Helping Your Elderly Parents Downsize Their Home
Helping your elderly parents move can often involve downsizing, which makes sense in many ways. A larger property is no longer necessary now that the children (including you) have long since left the nest. A smaller property requires far less maintenance and is far more cost-effective, since a smaller home isn't going to consume as much electricity as a larger property.
But helping your parents downsize can result in a number of potential hurdles, given the reduction in floorspace of their new home. What can you do to help out?
Decide What to Take
Perhaps the most difficult task is deciding what will go to their new home, and what will be discarded. Taking the floor measurements of their new home into consideration, you and your parents will need to decide not only what they will need in the new place, but what will actually fit.
Dispose of Unwanted Larger Items
Your parents will be left with a number of larger items that will need to be discarded before the move. What's the most efficient way to dispose of these before moving day?
DONATE
Making a bulk donation of items to a charity is useful when you have a lot to get rid of at once. This can be helpful when the charity is able to dispatch a truck to collect the items, saving you a lot of effort. Your mother or father might wish to nominate a charity, choosing an organisation whose work is important to them.
SELL
If you have the time (and inclination), you can arrange a garage sale to get rid of those extra possessions. This is not the most efficient method, since there's no guarantee that everything will be sold, and prospective customers will need to transport large items themselves.
Give Away
You and your parents can put out feelers to see if you know of anyone who might want some of the items in question. The downside is that not everything will find a home, and like selling the unwanted items, the piecemeal approach is slower and less effective than donating the lot, all at once.
However you go about it, once the larger, unwanted items are off your hands, you and your parents can go about sorting through the rest of their possessions.
Sort Smaller Items
Sorting through the various things accumulated during a lifetime can be a real trip down memory lane. Many smaller items and assorted knick knacks can find a new home in the downsized property, but many will also need to be discarded.
Be Aware of Nostalgia
The sorting process can result in a sense of nostalgia and a chance to reminisce, but it's important to go through everything thoroughly, so that nothing essential or of great sentimental value is accidentally thrown away.
Consider Storage
If there's any doubt about whether some items should be discarded, but it's unclear whether they will be necessary in the new home, you could also consider renting storage space until it's known just what should become of these items.
Once you and your parents have culled everything that won't be making the journey to their new home, you can actually begin to pack.
Help with Packing
As the saying goes, many hands make light work. Depending on their age and general health, your parents might not be able to handle the physical demands of packing everything. They'll need some help:
- Ask other family members and friends to spare an afternoon to help. You could make it a family packing party.
- Arrange a pre-packing service. This is when we take care of the packing for you.
Although the culling of unneeded items can take some effort, before long your parents will be packed and ready to downsize. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you want to know how we can help your parents with their moving and storage needs.
