Moving Checklist: What to Do When Downsizing to a Studio
Is 2016 the year you move from your current apartment to a compact studio? One-room living can be a great way afford living closer to the action in a city — but it comes with challenges. Even more challenges if you’re downsizing to a studio from a larger apartment. Read on for ways in which you can make downsizing a little easier if you’re moving into a studio in the near future.
1. Evaluate your kitchen tools
With small studios, come small kitchens. Your mini kitchen will already be tough to keep organized with all the stuff from a larger kitchen, and since you can see your kitchen from your “living room area” and “bedroom area” you’re going to want to keep this area especially functional and uncluttered. So look for things you can declutter from your kitchen first. Anything that looks brand new after years of having it doesn’t get used and can probably go. Look for opportunities to get rid of something you own and invest in something new if you can buy a tool that pulls double duty or is more compact.
2. Evaluate your bathroom/personal toiletries situation
Do you really need 15 bottles of shampoo? Do you have old makeup sitting around? Or old medicine? Chances are there are a lot of opportunities to painlessly downsize in your bathroom and medicine cabinet before you move into a studio or smaller apartment.
3. Cut down your closet
The other big hot spot ready for cutting in your home besides the kitchen and the bathroom is your closet. Unless you’ve very recently done a closet reorganization, there are lots of things — duplicates, outfits you’ve never worn — that can be cut out of your closet to help you downsize into a smaller home.
→ 5 Basic Tips for Decluttering Your Closet
4. Digitize your unimportant media
Book and vinyl lovers will hate this advice (and certainly, only take it if doing so feels like a fit for your personality or lifestyle), but you could save a lot of space (and your back when moving boxes) by turning your book and music collections digital.
5. Really focus on the flow
当莫你可能不总是有这个机会ving into a new home, but if you have time to check out the space, take measurements and do some flow figuring out before you get your stuff in there, take it. Figuring out where the furniture will go before you put anything in there will mean you have the best layout for both function and look.