By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Whether you’ve resided in your current house four years or forty years, if  you’ve entertained the thought of moving, it may be time to think about downsizing.

For many people, the thought of parting with the possessions they’ve lived with for so many years can be intimidating, but those who have been through the experience say it’s worth it.

“I’m so busy here— there’s so much to do—and I’m just so happy here,” says Tina Scimemi, who moved to Brooksby Village in Peabody, Mass., two years ago from a condominium. “The things aren’t what make you happy.”

Get help
Downsizing is not a one-person job, and there are plenty of resources for those preparing for a move. Companies like Simply Organized in Andover, Mass., specialize in downsizing. Simply Organized co-owner Liz Elowe says she and her business partner have prepared at least 20 people who now live at Brooksby for their moves.

“The bottom line is, no one should pay to have items moved that they have no room for,” Elowe says. “[It ends up] costing a lot of grief and money.” To avoid such situations, Elowe evaluates the amount of space in the new home and then takes as much time as necessary to determine what should stay and what should go.

As big as the job may seem, Brooksby Retirement Counselor Marisa Tazzini has seen it done many times: “We have more than 1,800 residents here, and they’ve all been able to downsize,” she says.

A perfect fit
Elizabeth and Timothy  Wallace moved to Brooksby seven years ago from a house they had been living in for 25 years, and they did enough planning to find that everything fit perfectly into their apartment.

“We attacked it from the most-needed point of view … and took our best  stuff,” Elizabeth Wallace says. “You can’t put eight rooms into four rooms. You have to be very practical.”

The Wallaces carefully examined the floor plans to determine what would fit in their new space, and they were fortunate to sell their house to their daughter, who took a number of items.