How to downsize from your family home to an apartment
- 21/11/2018
Maybe you’re a pair of empty nesters starting to notice the impracticality of a four-bedroom house. Maybe you’ve decided that the running costs of your ‘forever home’ no longer make sense for what you’re getting. Maybe your quiet suburb just isn’t giving you the excitement you’re after and you want to get back into the middle of the action.
Downsizing means reducing space in exchange for upsizing many other parts of your life. The new opportunities far outweigh the drawbacks, even if the change might seem drastic at first. The opportunity for a fresh start doesn’t come along every day, so make sure you do everything you can to embrace the opportunities that come from downsizing to an apartment.
Here are some tips for before, during and after your move into a nifty new apartment!
Before you move.
Remove clutter. Moving to a smaller space is the perfect impetus to clear out unnecessary clutter or furniture that will not compliment your new space. It’s also the perfect time to find the key new pieces that will.
Owner and Director of Hub Furniture, Jacqueline Foti-Lowe says moving to an apartment is about finding the right blend of old and new: “We often work with clients who have incredible existing collections and are looking to marry what they have with what they desire. We work with many clients who want to start fresh but don’t want to feel like they’re living in someone
else’s home, curated by someone else’s vision... we enjoy the process of understanding who the client is and how they want to live.”
During your first days.
Start small. Introduce yourself to your new neighbours. Many people who live in large buildings don’t know their neighbours, but being greeted by a familiar smiling face in the lobby, the bar or the gym can go a long way to making a new surrounding feel like home.
Once you’re settled.
Make the most of your spare time. Apartments are more economical than houses in more ways than one. They cost less on bills, use space more efficiently and have less of an impact on the environment. But apartments will also give you much of your time back. With everything other than the interior of your new home now handled entirely by the body corporate, you have much more time to focus on your priorities. Relax by the pool, enjoy the sunshine in the park and spend the time you might have previously lost on mowing lawns on leisure.
Change as difficult and always requires some adjustment. But to be able to step out of your door and be moments away from restaurants, theatre, retail, nightlife and entertainment is worth making the transition.
You may have once called a house your ‘forever home’, but just let yourself consider the extra opportunities moving up (vertically) might bring.
