Retirement Living ‘Rightsizing’ Tips

What exactly does “rightsizing” mean? According to Dictionary.com, it means “to adjust to an appropriate size.” For those looking to move into a Life Plan Community, rightsizing means making important decisions about what items from your current home will make you happiest in your new home.

Here are some tips when rightsizing for your new residence:

Be true to yourself. If you haven’t used something in a year or two, do you really think you’re going to use it in your new home? Odds are that belongings will not be used and will remain clutter. You may want to start with rooms you don’t normally use since that’s where you can find the unused belongings that you didn’t know you had or need.  Ask yourself, do I use it? Do I need it? Or do I love it?  If you answered no to these questions, get rid of it.

Donate old clothing, shoes, etc. to family members, a local Goodwill or your favorite nonprofit. Repurpose a dresser for a television stand or buffet. If you have a lot of photos in frames and don’t think you’ll have enough space in the new home for them, try creating a photo album. Saving space with one album versus several picture frames can be a fun way to relive memories and make it easier to share them with others.

Sometimes rightsizing can be more comfortable for individuals if they receive help from their community or loved ones. If you are assisting someone with rightsizing, don’t rush them, their belongings have memories and at times emotional attachments that are not easy to let go of.  Provide support by helping them come up with a plan that includes a process, and a timeline.

You can play a significant role in this process by helping sort through the person’s belongings, maximizing the use of items brought to the new home. After speaking with Ingleside residents, we learned how this assistance can go a long way.

Here are some tips from current Ingleside at King Farm residents about their rightsizing experience:

“Start early and I strongly suggest using a downsizing company.”

-Mary Byrd

“We arrived having done it {rightsizing}, but knew the resources were there which made it comforting for future donations. Get started early! Once you move, you will not remember what you gave away.”

-Barbara Mansfield & Kathy Bainbridge

“We managed to donate a few things, we heard about the Bazaar and were able to bring a few things up to contribute to that. We hired TAD Relocation to help dispose of things not wanted and got rid of things at auctions. Our kids came to help us pack and move. Do very careful space planning ahead of time.”

-Steven O’Brien

Rightsizing makes the exciting process of moving into a new home easier and less stressful.

Start Rightsizing today!

About Christen Milstead

Christen Milstead is the director of marketing for Ingleside, a not-for-profit parent organization to Ingleside at Rock Creek, Westminster at Lake Ridge, Ingleside at King Farm, Westminster Ingleside Foundation, and Ingleside at Home. She graduated from University of Maryland, Baltimore County from Erickson School of Aging with a master's degree in management of aging services and from Towson University with a bachelors in Business Administration, with a concentration in marketing. She is also CASP (Certified Aging Services Professional) Certified.

View all posts by Christen Milstead