Ups and Downs to Downsizing

I Downsized.

I’ve gone from a 1010 square feet apartment that offered two bedrooms, two full baths with a laundry/storage closet within the unit to a 730 square feet one-bedroom apartment, one bath: without laundry inside the apartment unit (access in the building).

About ten years ago, we, as in myself and my children, resided in a five-bedroom single-family home. It had always been a dream of mines to live in a large house that had a big backyard surrounded by soothing noises of nature where the kiddos could swing or swim in a pool.

My children would all begin to exit high school by the time we moved into our largest home. But nevertheless, we got to experience the joys and pains of living in a single-family house.

The house did not have a pool in the back yard or in the community, but a wood swing set stood in the wide-opened backyard. I love the look and the easy care of the hardwood floors throughout and space to entertain family and friends during the holidays and special occasions like birthdays and baby showers.

Pruning the small flower garden in the spring and summer months was relaxing, but unfortunately, nature was not always so calming.

We experienced raccoon and fox invasions, spiders the size of our hands, the spawn of mosquitoes, and a lot of leaves to rake during the fall season: a townhouse would be easier to maintain.

So as each child earned their walk across the stage, grabbing their high school diplomas from the administrative hands. They were ready to spread their wings to take off into the real world and, downsizing begin.

I climbed and reached that goal to live in a five-bedroom home then downsizing from a four townhouse to a two-bed apartment with a den to two bedrooms, and now a one.

Yes, they have all left the nest visiting often. I have to say I am a proud momma. But I never had imagined myself here in my smallest home to date (#lifeatdawns).

The downside of downsizing

If you are thinking of downsizing: BEWARE. There are as many cons as there are pros to tiny living.

Many have been forced to downsize or are considering it due to these unknown times. And I am here to tell those thinking of doing so, it can be challenging. Well, I know for me it was the most challenging move to date moving amid corona.

The search for a place to live is stressful enough, but to add the corona lockdown on top of packing, working from home, and one flood issue after another I was experiencing in my then apartment had me stretched to my limits.

However, I survived the madness, experiencing the downside to downsizing: the lack of storage space is the biggest downfall.

I did a quick walkthrough of the unit I reside in now and decided on it because it has a walk-in closet in the bedroom, a coat closet, and a large linen closet: plus a small storage unit in the building.

In my mind, as I rushed through it: masked, it appeared to offer room to store my clothing, coats, linens, and DIY materials if I got rid of my five totes of Christmas decorations. Boy was I wrong (closet post coming soon). I am still purging my clothes post-move-in almost four months later.

Another con is not having a separate guest room when the g-kids visit and my daughter visits from out Florida.

In my old place, the second bedroom served as my office and guest room. Now I am trying to figure out if I should purchase a futon, sleeper sofa, or the chesterfield sofa I’ve wanted for many years for the living room. Whatever buy, I need it to be a transitional piece for when I upsize into a house.

Some other cons to downsizing are allotted entertainment spaces, sharing one bathroom with guests, and purging of sentimental items.

I had an old Singer sewing machine that belonged to my mother that needed to be serviced or, maybe I didn't know what I was doing.

But I can recall the day she and I walked into Walmart to buy it. She did not know how to sew so; I kept the machine at my house. I didn’t want to let it go and wouldn't have but, I had received a new machine as a Christmas gift a few years back and decided to let my mom’s go when I moved.

Why I did it and the pros to downsizing

Several things played a role in my decision to downsize. You can say I was somewhat influenced by this Tiny Living concept all over the home décor channels and social media but also the pros of downsizing.

I watched a TV show once where a family of six shopped for a tiny house to move from a 2500 square foot house to a 600 tiny square foot house to get out of debt and save for their children's college funds.

I thought if they could with a family of that size, I could easily manage to live in a smaller footprint. But I have questioned my decision many times after moving in. And wish those television shows would follow up with a Where Are They Now series? I am curious to learn how they are surviving seeing how I still find myself all over the place to find a spot for what I still own.

Also, some years ago, I watched a documentary on the happiest countries in the world and how people living in Denmark have less stress and are happier having less stuff to worry about.

Viewing countless shows since then on how other countries: people are living longer lives than many areas of America living with so much and the benefits of tiny living. I said, why not?

The pros and benefits would be to have more time with my family and friends creating and writing, less time cleaning. It would permit saving more for traveling, investing, and education and less cost in utility bills in return for lesser energy usage that impact world climate.

As I stated, in the cons, sharing one bathroom with my guest is a big downsize: I kind of wish I had a separate half bathroom for them to use.

However, one of the best lessons I have learned in downsizing is what I want and do not want when buying a home.

I am still settling into my small cozy space, adjusting, and purging. It’s spring-cleaning season so much more will be thrown out.