Downsizing: What About All That Stuff?

I have been asked a couple of times whether we’re afraid that we might feel cramped in the new, smaller place. I think many people subconsciously think of downsizing as cramming all of their stuff into a smaller space. And I feel that this is the wrong way to think about it. In my mind it is more about living with less stuff.

Instead of writing a ton I thought I’d show you a few photos of Miss C’s Storage. Up until a few weeks ago all she had was a dresser for all of her things. I did keep a few of her fancy dresses in my closet, but the dresser housed everything else. The bottom two drawers even held (and still hold) her “next season” clothes. The one on the bottom right has her summer things, and the one on the bottom left has all winter things she is yet to grow into (coats and shoes live in a separate closet).

As you can see, the new closet is pretty empty. I put the hanging shelves there for staging purposes. Same goes for the pretty dresses that used to live in my closet or the dresser.


All this to say that, Miss C’s closet is pretty representative of our overall storage needs vs. capacity (it’s just the prettiest one of them all). We think that we can swing it in a condo for a few years while we find a new home. And even in a new home, we are not afraid of smaller storage because it works for our minimalist approach.

A few things work for us in keeping things minimal:

- Know yourself = I don’t wear pencil skirts or anything red, my kid doesn’t like wearing pants or shorts, hubby hates anything that needs to be ironed, we do not eat sugary/packaged snacks and I have an aversion to broccoli right now. Be aware of what you need/use on regular basis and stick with that, everything else in noise in your closet/pantry.

- Buy best quality you can afford = which means we can afford a smaller number of things, but they last longer and need less storage.

- Purge regularly = I switch out our clothes with the seasons, and in the process I donate or throw things out (it also feels like every 6 months we get a brand new wardrobe and makes us shop less).

- Know what to keep = there are special magical things that you want to keep. Like my sequined pieces or Miss C’s special dresses (even if she has already grown out of them).

- Just say, no = to random/cute things at the store, to Disney paraphernalia at Disney on Ice show (I’m a mean mommy), to “I’ll just try this and forget all about buying it” sauce at the grocery store, to a great deal on Kijiji. You and yours can manage without these things just fine.

Nothing really new or groundbreaking here, but these are the things that work for us.

PS. the toys in this closet are a fraction of what Miss C has. The rest live in the playroom.