Zoomers or Boomers with zip as some of us are called are coming to a time of life when it is time to get rid of all the extras we have collected around us. It’s time to downsize to a smaller house or move into a condo /apartment. Now my zip isn’t always engaged but in my mind it is.

I can see where downsizing would mean a freedom to do what I want rather than what I “have” to do. It would mean a new way of life with time to travel and entertain more .It would also mean I would have more” me “time or “we” time. Sounds like a good plan to me, how about you?

You may have to adjust your living space to between 650 square feet and 1200 square feet. Every square inch will now have to serve a purpose and be able to comfortably contain all your possessions. Did I mean all you now own? No, certainly not especially if you have a large family home that was filled with family.

You will begin by checking the size of your furniture and see if it can fit a smaller space. Another thing to think about is can it serve a dual purpose. For example, do you have a drop leaf table that can seat two and then expand to seat six? Do you have a sofa that makes into a comfortable bed for company? Would a stacking washer and dryer be more reasonable in your new smaller space?

Do you have dishes that can be dressed up for a formal mean and yet look equally nice with hotdogs? How many glasses do you need? How many changes of bedding? How many bath mats? You have four winter coats? Have you counted your footwear lately? How many jewellery boxes do you have filled with jewellery you never wear? You can see there are many choices to make, some easy and some hard to accomplish because you are sentimentally connected. Believe me I do understand.

You may have to sell or give to family your present furniture as yours is just simply too large to fit well. Avoid rolled arms on a sofa. Each arm may use up nine inches and therefore a sofa needs eighteen inches just for the arms. You may not have that space to use. You don’t want your new space to be so full it makes you feel overwhelmed and crowded. Only keep your most prized possessions, not every possession you own.

Before you begin too, decide how you will be using each room. You may have a desk top computer now but maybe a laptop would eliminate the need of a desk. Filing cabinets can serve as night stands beside your bed; serving two needs at once.

Just think; freeing yourselves of twenty years of paper work may be just what the doctor ordered. We have to save certain files but we end up with years of useless paper stored and never getting sorted and shredded. It is much easier to shred as we can rather than shred years worth at one time. We are habitual procrastinators. I find things I stored away and wonder what I was thinking.

You may need someone totally not involved in this process of downsizing and that is one of the services in which I specialize. When you not emotionally connected to the pieces of furniture it is easier to be of help to someone else. Meaning if it were me downsizing I would have to ask for help too.

You’re moving into a condo or smaller size home is actually a wonderful time to reevaluate your lifestyle and redesign it to who you are now and how you desire to live, relax and entertain.

Boomer or Zoomer, you decide.