Smart Downsizing: How Home Renovations Can Maximize Your Smaller Space

When it comes to downsizing your living space, it doesn’t really matter why you want to do so. You could be an empty nester, retiree, or anyone who just doesn’t need as much space as you have. Unfortunately, most people have too much stuff in their “too much space” already, so downsizing poses a set of tricky problems. And, tricky problems require crafty solutions.

Planning Downsizing & Renovations

You have to make tough choices, but you also don’t want to toss everything in a quest to fit into your new space. You can also increase your space in nifty ways without driving yourself to distraction. One thing to remember is that the furniture you currently have in your larger space won’t necessarily fit into your smaller space. If you’re going to move, then you’re going to have to do a lot of measuring at your new digs. For example, you might have enough space in your living room for your favorite couch, but the doors, stairs, and/or elevators might not have room to fit bringing it up to your condo. If you plan to move to a new detached home instead, then be sure that everything has a place in the space that makes sense for you. It all boils down to being prepared and not “winging it.”

Senso Design can help you do all the planning and prep work for moving. Renovating your new home to accommodate you as best as possible is also right in our wheelhouse. From helping you to create pleasing-to-the-eye storage solutions to providing you with sound advice regarding new furniture that better fits both your vision and your newly available space, we have the expertise to guide you through the process.

Questions to Ask Yourself

What Do I Need?

Do you really need the four-seat, independently adjustable, movie-watching couch with the fancy holders for cups and/or remote controls? Similarly, now that you’re an empty nester, do you really need the giant stainless-steel refrigerator with every fridge accessory known to mankind? These are truly obvious examples, but there are many, many other questions to ask about what you need in your new space to support your upcoming lifestyle changes.

What Do I Truly Want to Keep?

Do you collect models of classic cars? If so, then there’s no need to pitch them all. You probably won’t be able to keep all of them, but with our help, not to mention a snazzy display rack, you could most likely keep four or five of your favorites and either sell or donate the rest to a museum or other collector. The same goes for other collections and/or boxes of mementos. For example, you probably don’t want to throw out your oldest child’s lock of hair from the first haircut. If you have trophies for athletic or academic wins or other achievements, then keep one or two of the most prestigious. You can consign the rest to a trophy shop that can repurpose them.

Maximizing Your Space

Adding vertical layers to your space increases what’s available. For example, instead of displaying the aforementioned classic cars on a 6-foot horizontal shelf, you can put them on 18-inch wide shelves that are part of a vertical rack that’s 6 feet tall. The same principle applies to out-of-sight storage. Boxes won’t stay stacked very well, and you certainly can’t put them along the floor. Well-made totes of different colors can become decorative options. We can help you add custom shelving and layered alcoves to your walls if you don’t want to buy separate storage shelves.

The Open Concept

The idea behind the open concept is to have most of the space be contiguous in the center of any room rather than taking it up with large furniture. Let’s say that you have a room that’s 15 feet by 15 feet, making it a total of 225 square feet. Have the furniture along the walls rather than in the middle of the room. It’ll take up the same amount of space, but the empty square footage in the middle of the room will seem larger than it would if all of the items in the room were in the center. If you need to define zones without losing that open feel, these creative area divider ideas can help strike the balance..

Also Read: Renovating Your Home for a Stunning Open-Concept Design

Multifunction Furniture

Many brands of furniture in the 21st century can serve two purposes. Couches, for example, can come with storage bins in them that slide in and out. There are even contraptions that combine a television, bookshelf, and Murphy bed or coffee tables that have retractable drawers, a miniature laptop desk, and a small storage bin. The more things that you can accomplish with one piece of furniture, the better.

Lighting

Even when it comes to lighting, you can get multifunction light fixtures that can have shelves, charging stations for devices, or other accessories as part of their construction. Certain kinds of lighting fixtures can also affect how you perceive the space you have. They can seemingly expand your space in your mind’s eye.

Decluttering

This involves more than just keeping only a few collectibles or mementos. Many times, family heirlooms include china cabinets, sets of china, and other things that your grown children or other family members don’t want. Just because your great-grandmother owned a particularly nice set of Spode doesn’t mean that your children want it. Or, even if they want it, they have no space for the cabinet that’s necessary to display it properly. Then, you have to make the hard choice about whether it’s “clutter or keep.” Thankfully, most decluttering isn’t nearly as heart-wrenching. Keep two cookbooks instead of 12. If your comic books aren’t overly valuable, then donate them to a library or youth center.

Conclusion

Throughout your downsizing journey, remember that Senso, a trusted home renovation company, is here to make the process smooth and stress-free. With years of experience in bathroom renovations, kitchen renovations, basement renovations and even condo renovations, we have the expertise to transform your new space into a functional and beautiful home. We have the expertise to transform your new space into a functional and beautiful home. If your downsized home includes a compact bath, our small bathroom layout ideas guide is a great next read.

Let us help you transition seamlessly from a larger home to a smaller one. Call us today at 416-900-3675 or visit our website to discover how we can support you every step of the way.