Recently I was taking a home buyer around to look at properties. She and her family are moving from another state where the homes have large basements. Her current home is nearly 4000 square feet (plus a basement) and she's looking at homes between 2000 - 3000 sqft. She knew she wanted to downsize, but had a really hard time with the room sizes.
When we would find a home that would fit all of her needs, inevidably I heard, "I don't think my living room (or bedroom) furniture will fit in here." Respectfully I tried to remind her that she was losing half her living space. She was moving to Florida for a more simple life, part of that would mean letting go of "stuff".
When you are ready to downsize, be prepared to let go of your stuff.
I downsized when I moved to Florida too. My two oldest {adult} kids stayed in SC and we didn't need a 5 bedroom home anymore. we went from just over 3700 sqft down to about 2900 sqft. I'm ready to downsize again when my youngest graduates high school this year. While she'll probably still live with us, we can move to an area that isn't dependant on school district and when we do, I would like to get down to about 2100 sqft.
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What everyone, including myself when the time came, seems to forget is that downsizing means that the entire scale of the house shifts. Rooms throughout the home get smaller. Downsizing probably means getting rid of a lot of pieces, and maybe having to buy new furniture altogether.
Unless you are building a custom home, then expect that you won't just lose the formal living room, but your family room will probably be smaller too. You may not need the sitting area in your master bedroom anymore, but when the bedroom gets smaller, the closet may get smaller as well.
In general buying a home because of how your furniture will fit is always a tricky way of looking at things. If your furniture is part of your lifestyle then that makes sense, but usually it's easier to decide to buy new furniture for your new home than picking a home based on where the sofa will go. When you decide to downsize the situation only gets more difficult.
If you are ready to shift your life, to give up the big house for a simpler life, it may just be time to give up the big furniture too.
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