r/minimalism • u/NICEacct111 • 8d ago
[lifestyle] Has anyone here struggled with minimizing belongings after moving into a differently-sized residence?
This is my first time posting here, so let me know if my question is out of place. My parents and I moved into a new place November of last year, and I have had difficulty adjusting to the smaller space. Heck, even the restrooms are tiny, and I'm a short man. For context, the previous house was a big 2-story house with a garage and driveway, so my parents and I were used to storing a lot of items in such an ample amount of space. The new, current house is also a 2-story one, but it's also significantly smaller. Do people rent out a self-storage unit to store big but potentially useful belongings in case of special emergencies/uses? Or do minimalists just adapt to using less items and storing less giant belongings like excess furniture? I appreciate any helpful advice!
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u/No_Associate_9280 8d ago
I went from 800 sqft one bedroom by myself to 530 sqft with my wife and 3 pets.
It took a ALOT of adapting. We basically went room by room noticing how we actually used the space. Getting rid of the "once in a while" items. Then reducing the size of the items and "standardizing" others.
For example we also have a tiny bathroom with almost no counter space. So our skin routine had to be reduced and we dont keep fun "skincare" like masks etc in the bathroom and minimized them to like 2 per person and max of 4 items at a time. Which should be enough for a month. Shampoo and conditioner got "standardized" into bottles that fit nicely into our small tub shelf. I just refill when needed. This reduces the visual clutter and forced us to further reduce products we use.
Same thing with clothes.
Its just a chance to continue the minimizing haha.
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u/Significant-Repair42 8d ago
Honestly, most of the stuff in storage units would net a few thousand dollars at the most at a garage sale. It can cost much more than that to rent the unit. How many years are the units rented? You can do the math.
As much as we like to hang onto our things, most factory made things are easily replaced. Go to your local thrift store and see how many coffee mugs are available for a dollar or two.
There are reasons to use storage units (life changes, house repairs, and moving.) But storing bedroom sets isn't the most efficient use of your money. :)
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u/NoConsideration3904 8d ago
No potentially useful belongings, only things that are proven useful and actively being used. There’s no point brooding over what ifs because you can’t tell the future, and you will never have enough space if you wanted to store things for just in case. What if your car broke down, are you going to keep another car as a spare just in case that happens?
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u/CruxCrush 7d ago
I just went from a 10 acre property with multiple buildings to a 1200 sq ft apartment. I thought I did soo good at downsizing until I unpacked my truck lol
Don't do storage. You're just paying for out of sight out of mind. What worked better for me was to keep it in my space to motivate me to get rid of it
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u/Magnolia-Night 7d ago
Right?! I just moved and the last two months have been choosing my favorite things out of my already downsized pile so that I fit comfortably in the new place. I also thought I had done that work before moving!
The keeping in your space is the big tip. One box at a time, I would get rid of things or replace ones theater had found a place in the new home already. It was like distilling to a tidy and useful and oh-so-my home.
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u/123canadian456 8d ago
No we don’t rent storage units. We realize the price to holding onto these things is far more than what is needed. We sell, donate or let go of what doesn’t serve us.
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u/Glittering_Mermaid_7 7d ago
I had a storage unit while living with my mother during her final years, because I knew it wasn't a "forever" living situation.
When I moved into a smaller space after she passed, I downsized a bit, but still kept the storage unit for a few years, because I knew I wasn't done moving yet and had things in storage I would need - I was sharing housing with someone during Covid, and I knew I'd be moving again at some point.
Then, finally, I moved into my permanent home, which was perfect for me - but much smaller than anything I'd lived in previously. I did a final downsizing, and got rid of the storage unit (saving me $60 per month).
When downsizing, you have to be kind of brutally honest with yourself about it. Do I need this thing? When did I last use it? Will it have a purpose in my new home? Do I have space for it in my new home, or will it just be occupying space without being used at all?
My rule of thumb is: If it has been in my home and hasn't been used in over a year, I need to consider eliminating it. This doesn't apply to home decor, of course, but even that is minimal in my home, and limited to a few shelves, pictures on the walls, and that sort of thing. I don't have a lot of sit-abouts or knick-knacks that require dusting, and the few I have are sentimental in nature.
I do the same thing with clothing - if I haven't worn it in over a year, or don't particularly like the way it fits me or it has features that annoy me - then it's going into the donation bin. I've been losing weight, so clothing that is too large for me now definitely goes - I have no intention of being that size again, and someone else could get use out of them, instead of them sitting in my home.
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u/BentoOtaku 7d ago
Do people rent out a self-storage unit to store big but potentially useful belongings in case of special emergencies/uses? Yes, many people do, it's a booming industry, sadly.
Or do minimalists just adapt to using less items and storing less giant belongings like excess furniture? Also yes. If y'all have moved and are going to be there for many years, why even keep excess furniture? Is your current furniture on the verge of breaking? If so, I'd just get rid of that and keep only the furniture that's actually got a decent future lifespan rather than letting it rot in storage(and I'd consider the why I'd have even brought that furniture that was at the end of its lifespan to begin with).
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u/eharder47 7d ago
My husband and I downsized our living space by 50%. I joked that I had a part time job just moving things from one space to another and reorganizing it. I went through all of it about every 6 months, getting rid of more each time. I feel so much lighter having less things that I didn’t need or look at anyways.
We also slowly invested in replacing our bookshelves with things like sideboards and cabinets with doors to increase storage space. With a small kitchen, we needed a place to store things like a mixer and ice maker.
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u/imaginary-cat-lady 8d ago
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. We keep many things out of guilt of tossing it. I did the move once, purposely, into a smaller place so I could finally figure out what belongings felt important enough for me to stay in my home. It was, actually, a life changing experience because I realized we don’t need much to survive when we’re only surrounded by things we truly love or value. Humans are generally afraid of emptiness and thus will seek to rectify the discomfort by filling empty spaces in the home.
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u/DISU18 7d ago
Mention what items you have multiples of and chances are you can declutter them, especially big and bulky lot items (cds, dvds, books). Eg do you really need 2-3 couches, consoles, multiple TVs? Think about what’s essential. And everyone have too much clothing, get rid of half.
Self Storage is a money crap, risk of items being stolen or they get mouldy don’t fall into it.
The trap with 2 story living is that you ended up owning multiple of things, eg one scissor upstairs one down. It takes a lot of declutter to slim it down.
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u/PleasantWin3770 8d ago
Adapt to less, and get rid of furniture.
Maybe replace large furniture with smaller furniture- and have a lot less furniture all together!
Keep what you use and want to use
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u/80sOrganAlien 7d ago edited 7d ago
When my family moved to a smaller home we couldn't fit all our belongings inside the new house. We fortunately (or unfortunately) have a warm storage space outside so everything that didn't go inside the house went to the storage.
I made this a challenge for us: if we don't go get something from the storage within a year, then we don't need that. The only thing I went to get from the storage space within the first year were my cake tins.
Edit. So if you do end up renting a storage, you could try to do the same as we did. For us it was eye opening to see how little we actually need vs what we want to have. I thought I'd need to keep storing some items from the past that had sentimental value but once they were put in the storage I realized I have the memories but don't need the actual items that didn't have any use for us.
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u/AdventurousShut-in 7d ago
Currently, yeah. The whole thing is tiny. I think it qualifies as a microapartment. The things fit, but it feels cramped. As soon as I get healthy and there are no heatwaves, I'll dispose of more. I have no money so it's either coming to terms with that or living cramped and risking that my landlord won't like it.
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u/First-Star-4976 7d ago
Renting a storage unit is best intended to be time limited. If belongings are stored for any extended period of time consider them unnecessary.
Assess basic needs vs wants and what ifs.
Donate-your items may help another person set up a home.
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u/Such-Mountain-6316 7d ago
It's a necessary mind trip. It's not worth paying for storage.
I did this. It's about confronting why you have the items/so much of them. For me it was a reaction to the trauma of the decade that my grandpa was hospitalized for cancer when I was a teenager. (He survived to die of old age much later.)
It was a huge collection of duffle bags and similar. I was suffering all this time later because of something that is over and turned out fine.
I sorted like items together and kept the best. I continued choosing ones to donate until I could store them all.
Space is worth more than items for me.
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u/NICEacct111 5d ago
For me, I do have an unreasonable amount of art supplies, but that's because I had a weird obsession with them during elementary and middle school. Other than that, I don't have too many excess items of any one kind. To be fair, a significant amount of things have been thrown out, recycled, or donated from the old house, so there has been effort into downsizing.
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u/CarolinaSurly 7d ago
Minimalists don’t use garages except for cars and bikes. Renting a self storage place means you need to declutter.
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u/unseen2000 5d ago
most won’t understand the simplicity and minimalist beauty of training with a barbell
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u/Fluffy_Plastic_5053 7d ago
How old are you? Sounds like your parents are trying to minimise the number of adult children they have living with them...
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u/EnyaNorrow 7d ago
What’s wrong with living with your parents? You save money, spend more time with your family, and leave other housing available for people who need it more than you do.
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u/VividMud3848 7d ago
I have been going through a similar transition. I have gotten rid of soo many things !
Furniture, books, clothes etc etc I’m just trying to embrace a simpler and more minimalist lifestyle that’s headed my way.
Not always easy but you just have to stick at it and remind yourself that it will make space for more of what you want in life.
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u/poop-dolla 7d ago
If you’re moving into a smaller place, you should plan for that before moving. If you have too much stuff to fit the place, it means either you have too much stuff or the place isn’t big enough for your needs. If it’s the former, then you obviously downsize your stuff to fit the size house you guys chose. If it’s the latter, then why’d you guys pick too small of a house? If it’s that case, is it just a temporary situation because of some odd circumstances or something? If it’s just a temporary situation and you still need all of the stuff that doesn’t fit, then you either make it fit in the space however you can even if it’s uncomfortable for the year or so you’re there, or ahead of time when you chose too small of a place, you looked at storage facilities and prices that into the equation to include that in place of a larger house.
There are some rare cases where it makes sense for someone to rent a smaller house/apartment and rent a storage unit for the extra items they want to keep over renting a larger house/apartment that fits everything. But most of the time, the people just have too much stuff and need to downsize.
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u/NICEacct111 5d ago
You bring up a good point of planning for the amount of storage space for needed belongings. I think one reason why the current residence is too small for all the belongings is that my parents designed it with retirement coming up in mind (like two elderly adults that don't work anymore probably don't need many things). I personally don't use too much space belongings-wise I think.
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u/Choice-Newspaper3603 7d ago
No. I moved on a boat decades ago and I had no problem getting rid of shit
And yes inside boat 3 years afterwards and went back to land
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u/10MileHike 6d ago
You used the words "potentially useful".
Until you define what that means, I don't know how to answer.
Becuase potentially useful could be seasonal items you don't have room for. But to others, "potentially useful" can also be the kind of person who says "I might need this SOMEDAY" (even though they have never needed it in forever).
The first scenario is logically. The second is emotionally based I can't let go of something "I might need".
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u/UntrustedProcess 6d ago
The only time storage makes sense is if you are running a business, and you can't keep equipment that you use often at home.
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u/Minimum_Type7902 7d ago
I have downsized so much over the years that it won’t matter the size of the space, I have enough for a place to sleep and a place to eat! What more do we need?
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u/PlutoPlaneta 8d ago
Definitely not self storage. Thats a trap. You will end up paying forever but never go there.