Not sure how much furniture we should be moving. On the one hand, I’ve heard, less it more. On the other hand, she has always complained about her house’s lack of storage or closet space. In fact she’s a pack rat. Not sure how it should be furnished besides taking a single bed, tv, and lounger to sit on. She owns several stand along wardrobes, not sure how many she should or could fit into a small studio.
Does anyone have a packing list for this type of move? I’d like to find an official looking one and print it out for her since she never listens to us about what to take.
Scale down the clothing to the items she uses most often because they are familiar. Other pieces of clothing that she seldom wears, but newer items, store those at your house and take them to her as she needs something newer to wear.
You might sit with her in the living room/den (her usual spot) and look around the room. Does she have some little collectibles or items that you could display on a shelf at the new place? Ask her - would you like this chair or that chair at the new place because there's not room for both. Mark the chair she wants with masking tape so she can see. Make a copy of the new place's floor plan so she can see there's less room - and when you decide on a chair, draw it on the floor plan. Do the same for pictures she has on her walls now - mark the ones she likes the most.
If you have the time letting her go through everything with you - we had 3 bins - Keep, Donate, Trash. Filled everyday until we had to do the move. What was left went to storage with the idea that we would sort more later, but as I mentioned he lost interest. Don't be surprised or alarmed when and if she starts to tell you how much she hates her new home and that they are mean...It is all about the change and their age, mental status and health. I sort the help of the social worker at the AL. They know how to deal with this and help you through it. My heart broke for months until he adjusted. He's in a NH now and prefers to be there. When I take him out he is only good for a few hours then he wants to go home. There is an end to the move tunnel - it just takes tons of patients and time.
Mom accidentally donated the newly purchased moving boxes, paper and packing tape. So out of self preservation, I drew additional boxes with the chalk. I placed each charities' donation with their name within the chalk lines. She and I cleaned out her 3/2 house with workshop in 2 weeks. Because the schedule was so tight, I didn't donate to charity without a box truck. We also rented a dumpster for the 2 weeks.
She he ended up with 3 recliners, 2 end tables, 1 small accent chair and her grandfather clock for the living room. We also brought her small entry table. For her dining and kitchen counter bar, she has a round table with 4 chairs, her china hutch, 2 bar stools and a couple of planter stands.
For the bedroom she has a full size bed, 2 nightstands and 2 single dressers. She also has a small chair for dressing. Since the apartment has a patio she also brought her glider bench and I purchased a small bistro set.
She has had ample room to safely get around. We are now in the midst of the move to her condo which is larger.
Good luck and remember to try to have a little fun.
Good luck.
As he got used to living with only the necessities, we were able to start discarding what was left.
Can you put all her non-essentials into a Storage Unit? Later, after a couple of months, you can start getting rid of things she hasn't missed.
Good luck to you - it wasn't easy at first but after a month my dad was thrilled to be down to only the essentials. Besides, he built his collection up again on his own.
My dad had a Beer Mug Collection and I placed the nicer ones above his kitchen cabinets so he'd feel at home - it worked better than I could have hoped.
He could turn the lamp off after he laid down to go to sleep.
I stored daily items in top drawers and less needed items were placed lower down based of frequency of need.
He had a closet that gave him a out 2 feet of hanging space and that was it.
If I had to do it again I would definitely do the bookcase as a head board, it was so handy for all of the items he wanted near and held a ton of stuff to keep things organized.
He had about 75 square feet of space, max. So 400 sq ft will hold enough items to create good storage and still allow safe floor space.
Bare necessities! Photos on walls are lovely.
What I did for my Dad when it was time to move to senior living, I got graph paper and drew out the footprint of the room, noting where the door and windows were.... each square was one foot. Then I would cut out to size the bed, night stand, dresser [TV went on the dresser], high-boy dresser, recliner, etc. and move those pieces of furniture around the graph footprint of the room.
Dad's senior home already had a wardrobe so I needed to work around that. Extra clothes could go into under-the-bed storage boxes until needed. My Dad had numerous bookcases and a ton of books, and luckily I was able to squeeze those into the room. Those bookcases/books were Dad's safety cocoon. So if your Mom insists on taking certain items, let her bring them if they fit, even if those items don't make sense to you.
Dad and I use to joke about his new "college dorm room" :)
Check and see if the facility supplies the linens [sheets, pillow cases, and towels]. My Dad's facility provided those items and everything was washed daily. Dad had his own bedspread and pillows.
Lighting is important. Usually there is a ceiling light, but one would need a lamp next to the bed, and others on the dresser [if the TV isn't huge], or on other furniture. Maybe a floor lamp for next to the recliner.
And of course, bring Mom's favorite pictures to hang on the wall.
Does the facility have small living rooms out in the common area? If yes, then Mom won't need extra chairs in her apartment.
Oh, check and see if the facility has basement store rooms that are rented out. One could bring extra items to rotate around depending on the season.
I had a double bed, a large chifforobe, small vanity table and a sofa. I was not a pack rat and it was perfect for me.
Your mom’s apartment will have closet space so I would replace a chifforobe with a tall chest of drawers. I would use nightstands with drawers. You can even buy beds with drawers underneath.
Shelves can be installed on the walls.
I would use a small round table and chairs. Glass tables give a more open look.
Try to envision a nice hotel suite. Or ask a New Yorker. They know how to utilize space in Manhattan apartments!
An ottoman with storage can be used for a coffee table.
Isn’t it best to weed out unnecessary ‘junk’ before you move? Have a garage sale, give to charity, etc. Sorry, I don’t mean to offend you by calling your mom’s belongings junk but it amazes me what people choose to keep. You will have to purge. She can’t take everything from a three bedroom house with her. It won’t fit. Good luck with the downsizing!
Use the closet provided, no wardrobe furniture needed.