As you plan for retirement, you may be considering downsizing, which means eventually confronting years of memories and emotional attachments to reduce the amount of “stuff” in your home. The thought of deliberating over each item can be overwhelming. But an increasingly popular approach called “reverse decluttering” can help you prioritize the items you actually love for a faster, less stressful sort-out. According to Deborah Lucci, a top-rated Andover, Massachusetts real estate agent and downsizing specialist with 28 years of experience, reverse decluttering isn’t a quick, last-minute clean-up project. It’s a deeper, more intentional process that helps you prepare emotionally, practically, and financially for a move to a smaller home.
Lucci explains that with traditional decluttering to downsize, most home sellers look at every item in the house. They might create three piles: keep, maybe, and definitely get rid of. But with reverse decluttering, you start with only the “keep” pile — the items you love, use all the time, or truly need in your next home. “Don’t say things like, ‘Well, this might have sentimental value,’ or ‘Maybe I’ll use this later.’” Lucci says. “You’ll end up paying for storage, and you won’t be able to get out of it. Take what you love and what you must have with you.” Once these must-haves are set aside, everything else can go into the “maybe” pile for review, but you will have already made an enormous stride. Reverse declutter flips your thinking from “What do I need to get rid of?” to “What do I absolutely want to keep in my life? “It’s not just regular decluttering. It’s totally different,” Lucci says. She adds, “But if you’re not sure you’re going to use something and you decide to put it in storage, you need to put a deadline on that storage unit.” In short, rather than focusing on what to discard, the reverse decluttering method starts with what matters most, and works backward from there. Downsizing is rarely just a logistical move. For many homeowners, it marks a major life transition, which is why reverse decluttering resonates so deeply. “It’s the emotion of it,” Lucci says. “When people downsize, it’s emotional. Getting rid of all these things is part of that emotion, and it’s hard for them.” Allowing yourself to prioritize what you want to keep right up front can make it easier to get started and avoid hours (or days and weeks) of indecision. Lucci also notes that reverse decluttering is about responsibility as much as simplicity. “We have to have the mindset that we don’t want to leave a mess for our children,” she says. “We have to be very selective about what we’re taking with us because eventually we all get old and we all pass.” Getting started early with reverse decluttering can give you time to process your emotions gradually, rather than facing them all at once under pressure. This approach can be especially helpful if you aren’t ready to sell yet but know a smaller home is in your future. As Lucci puts it, reverse decluttering works best when homeowners give themselves permission to move slowly and honestly.What is reverse decluttering, and why is it different?
Why reverse decluttering resonates with downsizers
