought of some less fortunate girl somewhere that's love to have one of them. Nothing works, LOL! One of these days......

[PatrickA5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst Send them to me. I will cut them up, use them in quilts, and no one will ever be able to trace them. Bwah-hah-hah!

I'd love to! But, it would be bad for my marriage. The worst argument me and DW (of 41 years) ever got into was when she found some of the kids toys in the trash. Apparently, I'd picked the wrong toys as they had "sentimental" value. They are still in a tub in the attic 30 years later - never to be looked at again.

[EastWest Gal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatrickA5 For all of my decluttering work over the years, I can't seem to get rid of my two daughters prom dresses. The girls say they want them but "don't have the room". DW says we have plenty of room so why not keep them here. I've tried everything including the guilt trip thought of some less fortunate girl somewhere that's love to have one of them. Nothing works, LOL! One of these days......

If your daughters say they don’t have the room for a dress, you probably should not believe them.

Why not donate them somewhere so someone less fortunate can have a beautiful prom dress? I think the girls might like that idea.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatrickA5 I'd love to! But, it would be bad for my marriage. The worst argument me and DW (of 41 years) ever got into was when she found some of the kids toys in the trash. Apparently, I'd picked the wrong toys as they had "sentimental" value. They are still in a tub in the attic 30 years later - never to be looked at again.

We still have "grandma's salt & pepper shaker collection" somewhere in the attic. Also, a few boxes of 40 year old kids toys.

[Souschef]

I understand. DW did not get rid of her son's crib until he was 40. When we combined our two 1800 sq homes into a 1400 sq ft home, things had to go.
I am into a little stealth downsizing at times.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by googily Over the past five years I have cleaned out my grandparents' house to sell it after they were both gone, then (some of) DH's stuff after he died, and then the vast majority of my late mother's MANY items/furniture/etc during my father's selling of his house. On behalf of children and remaining spouses everywhere, I implore everyone to not just leave this task to your children/remaining spouse. My own stuff is now increasingly crowded out by the sentimental items from each clean-out that I couldn't bear to part with. (Not big stuff, and I only kept about 1/100th of the stuff that actually meant something to me.) But each one of these emotionally and physically draining go-rounds has spurred me to make runs through my own stuff, though I have many more to go. I will never stop thanking my father for deciding to sell his house and get rid of most of his stuff while he was still alive. He was able to go through his papers and cull out stuff that would mean nothing to his kids, and I was able to oversee the project while not deep in grief of not only losing him but the delayed grief for my mother as so much of her stuff remained. And I know he realized what a Herculean task he saved me from.

When my mom passed, the j*b of cleaning out her house fell to my DW. Most of mom's furniture, etc. was easy to dispose of (mostly giving to folks who needed such things.) But all the books, sheet music, greeting cards, old letters, 40 year-old checks, etc., DW felt she needed to go through. She'd find an old greeting card, read it, cry and then put it in the "not sure" pile. It took her a full summer to get through everything.

I agree that we should all make an effort to get rid of such things NOW while we are able. DW is going through the boxes of family pictures and distributing them to those who would have interest. We figure otherwise, the kids will hire a dumpster and shovel most stuff into it when we are gone. YMMV

[Amethyst]

What's wrong with heirs hiring an internet estate sale outfit? They can get rid of almost anything, albeit at very low prices.

I did that when we moved from MD to FL. Even made a tiny bit of money. We obviously missed a trick with Mr. A's vintage audio equipment - which clearly could have sold for much more - and then again, old rugs went for $1.00 apiece, saving us from having to hire someone to haul them away.

Didn't even have to do much sorting.

Granted, if there's a hoarder situation - huge pile of roach and mouse-infested junk, old newspapers, etc. - the sale people won't touch it. But such situations are a sign of ill health (physical or mental), so exhorting those people to do better isn't going to be useful.

[TrvlBug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 ... ... Also, a few boxes of 40 year old kids toys.

Ah, this brings back memories. When DMIL passed 4 years ago, DH the only child, and I were tasked with clearing out her house in the midwest. It had a full basement and she was a packrat. Among the things in the basement were DHs old metal toys, circa 60 years or so old, as well as assorted weird odds and ends she found at flea markets, garage sales, and the like. The auctioneer told us NOT to throw stuff like that out...keep everything. DH's toys brought big bucks at the auction of her personal property. Who'd a thunk .

[ER2B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatrickA5 For all of my decluttering work over the years, I can't seem to get rid of my two daughters prom dresses. The girls say they want them but "don't have the room". DW says we have plenty of room so why not keep them here. I've tried everything including the guilt trip thought of some less fortunate girl somewhere that's love to have one of them. Nothing works, LOL! One of these days......

DW donated 2 DDs' prom dresses easily. But, couldn't donate their graduation togas. Both HS and College. Nothing seems to work. Graduated HS 15 years ago and counting.

[EastWest Gal]

DS is 12 years out of high school and has decided to get rid of his letter jacket. It was an expensive jacket and is covered with patches. He never showed any interest in it after high school. It’s his jacket.

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatrickA5 For all of my decluttering work over the years, I can't seem to get rid of my two daughters prom dresses. The girls say they want them but "don't have the room". DW says we have plenty of room so why not keep them here. I've tried everything including the guilt trip thought of some less fortunate girl somewhere that's love to have one of them. Nothing works, LOL! One of these days......

Easy solution...next time you visit just take the dresses and leave them. They'll have no choice but to find a place to store them.

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

We are at our downsized place (2 bedroom condo) now for 5+ years, and still finding ways to customize it and use under utilized space with out having that too much stuff everywhere feeling. Challenge was a small upright freezer I wanted so I built a base that lets the Neato robotic vacuum park under it in it's original corner and put my 3d printer on top. Actually cleared that off the cedar chest by moving that printer.

In a week I am traveling to see family and taking stuff that I no longer have use for that they want like masonry equipment, compressors and upright safe and even our older generation Nest thermostat. I have a small workshop in our condo storage unit and this will make it easier to use. I need to get creative with the bike in there though ..

Now the thing I'd like to to do is repurpose my spouses upright piano... I envision making it into a roll top desk with a keyboard and blue tooth speakers in the piano to get the acoustics awesome. I think it has been used a dozen times in 35 years : ).. I know it won't happen and i am not serious about converting it but I can daydream and play what if.. : )

[PatrickA5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover Easy solution...next time you visit just take the dresses and leave them. They'll have no choice but to find a place to store them.

I've got four tubs of stuff in the attic that belongs to oldest daughter. I'm waiting for her (and future husband) to buy a house in the next couple of years and we'll take everything to them at that point. It's a 14 hour drive, so we usually fly.

[ER2B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready-4-ER-at-14 We are at our downsized place (2 bedroom condo) now for 5+ years, and still finding ways to customize it and use under utilized space with out having that too much stuff everywhere feeling. Challenge was a small upright freezer I wanted so I built a base that lets the Neato robotic vacuum park under it in it's original corner and put my 3d printer on top. Actually cleared that off the cedar chest by moving that printer. In a week I am traveling to see family and taking stuff that I no longer have use for that they want like masonry equipment, compressors and upright safe and even our older generation Nest thermostat. I have a small workshop in our condo storage unit and this will make it easier to use. I need to get creative with the bike in there though .. Now the thing I'd like to to do is repurpose my spouses upright piano... I envision making it into a roll top desk with a keyboard and blue tooth speakers in the piano to get the acoustics awesome. I think it has been used a dozen times in 35 years : ).. I know it won't happen and i am not serious about converting it but I can daydream and play what if.. : )

Our DD wants our upright piano. We'd gladly give it but she's in a townhouse and expecting a fourth boy. She'll be needing every inch of that house.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready-4-ER-at-14 ... Now the thing I'd like to to do is repurpose my spouses upright piano... I envision making it into a roll top desk with a keyboard and blue tooth speakers in the piano to get the acoustics awesome. ...

Sorry, but "Bluetooth speakers" and "awesome acoustics" are at odds with each other. If you do this (and the modern digital piano keyboards are very good, likely better in a lot of ways than a typical old acoustic piano), you need a good amp and just use wired speakers. Bluetooth does nothing but get in the way of the quality of the sound. And even worse, there is a delay with Bluetooth. It would drive a player nuts to hit a note and have the sound come out 300 mSec later. Musicians worry about sub-millisecond delays.

You don't have to spend much on the digital keyboard to get a good piano sound, you'd probably spend more on the amp and speakers than the keyboard. The price goes up the more picky you are about the keyboard feeling like an acoustic piano- getting the weight, leverage and response just right. That means more complexity and mass and components, repeated 88 times.

-ERD50

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Sorry, but "Bluetooth speakers" and "awesome acoustics" are at odds with each other. If you do this (and the modern digital piano keyboards are very good, likely better in a lot of ways than a typical old acoustic piano), you need a good amp and just use wired speakers. Bluetooth does nothing but get in the way of the quality of the sound. And even worse, there is a delay with Bluetooth. It would drive a player nuts to hit a note and have the sound come out 300 mSec later. Musicians worry about sub-millisecond delays. You don't have to spend much on the digital keyboard to get a good piano sound, you'd probably spend more on the amp and speakers than the keyboard. The price goes up the more picky you are about the keyboard feeling like an acoustic piano- getting the weight, leverage and response just right. That means more complexity and mass and components, repeated 88 times. -ERD50

A pair of small powered PA speakers will work great for keyboards. I've been in many bands over the years with several keyboard players who prefer the sound of PA speakers over that of a keyboard amp.