If you found yourself in a situation, requiring you to move in a smaller residence, your spirit probably is down to the freezing point. But, as Mary Poppins said, in every job that has to be done, there is an element of fun. To this I can only add, that this relocation offers a nice chance for you to get rid of some things you don't really need.

In the course of every relocation discoveries are made. The relocation brings to the daylight amazing numbers of items, that one has forgotten they had, broken or not functioning items, old-fashioned items, items they never used before, and items they will never use.

 So the first thing you have to do is sort through all your possessions and divide them in three categories: keepers, leave behinds and undefined. Using coloured labels would make it easier for you to asses the amount of items in each category. Here are some tips on how to categorize easier:
     -start with the small items and end with the big. This way you are wormed-up for the bigger challenges of deciding about the furniture and electrical appliances
    -everything that is broken, not functioning properly or replaced by something newer used goes directly to leave behinds
    -about clothes and shoes follow the golden year rule: if you haven't put it on for more than a year - get rid of it
    -books - I, as a passionate reader, would rather leave behind clothes and dishes but keep all of the books. But that's not very practical. So you better sort your books, and keep only your personal all-time favorites. Don't keep books someone thinks are forever classics, or books that just look good in your shelf! Keep only those you would like to read and reread.
    -sentiments - items having special personal meaning for you should, of course, stay with you. However, if you have a huge collection of something you don't want to give up, consider keeping it at a storage facility, if can afford that. If you cannot, then maybe you can pass it to a friend or a family member who shares your passion, or who just has enough space to accommodate your collection
    -the delicate problem with items you don't really want to keep, but the person who gave them to you would get upset if you don't take them with you, can be solved in two general ways - either to shut up and keep it, or just sell it and later explain the concerned person how you really felt
    -the biggest part of the furniture shall stay in the keeper group, because you are definitely needing something to sit on, eat on, sleep on and put your belongings in. However, make some serious thoughts about replacing the beds and some of the wardrobes with smaller ones. The best way to facilitate the decision about the furniture is just to draw a furniture layout plan for the new residence and see what fits where.
    -after you have finished sorting the first time, take the group of the undefined and revise it over and over again. On the day before moving at the latest you should have everything out of that category and into one of the other two.

Now you have to organize the ridding of the leave behinds. It would be best, if you contact an antique or pawn shop and have some of their people look at your possessions, and maybe find a treasure buried in your leave behind pile! Then, if you haven't yet, spread the word of you moving out. Someone may want to trade some good furniture you have, but is too big, with something smaller they have. After that you are free to organize a garden sale and make some money. At the end of the day you may even give some things away for free, just to save yourself the trouble of disposing them. And if something is still left behind of the leave behind group, find a way to dumb them. You may have to transport the bigger furniture to the nearest garbage yard.

And finally you have to have with you only the keepers. Don't hesitate, and start packing!

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