Most of us will downsize to a smaller home at least once in our lives, and maybe more, for any number of reasons. Maybe you are moving from a place of your own to share the rent with a roommate. Perhaps you are newly single. Maybe your children have grown up and moved away, or a parent who has been living with you has moved to a retirement facility or passed away. Sometimes, people move to another part of the country where they cannot afford as much house. As people get older, often they no longer want to deal with the upkeep of a large house, not to mention climbing up and down stairs, and choose to move to a smaller, single-story home. Whatever the reason, most people will at some point find that they want or need to get by comfortably in a smaller space.
Moving Parents and Older Relatives
If you are in the position of moving a parent or relative from a home they have lived in for many decades to your own home or an assisted living facility, this will likely involve dealing with items that hold great sentimental, not to mention monetary, value.
When moving a parent or older relative, it can be tempting to just donate or sell their items. Be careful. There could be valuable antiques amongst what you might consider old junk. If your family member has no interest in keeping them, to be on the safe side, find a reputable estate dealer to come in and look everything over. If you don’t want to deal with it at the moment, storage may be the way to go until you have a chance to determine exactly what you have. Many people have given away valuable antiques and collectibles because they did not recognize their value.
Empty Nesters
If you have a child who has gone away to college, or graduated and moved into their own place, you may not feel the need to downsize, but you likely have plans for their bedroom. Whether you want to turn it into a workout room, a home office, or a guest bedroom, you will likely have furniture and other things that your child no longer wants, like that frilly canopy bed or bunk beds, and that you no longer need. You can sell them, or put them into storage. A.C. White Relocations offers storage spaces for items that you are not ready to part with permanently, but don’t need around the house. It’s always best to check with your child before selling, donating, or throwing anything away. If you think that items may have sentimental value later, don’t take any chances. They may not be interested in the many stories they wrote when they were in grade school, but you never know when they will get sentimental about them, or want to show their own children years later. To be on the safe side, if you don’t have room for them, place them in storage.
Don’t just automatically throw away or give away their toys and dolls. You never know what they may be worth later. Ask anyone who threw away their child’s 1959 Barbie or 1954 Superman lunch box. If something is still in the box, all the better. Leave it that way; it will be more valuable.
It’s Better to Give…
If you are moving into a smaller home, this is a great time to get rid of the junk you may have been accumulating for decades. If you haven’t worn an outfit in a decade, chances are, you never will again. Are you really going to re-read all of the books on your bookshelf? If not, share them with others. Non-profit organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, Goodwill, and any number of local charities will happily take any useable items you would like to donate, and you can get a tax deduction as well. Just keep track of what you give away, and get receipts from the organization(s).
The Advantages of Storage
Whether you are moving to a new location, or just want to clear out things in your home, our Atlanta moving company can handle it all. We can do the packing for you if you prefer, and will place anything in storage that you are not ready to part with just yet. We have over 250,000 square feet of storage space available in our Georgia storage locations. We are also able to access storage facilities around the world through more than a thousand partners, so if you are moving outside of Georgia, we can likely find a storage facility convenient to your new home.
Our storage facilities are safe. We also provide pick-up and delivery services. We can safely store and protect high-value items like musical instruments, and artwork. We provide inventory records of what is stored and where, and valuation options to protect you. Whether you decide to have your items shipped to you later or to someplace else, we can handle that. When you designate delivery of your items, we will securely pack them for shipping to the designated recipient, and then unpack and assemble them, if needed.
If you are going through a separation or break-up, it is important not to let your emotions get the better of you and just give everything away. Holding a yard sale and selling your former beloved’s skis and other belongings for $1.00 apiece, like Angela Bassett did in Waiting to Exhale, may be cathartic at the moment. However, likely you and/or your former partner will regret it later.
With any downsizing project, is important not to get overwhelmed. Take things one room at a time, and be organized. A helpful guide is available at http://downsizemyhome.biz/guide. We at A.C. White Relocations are always here to help. Go to https://www.acwhite.com/ to chat online with one of our specialists or to get the phone number for the office closest to you.