Downsizing to a smaller home

Key points

• A smaller house does not always mean lower property taxes, which are determined by the property value.

• Minimize stress by clearing out your house room by room.

• Decluttering doesn’t mean parting with sentimental items — take advantage of storage units.

Downsizing to a smaller home comes with perks: less upkeep, lowering utility bills and fewer rooms to clean. Data confirms that more Americans are embracing minimalism. The 2023 trend report by Taskrabbit, an online platform that connects people to home services providers, showed a 71% increase in decluttering services and a 13% year-over-year increase in downsizing in the U.S.

Downsizing is not necessarily about living with less; it’s about living with the items that help make life manageable, said Stormy Perez, a New York City Tasker specializing in home organization.

Yet, the idea of downsizing to a home with a small square footage can feel intimidating, especially if your current home is packed to the brim with storage boxes in the attic and the basement.

Fear not, planning a move to a smaller space doesn’t have to be daunting. USA TODAY Homefront spoke with organization pros on how to downsize your home room by room. 

By the time you’re done reading this, you’ll start calling moving companies and setting up a yard sale. 

Why should you downsize your home?

“Downsizing enables people to remove the unwanted clutter from their lives, so they end up with a home that is only full of the things they truly want, love and need,” said Ann Lightfoot, co-founder of Done & Done Home, a home organization and decluttering business in Montclair, New Jersey.

A homeowner may downsize to a smaller home for various reasons.

• Lower mortgage payments: A large home often comes with higher mortgage payments. A place with fewer square feet can bring down your payments.
• Kids moving out: Empty nesters may not want to deal with maintaining a larger home, especially one with unused rooms.
• Home maintenance: From lawn care to cleaning routines, upkeep is expensive and time-consuming. Less space means fewer chores.

Other real estate-related perks to downsizing include lower insurance costs and reduced closing costs. In all likelihood, your monthly utility bills will drop, too.

Getting your home for a smaller space could cut down on moving costs. Not only will you need fewer moving boxes and supplies, you may also end up with a smaller moving crew. Additionally, a cheaper moving truck can save you hundreds of dollars, Perez said.

How do you downsize your house room by room?

That said, most people dread the idea of downsizing, Lightfoot pointed out.

One con of downsizing is that people become attached to their belongings, especially if you spent years (or decades!) living in your family home. To keep your sanity in check without getting too sentimental, pare down room by room.

Start small. As you tackle each room, Perez recommends removing everything from cabinets, drawers, pantries and closets. “It’s overwhelming, but when the brain sees all the items accumulated in their entirety, it can help push clients to downsize,” she said.

Lightfoot emphasized the importance of remembering the dimensions of your new home throughout the process. “If a person is realistic about the size of their new home, it will make moving into it a much happier experience,” she added. “People don’t want to believe it, but space is finite.” Consider the number of closets, cabinets and room sizes in your new space to prevent moving more than can fit.

Kitchen

The kitchen is HQ for clutter central. Evaluate what you can toss. “Water bottles and cups accumulate quickly — it’s hard to resist the popular new Stanley cup colors, or maybe you’ve acquired a stash of branded bottles from work or school events,” said Kelli Lamb, editorial director of home design magazine and website, RUE, based in Los Angeles. “The reality is you really only need one, maybe two, per family member,” she continued, noting that this is one of the easiest kitchen cupboards you can declutter.

Then, go through your single-use appliances such as Instant Pots or air fryers. “It’s so easy to be allured by the next dinner timesaver,” Lamb said. If you use certain single-use gizmos regularly, by all means, hold onto them, but for those you don’t, “that’s a big chunk of space you can easily free up.”

For example, Lamb had a pressure cooker her household used only twice in the last five years. When she posted it on her neighborhood’s Buy Nothing group, it was snapped up in an hour.

Lightfoot stressed that the kitchen is a relatively easy room to downsize because most items are utilitarian instead of sentimental.

Living room

Target all the bells and whistles in your living room. Pillows, throw blankets and decor can quickly accumulate in a living space. “Editing things down is key,” Lamb said. “Categorize everything and then cut each collection in half.” No one needs 12 throw pillows — choose six and donate the rest.

Perez recommended assessing your furniture. Ask yourself: “Does it fit my current lifestyle? Will it fit in a smaller space?”

Consider the minimalist approach. Pieces with built-in storage are a win for downsizing. Replacing a large coffee table with an upholstered storage ottoman can help accomplish this. You can use a tray or books to create a makeshift coffee table, then clear it for extra seating, Lamb said.

Sectional couches often provide storage space in the chaise. “This is a great spot to keep extra bedding or other items you’re not using daily,” she added. This hack can reduce the need for storage baskets and free up closet shelves.

Anything damaged with tears, stains or cracks can be placed on the curb. Furniture pieces that are outdated or too big for your new place can be donated.

Bedroom

Consider how you use your bedroom space when planning to downsize to a smaller home. Ask yourself if that corner “catch-all” chair with semi-dirty clothes needs decluttering or if you should change your habit and put clothes away. “If it’s been months since you’ve sat in [the chair], move it to another place in your home or get rid of it,” Lamb said.

A home with less square footage likely has less closet space. Perez recommended taking everything out of the closet to sort into piles. Take note of duplicates and how often you wear something.

Office

As you downsize, decide if you want or need a dedicated office space. Perhaps a tablet is enough. Employing a dining room table or adding a small desk in the living room can be enough space for your laptop, Lightfoot recommended.

Then, reassess office supplies: folders, bins and filing cabinets. “Home offices are notoriously hard to downsize because paperwork is typically involved,” said Lightfoot. She suggests getting your hands on a shredder and a scanner to deal with old bills, receipts, bank statements and home maintenance instructions.

Digitalize what you need and shred the rest. “If there is a large amount to be shredded — more than a bag or box — it may be better to hire a professional shredder,” said Lightfoot. “They pick up and often shred it right on their truck, which puts people at ease.”

While we encourage letting go of paper, be careful not to toss any government-issued documents that can be difficult to replace.

Bathroom

Bathrooms are primo locales for pack rats. “People have a lot of products but typically only use a fraction of what they own,” Lightfoot said. Evaluate what you truly need versus what belongs in the trash.

Much like items in your pantry, medications and some beauty products have expiration dates. Mascara and moisturizers may need to be replaced every six months, Lamb pointed out. “Not only are these taking up space, you can risk infection or skin irritations,” she cautioned.

Other bathroom downsizing tips include tossing stained and frayed towels and rummaging through cleaning materials and supplies. No one needs three shower heads.

Kid room

Downsizing doesn’t always mean adjusting for small spaces. Empty nesters may not have to call a real estate agent, but instead create a new space out of a kid’s bedroom, for instance.

While your kids may have an opinion about what you can donate and what should go into the attic, you can make a smaller footprint by swapping items. A queen-size bed can be replaced with a sleeper sofa if you transform a bedroom into an office.

How do you get rid of unnecessary clutter?

Ask family members and loved ones if they want sentimental items and keepsakes. 

“Once items have been sorted into keep, donate and throw away, they should be dealt with as soon as possible,” Lightfoot said. “All too often, people have bags of donations in their closets or cars for months at a time.”

Organizations such as JunkLuggers and 1-800-Got-Junk? will schedule pickups from your home. If you plan to use a donation center, check that they accept items before making the drive. Some community centers and churches have a surplus of certain items and will not take toys and clothing.

You can also make extra cash through resale marketplaces: Nextdoor, OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark and eBay.

For furniture or larger decor pieces, the online marketplace for pre-owned furniture Kaiyo lets you upload photos of the pieces you’d like to sell and if approved, the company sends a team to pick up the item from your house. “Everything is deep cleaned at their warehouse, professionally photographed, and listed to sell, and the seller takes a percentage of the cut,” said Lamb, a fan of the site.

What’s next?

Save time by packing as you’re downsizing to a smaller home. “Pack boxes as you purge,” Perez said.

You can put away dishes for special occasions as you declutter the kitchen. Seasonal sweaters and coats can be placed in plastic boxes, making them easy to move.

This step will help reduce moving anxiety. You can use your closet as temporary storage while waiting for your moving day.