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Home › Articles › Grandparent Home and Garden › Dare to Downsize

Dare to Downsize

What's in Store for You?

By Teri Brown

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Once the children are living on their own and raising their own children, many parents find themselves at loose ends. They may begin considering downsizing, semi retirement, moving closer to grandchildren or possibly even moving to someplace with year-round warm weather. Others are just finding that taking care of a larger home or an older home that takes a lot of upkeep is interfering with what they really want to do.

Downsizing to a smaller home and weeding through 30 to 50 years' worth of possessions isn't easy, especially on a limited budget, but the rewards of a simpler lifestyle can be worth the effort.

When Heidi Shelton-Jenck's mother decided to move closer to her grandchildren, she decided to move to a retirement community. This meant downsizing. "Her first step was weeding out 50 years of accumulated furniture, books, knickknacks, etc.," says Shelton-Jenck of Sandy, Utah. "It was most difficult for her to weed out anything related to a strong memory pictures, photos, books, gifts, things handed down from her parents. She ended up leaving most of her furniture behind and just bringing out a few antiques. She downsized from a large living room set to a small loveseat, and a queen bed to a single."

While Shelton-Jenck's mother had a difficult time getting used to the smaller place, she enjoys living in the retirement community. "She actually loves living in an apartment complex full of retired seniors all in the exact same situation," Shelton-Jenck says. "They meet after the dinner hour in the lobby sitting area and talk about their former lives, chat about their current ailments, and laugh often! She says she feels like she has moved into the freshman dorm in college and has made new friends from around the country."

The Importance of Support
Karen Thomas is the resident services coordinator for Wyndemere Senior Living Campus in Wheaton, Ill. In her capacity as services coordinator, she is responsible for Moving Simply, a program offered at Wyndemere that helps clients (residents) as they begin the moving process and continues throughout the entire move. She says support is key when people want to downsize for whatever reason. "The process of selling a home and purchasing a new one can be very stressful for anyone, particularly if someone has not been through the process in a long time," Thomas says. "Making a change is always hard and can be physically exhausting unless you have a good support system."

When Thomas meets with clients for the first time, she educates them about what to expect and helps the process stay on schedule. As people start downsizing, they may be unsure about what to leave and what to keep. Going from a 3,000-square-foot home to a 900-square-foot condo is an enormous change. This is something grown children can help with sorting through a lifetime of stuff, holding an estate sale or arranging takeaway by a good charity.

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