Me too!I am still giving away things as I have too much stuff. Takes awhile.
In the UK what you call the first floor, we call the ground floor.What you call the second floor is the First floor to us !We tried to downsize when we moved from South Florida to Dallas 16 years ago, but none of the builders wanted to build smaller houses on any lots because they couldn't make any money. We traded a 2800 square foot house for a 2900 square foot one for a lot less money.
We are still living here. The master bedroom is on the first floor, so we will stop going up the stairs when the time comes.
Thinking of giving the cat a pink slip... Does that count?Downsizing... anyone have plans?
Very true.What seemed important to keep last year didn't seem important this year.
I looked at a showhouse in a new build housing plot being built with 400 houses ..... the interior was beautiful and ultra modern, but the rooms were tiny...the livingroom would have got a sofa and TV in it.. the master bedroom a bed and bedside tables at a squeeze, nothing else... and there was no land to speak of.Either SF is inhabited by relatively wealthy folk, or large houses are relatively inexpensive in the US . Here in the UK, most new houses are small and crammed into tiny plots with inadequate access and parking. Of course we are told that people don't want spacious houses with gardens, where the likely truth is that the builders want to maximise profits.
We actually 'upsized' slightly when we retired, but to a house ( 1400 sq ft) that sounds like a garden shed by US standards. Now, I love this house, but the main trouble is the lack of local amenities, and that issue is getting worse. With hindsight, I might have placed more emphasis on local facilities than on the house size. The on-going maintenance of a house almost 200 years old and the need to travel will need to be addressed.
You've told this story here before. The wisdom of it struck me the first time I read it and I've peated it many times to friends and relatives my age.Whenever "downsizing" is discussed I repeat some of the best advice ever given to me. It was from a 105 year old (sharp as a tack) postal patron with whom I visited after she suffered a mild stroke: "When I moved from a five bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment it was SO stressful, what to try to keep, what to give away (she outlived all of her kids) what to donate etc. All that stress and all that worry and THIS is what we all wind up with: (she points as she says) a bed, a dresser a TV and a chair." When we downsized this became our mantra.
am I missing something here?As I said, we upsized when we stopped work in our mid 50's. Now at 70, I wouldn't want the hassle of taking on a house that needed re-furbished.
Here's 'before and after' pics (taken from streetview).
View attachment 196897
Not a flattering photo, but it is set on a nice tree-lined road with a large open green space at the end. This is typical of 60's housing and could be almost anywhere in the UK. This village was established as a shortcut on the road from Portsmouth to London.
View attachment 196898
Quite a difference. Open fields from front and back. You can see the difference in the stonework of the 1830/40's front on the house, and the later 1896 extension to rear.