Master the Art of Downsizing

Although our temporary Swedish home was in a great location, it wasn’t exactly luxurious accommodations. It was very close to camping out indoors. But, we made a game out of it. A step ladder became our pantry. A dish drainer became my makeup and hair caddy. A turned over laundry basket became a nightstand. You get the idea. No TV, computer or internet, we created a makeshift Excel document on a sheet of paper and plotted out each day’s activities. We worked Stockholm like a boss.
It got us thinking. What do we love to do most? Travel. With that in mind, we started planning. What kind of life could we create for ourselves to allow us more freedom to travel?

Selling our 4,500-square-foot home was first on the list. Stockholm made us realize we didn’t  need that much space. But, what to do about two floors of furniture and leftover grown children’s stuff no one had looked at in years? Purge!

We told our kids to come get anything they wanted. I developed new friends in the donation room at Harmony House. We let our staff at 417 shop (for free) in our mock garage sale. We learned which charities pick up and which accept dropoffs. As for all our family photos—ugh. See below for my solution to that problem.

Everything was going great until I opened the first of many Christmas decoration boxes. That’s when the meltdown came. Letting go of old prom pictures and news clippings of glory days was much easier than letting go of decorations I had collected for years. In the end, I narrowed it down to two boxes.

We bought a 1,450-square-foot condo in One Parkway Place in downtown Springfield and gutted it to recreate a sleek, contemporary urban space. We measured the furniture we wanted to take and drew out spaces on the floor to make sure we knew exactly what to keep and what we could shed.

I’d be lying if I said I don’t still miss some of my treasures. But, ask me about my next trip and take my mind off the past. I’d love to tell you about my future.