Downsizing vs. Rightsizing

There is a lot of talk these days about downsizing and increasingly we are seeing the words downsizing and rightsizing used interchangeably.

Over the past few months we’ve been working with many clients who have reached out to us for help with downsizing. A few of them have a moving date in mind, but many of them have no immediate plans to move. They simply want to pare down their belongings to a comfortable state, so that when the time comes to move, they are in a good place and it’s not such an overwhelming task. This got us to thinking about the difference between downsizing and rightsizing.

Downsizing

Downsizing is usually used to describe when someone is moving from a larger home to a smaller home. Typically, they are living in a house that they once shared with other people and now they don’t need as much space. Often, they have lived in the home for a significant amount of time and over this time they have acquired belongings to fill the space. Once the decision has been made to move, they will need to determine which of their belongings they want to take with them to their next home.

Rightsizing

We believe rightsizing on the other hand is what happens when you consciously choose what your surrounding environment looks like. It is a self-loving way to consider how you are living today and deciding if your home and your belongings support that way of life. It is the process of making sure the amount of belongings in your home, suit the amount of space in your home.

Therefore, rightsizing can be a part of the downsizing process, but rightsizing on its own can be implemented by anyone at any stage of life.

Start Rightsizing Now

You may downsize in your 70s or 80s, but why not start rightsizing now? Many of our clients call us to support them with a particular area of their home. Regardless of the space to be worked on, our organizational principle is always the same, to make the space functional and beautiful. Essentially, each time we work with a client, we are rightsizing their space! We are working with them to determine what is important about the way the space functions and what are the important items for them to keep. At first glance they might say that they want to keep everything that they own. But, when we take a closer look and go through individual items, they usually realize that there are many items that they can easily let go of. Often we find duplicated items, or items that are broken. Sometimes they tell us that they used to like the item, but they don’t really like it anymore, or they admit that they never really liked the item, it was simply something that they kept. At the end of the session, there is a liberating feeling to know that all that is left in the space are the items that are important to the client at their current place in life.

It may seem like an obvious thought, but as time passes our likes, interests, wants and needs change. You don’t have to wait until you are relocating to rightsize your space. Rightsizing can be done to a full room or simply a frustrating drawer.

Your future self will thank you! ❤