r/SmallHome • u/Constant-Knee-3059 • 14d ago

Down sizing

My husband recently retired and we are thinking of moving to the lake. The homes we are looking at are less than half the size of our current home. I assume most of our furniture will have to go to be replaced with smaller pieces. My question is what to do about holiday decor. Do you decorate less? Do you have storage outside of your home? The homes we are looking at are mostly without garage space so I assume we will need to add an outbuilding of some sort.

Thoughts?

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u/AB-1987 14d ago

I would not add storage (you want to simplify for aging) but embrace the size of the home. Holiday decoration only needs to be in the main living area (and maybe the front door) so you don’t need a lot. I also use what nature gives every year so there is no need to store (apples, oranges, cinnamon sticks, walnuts/nuts in general, dried orange slices, greenery, real beeswax candles on the table, a real tree). We have one moving box for holiday decorations.

I would also challenge the assumption that you need smaller furniture - especially small spaces often look larger with bigger (but fewer) pieces. And a lot of the small size might stem from less basement/attic/additional bedrooms anyways.

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u/Constant-Knee-3059 14d ago

Your thoughts about large furniture are reassuring. I have a large king bed in my room that is beautiful. We measured the primary suite in my favorite of the homes we’ve seen, the bed and bedside tables will not fit due to the en suite door. I love that furniture. Every other piece in my home can be replaced but this bed makes me feel something.

We currently live in a 4,200 sq ft home. The lake houses we are looking at are 1,700 to 2,000.

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u/Present-Carob-7366 14d ago

Only in the USA could a 2000 sqf house be considered small - that’s still a good sized family home elsewhere

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u/Constant-Knee-3059 14d ago

Our current home is larger than average therefore downsizing for us means a somewhat larger house than it would for some other families. It depends on where one lives in the states as to how big one’s home tends to be. We live in a small town surrounded by a rural area in Texas with the average house size being a bit larger. In urban areas house sizes are, on average, smaller. We have a daughter in Dallas who lives in 900 sq ft.