The decision to move from your current home into a smaller property can have major financial and practical benefits. In addition to lowering your rent and utility bills, downsizing also gives you the opportunity to sort out the clutter in your home and focus on the things that bring value to your life.
Using a self storage facility in Sydney is a great way to simplify the downsizing process by giving you a place to store valuable items you don’t want to get rid of completely.
Here are some super easy tips to downsizing as efficiently as possible with the help of a self storage facility near you!
Sort your belongings into a lists of essentials and non-essentials.
Take the time to evaluate what you need and don’t need in your new home before you do anything else. Once this is done, further sort your non-essentials list into those you’d like to sell, store, and throw away. Items that you’d like to use at a later date or that may hold sentimental value are perfect candidates for storage!
Deal with the non-essentials.
Selling whatever you can is a great way to make some extra cash on the side, but for items that you’re unable to sell (that are too good to throw out), try placing them outside with a “free” sign - chances are they’ll be gone by the next morning.
Gumtree and Facebook’s Marketplace are super easy and convenient to use when you want to sell an item. Simply list the item and set your price. Remember: If you haven't used something in the last 12-24 months, it's probably okay to let it go.
Choose an appropriate-sized storage space - and find a facility near your new home.
The larger the unit, the more you’ll have to pay. If you’ve taken your time to create accurate essentials and non-essentials lists, then you’ll have a pretty good idea of how big your storage unit needs to be. Don’t go for a bigger one ‘just in case’ - this will only be a waste of money (and space), and might even tempt you to buy more clutter down the line.
Additionally, be sure to find a self storage facility in Sydney that’s close to your new home. Not only will this make the process of adding/retrieving items much more practical, but it’ll give you the peace of mind and confidence you need to put cherished items into storage without worrying about them too much.
Always maximise your storage space in order to minimize efficiently.
After picking out a good-sized self storage unit in Sydney, the next step is to maximise your space as much as possible. This ensures that you get maximum value for your money and gives you even more incentive to declutter (and hence downsize more efficiently). Disassemble furniture where you can and try filling up larger, more bulky items with smaller ones. Also, make sure you use storage boxes that are the correct size for the items they’re being used for and avoid unnecessarily bulky ones to save space.
Don’t throw away items that you know you’ll use eventually - even if you use them occasionally.
When downsizing, getting rid of everything don’t use frequently can actually be counterproductive. Decluttering is about removing items that have no use in general - like duplicate items; things you’ve never used since purchase; and items of no practical or sentimental value that have found their way into your home one way or another. Self storage in Sydney is the ideal solution in these situations. Throwing out occasional-use items that you know you will use again in the future means you’ll eventually buy more and spend more. Downsizing effectively means doing things the smart way, not the fast way - so think twice before throwing away useful stuff!
Want to learn more about how self storage in Sydney can help you downsize more efficiently? Contact Rhodes Self Storage today!