Moving into a tiny house after living in a full-size home requires downsizing. Whether you are excited, daunted, or both, downsizing can be challenging. But you can do it. Here are some tips to help you complete the process quickly and efficiently.
- Get rid of actual junk first.
Before you even start trying to declutter things you care about, go through your home and get rid of actual trash. You will probably be surprised by how much of it you find.
- Digitize papers.
Next, digitize as many of your papers as you can. You will probably feel fine about throwing away hard copies of most of it, and this can free up a lot of space.
- Declutter using a technique that suits you.
Now you will need to get into the hard part, which is decluttering stuff that isn’t junk or papers.
You can find dozens of different decluttering methods online. There is no single “best” way to declutter, however. The question is not which method is most effective in general, but which is the most effective approach for you.
Decluttering is a deeply personal activity, and there is no right or wrong approach or goal.
- Donate and recycle.
Whatever techniques you use for decluttering, try to donate everything you can. Ideally, you should give items to family or friends who want them, or to non-profits to donate on your behalf to those in need.
Thrift stores are okay if the ideas above fail; the reason we don’t recommend them first is because oftentimes, they throw lots of stuff away, which then just ends up in landfills. If you do give to thrift, see if you can find a thrift store that does not engage in this practice (to find out, check their dumpsters).
If you cannot find anyone to take your stuff, including thrift stores, then you are stuck recycling. Only if something cannot be donated, sold or recycled should you just throw it in the trash.
- Improve your organizing solutions.
While you are decluttering, it is important to make sure you understand the true parameters of the situation. A lot of people dive into decluttering with the assumption that they absolutely need to free up a certain amount of space by doing so. But is that always the case?
There is a good chance that there are some inefficiencies in your existing organizing system. If that is the case, you might be able to free up some space without decluttering for every inch of it.
Simply by investing in and designing better organizing solution and supplies, you may very well find that your existing belongings are more compact than you realized, once they are properly stored.
If that is so, you will not need to declutter as many items, if you do not want to.
- Consider renting a storage unit.
Another workaround that can let you downsize and move into a tiny house without getting rid of as much stuff is renting a storage unit.
Not everybody will like this idea. For some people, getting rid of stuff is one of their primary motivations for moving into a smaller house to begin with.
But not everyone is eager to get rid of things. If you enjoy and value your possessions, and want to keep more of them than fits in a tiny house, a storage unit is a good solution.
One word of caution: long term storage can become more expensive the longer you use it. In urban environments in particular, it is a common practice for people who own storage facilities to raise the rents on a periodic schedule.
So, you will want to choose a facility in a more rural area if possible, to avoid this, and/or be prepared to occasionally move all your stuff from one facility to another so you can go back to paying lower rates.
- Choose a tiny home with clever storage solutions.
One more workaround that can help you reduce the amount of decluttering and downsizing you have to do is buying a tiny house that has clever storage solutions built right in.
The Woodland Park Timber Ridge Woodlands Vault you see pictured above features a raised floor in the living room. This allows for large storage compartments underneath.
These compartments are not only roomy, but they have large enough dimensions that they can accommodate objects you might otherwise not easily find a place for in a tiny house (like a kayak).
That is just one example. There are tons of other clever ways to incorporate storage into a tiny house. This is something we can talk with you about during your consultation.
Move Into a Tiny House
Even if you currently do not feel like you can squeeze your whole life into a tiny house, you may be surprised by what is possible.
With smart workarounds, you can avoid a lot of the work of decluttering. For the rest, with effective techniques, you can downsize your possessions faster than you think.
If you are eager to move into a tiny house, please give us a call to discuss. We can help you choose a park model home floor plan and features that will be ideally suited to your lifestyle.
