When it comes to moving to a retirement community, many older adults look most forward to decorating their new space – this is especially true when a holiday is just around the corner. However, for those who live at home, it can be more tedious and painstaking to pull out the seasonal décor – especially when your home, attic or basement is cluttered. By taking control and downsizing while you decorate you can make it easier for both right now and in the future.
Whether you are looking for a community of your own or whether you want to downsize and declutter a little at a time to make decorating easier now and later, we can help!
“We understand that downsizing simply isn’t a walk in the park and that planning for the future is often not fun for older adults,” says Cristine Royer, Marketing Director at The Estates at Carpenters, a Life Plan Community in Lakeland, Florida. “As the fall season begins to arrive and the summer holidays wind down, consider taking the time that you would be spending to decorate to declutter, and help you prepare for a move to senior living.”
How to Downsize While Decorating
Let us help make downsizing easier while you decorate with some of the following tips:
- Plan ahead. Make a list of rooms to go through, see if anyone wants to assist and get organized before doing anything else. When going through and decorating each room, take a piece of paper and note what you’d like to give away, sell or pass down as you go through everything. Place them onto a pile and stick with this as you continue on. Once an item is left on each pile, it should remain there.
- Go through and separate tasks from easy to difficult. Many older adults want to choose the easiest area for cleaning and downsizing first. Whether you would like to jump right in and tackle all the easy sections or take control of one space each season, a little can go a long way. Don’t try to do everything all in one day, especially if you want to maintain cleanliness and order in your home for the season.
- Keep only what you love. When seasonal items as well as prominent items in our home hold great sentimental value, it can be hard to throw them away, gift them or donate them. As you go through your seasonal boxes, you will need to consider what you’d like to keep or what you will no longer need to ensure your future home reflects the holidays that you love and your personality. This will prevent additional clutter when you move or decorate your new home.
For more information or tips to downsize while decorating, simply give us a call today. We would be happy to schedule you a private, virtual tour or a meeting with one of our consultants.
About The Estates at Carpenters
The Estates at Carpenters is a Life Plan Community offering worry-free independent living, assisted living and high-quality skilled nursing care and rehabilitation. For over 34 years, The Estates has provided older adults in the area with an active, engaging lifestyle filled with abundant choices and the amenities and services that make life easier. A lifestyle designed to keep older adults healthy and well today – and tomorrow.
For more information on The Estates or to RSVP to an upcoming event, contact Cristine at 863-853-5505 Ext. 142 or visit our website.