It’s one thing to restore and remodel an old mobile home. Preparing to move and live in it is something else. We’ll have a lot less space. Way less.
This is not a cry for sympathy. Nothing tragic is going on here.
It’s our decision and we’re sticking to it.
But it’s daunting. Every day we walk around looking at things. We ask a single question: Do we really need this?
What’s amazing is how often the answer is “No.”
Going from here…
You can get an idea of the task with some basic facts. Our current house is about 2,300 square feet. That’s down from our maximum of 3,500 square feet in our previous Dallas home. Two of us live in about 2,100 of those feet, with another 200 devoted to a guest room and bath.
In the McMansion world, our 2,100 feet is piddling. For us, it’s generous, affording a library with over a thousand books, a media room with more books and all the other rooms in a typical house— living, dining, breakfast, kitchen and master bedroom with bath and walk-in closet. We’ve lived in every bit of it for nearly 10 years.
To there…
Our 1990 Redman has half the square footage. And an even smaller proportion of closet space. Redone, it will be three basic spaces plus a master bathroom and a half-bath. It will have a (small) master (and only) bedroom, a living/dining/kitchen area, and a library/media room. We’ll have a generous space outside with a covered deck looking west to beautiful sunsets.
To prepare for the purge, my wife didn’t just read Marie Kondo (“The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing”). She kept going until she got to “Swedish Death Cleaning.” Trust me, however lugubrious it sounds, it’s good guidance.
We’ve also learned two big lessons:
— Once you get started, it’s easy and fun.
— It helps a lot – a whole lot – to be older and retired.
Shrinking the incredible growing closet
Let’s start with clothing. A quick web search will tell you that virtually half of all clothing purchased is never worn. Only 20 percent is worn regularly. And being retired helps because it simplifies what you really need.
Many years ago my wife was in Tractor Supply and met William Mitchell, a former CEO of Texas Instruments. Bill, as usual, was dressed in denim pants and a well-worn denim jacket. “You know you’re really retired,” he smiled, “when most of your wardrobe comes from Tractor Supply.”
So a lot of clothing has been “let go.” But it won’t be missed. I’ve got my wardrobe down to four feet of hanging space (including room for a tuxedo) and five drawers.
My wife has performed even greater miracles in space reduction. But she is still a lovely surprise every day.
The first key is keeping what you wear. And getting rid of everything else. The second key is to follow the RV Rule-of-All-Things: To bring something new in, take something out first.
Make cooking simple
If you can be ruthless with clothing, you’ll find that putting your kitchen and pantry on a severe diet is even easier. Again, if you don’t use it regularly, get rid of it. Most of us have pantries crowded with food-related stuff that we’ll never use. So get rid of it.
It’s the same with kitchen drawers and cabinets. How many pots and pans do you actually use? And how many specialized, but seldom used, electrical gadgets do you have taking up space? Use it or lose it!
Treasures no one wants
The greatest source of clutter in most homes begins with the phrase “the kids may want it.” No, they probably won’t. They may feel sentimental about this chair or that table, but they don’t want to live with it. Ditto grandma’s revered china and other treasured bric-a-brac. Don’t store it if it isn’t used.
But isn’t it valuable?
Probably not. Here’s the basic math for resale: A consignment store won’t want to value anything at more than half its retail price, and you’ll get half of that. So you’re looking at 25 cents on the dollar. At best. Add the cost in lost work time for family members and/or dollars to move furnishings to where they will be sold and the net value of everything that most people own is, well, disappointing.
Recently, I spoke with a young man whose father had died. The son was left with the task of taking his father’s possessions and furniture. On the first day he puzzled about transporting it all back to his home 200 miles away. On the second day he called and asked if I had the phone number for a dumpster service.
I’ve dealt with two estates in the last two years. Here’s what I experienced:
— In California, a resale shop had no interest in Limoges or Wedgewood china. “No one wants it,” I was told.
— In Texas, I took a $2,000 chair with tufted upholstery to a consignment store for resale. But it was not accepted because it was missing a single tassel on one of the tufts.
Value is in personal utility and meaning.
Priceless family stuff
And what about “family stuff” – documents, photos, albums, medals, awards, report cards, etc. Here it’s good to remember that an unidentified object is just that, an object. Meaning comes from context. So unless you’ve done something with that basket of old photos, it really won’t mean anything to anyone.
Here’s where a digital scanner can be really useful: It can record things and you can add meaning at the same time as the image goes into the cloud. And if you haven’t got the time to do it, it probably isn’t worth doing.
Avoiding the last imposition
If limited space doesn’t require this kind of clearing, thoughtfulness should. The (literally) last thing we should do is put a cleanup and throw-out burden on our adult children. Leaving that burden is OK if you die suddenly at 40. But it’s not OK if you’re in your 70s.
Related columns:
Scott Burns, “This old mobile home: raze or save?,” 1/12/2019 https://scottburns.com/this-old-mobile-home-raze-or-save/
Scott Burns, “This old mobile home: The Joy of Tear-Out,” 2/25/2019 https://scottburns.com/joy-of-tear-out/
Scott Burns, “On the level … and going with the flow,” 3/8/2019 https://scottburns.com/on-the-level-and-going-with-the-flow/
Sources and References:
Swedish Death Cleaning https://www.amazon.com/Gentle-Art-Swedish-Death-Cleaning/dp/1501173243/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Y0NUEZQMB3RY&keywords=swedish+death+cleaning+book&qid=1554909963&s=gateway&sprefix=Swedish+Death%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1
This information is distributed for education purposes, and it is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, recommendation, or endorsement of any particular security, product, or service.
Photo: Thrift store clothing by Pexels
(c) Scott Burns, 2019