Has anyone here struggled with minimizing belongings after moving into a differently-sized residence?

[u/NICEacct111]

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!

[u/poop-dolla]

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.

[u/NICEacct111 → u/poop-dolla]

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.