Downsizing your home in Ottawa

May 13

Sometimes, it's time to move into a smaller home.

There are a ton of reasons you may be looking to downsize your home in Ottawa. It could be because your kids moved out, you want a smaller mortgage, or you’re trying to live a slightly more minimalist lifestyle. Perhaps you’re tired of cleaning extra rooms you don’t use, you want to move into a more expensive/tightly packed neighbourhood, or pretty much 100 other reasons!

Regardless of why, downsizing is a challenge for a lot of people. How do you decide what to keep and what to give away? How do you adapt to living in a smaller space?

We’ve put together some of our major tips on how to downsize in the most time and space effective way.

1. Get started now!

If you’re thinking of downsizing your home, now is a great time to start preparing. Don’t wait until you’ve put an offer in on your new home. The sooner you can start sorting through your stuff and preparing to have less of it, the easier the process will be. If you wait till the last minute, you’re going to feel rushed, overwhelmed, and perhaps make decisions you’ll regret later! Your stuff is important to you - and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of is something you shouldn’t feel rushed to do.

2. Periodize your organization

You can take things slow by starting with specific areas of your house - perhaps a closet, shelving unit, or room! By doing this, you’re making a stressful process a lot more manageable. Setting achievable goals makes the process go by a lot faster and smoother. Depending on how long you have to review your things, you may want to do one “list item” a week, or a day, or a month! Make sure the selected area can be completed in a manageable amount of time. For example, it may not be reasonable to do your entire basement or storage room in a day. But you may be able to get through one shelving unit, or an uncluttered room, in 3-4 hours.

3. Consider your new space

Depending on how much you are downsizing, you’ll want to consider how much space you’re going to have in your new home. Some furniture may not be able to come with you, or need to be replaced for a smaller or more versatile version. You may want to get measurements of your new space to ensure things like couches and beds will fit comfortably.

4. What else is changing?

Most times, when we’re moving, more than just our house is changing. Perhaps you’re beginning to work from home, or going back to the office. Perhaps you’re starting a new job where you need to utilize your space for part of your work! Maybe you’re having a kid, adopting a pet, or babysitting for a friend or family member more often. Whatever changes to your life may be accompanying this move, make sure that you’re considering that too.

5. What are you doing with the things you get rid of?

You’ll also want to review the things you aren’t taking with you - where are they going to go? It’s a good idea to have an idea of local charities and organizations in your area that are accepting donations, and find out what types they are accepting. You’ll want to reach out to friends and family to see if they are interested in your valuable items, or perhaps begin listing things on Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, or organize a garage sale to sell them. You may want to attend pawn and resale shops or auctions to get rid of anything else that has a higher value. Sentimental things that you don’t have space for could go to friends and family members, or perhaps you’ll want to invest in a storage locker for some things that just don’t have anywhere else to go.

6. Start packing, with intent

The more organized you can be for the move, the easier it will be. Use small boxes within your drawers for small items, organize your closets into different types of clothes, and begin to group items together based on where they need to be in the new house. The more organized the items you keep are, the easier it will be to pick them up and box them when it’s time to go.

Once you get there, what's next?

Now that you’ve moved into your new, smaller home, there are some things you can do to maintain this smaller space to a high standard.

1. Regularly organize your space

Keep track of where things are going, and make sure everything you own has a home with space for it. This way, clutter doesn’t overwhelm you.

2. Be mindful of things you buy

Although it may seem like many problems can be fixed with a new purchase, remember that each new thing you bring into your home is going to take up more space. Before you buy something new, think about whether or not there is space for it in your home, and whether it will add to the overall feel of your home, or subtract from it by being extra clutter or taking up space.