Skip To Content
  • Home
  • Buying
  • How to Decide What Does and Doesn’t Work in Your New Home

How to Decide What Does and Doesn’t Work in Your New Home

Whether you’re downsizing to a smaller place or upgrading to a larger home, chances are good that not all of your furniture is going to work well in the new space. Whether it’s a sectional that no longer fits in a living room or a dining table that is now too small for the kitchen, you may end up needing new household items to accommodate the new room sizes and styles. So, do how do you decide what works in your new home and what doesn’t? Here are 7 tips to help you figure out which items to keep and which items to toss before a move.

Look at a floorplan

When deciding what does and doesn’t work in your new home, it’s important to obtain an updated floor plan that accurately reflects a home’s layout and room measurements. A floor plan is a 2-dimensional diagram of a home’s interior, drawn to scale, that provides homeowners with a bird’s-eye view of a property’s walls, doors, stairs and other features. Room sizes and wall measurements should be included in the floor plan. Use the home’s floor plan as a starting place for deciding what furniture and household items go where.

Take measurements

After reviewing your floor plan, measure all furniture items that you wish to take to the new home. Compare these measurements to your floor plan’s dimensions. It’s important to figure out what actually fits before moving. This way, you can assess what (if any) new furniture pieces you need prior to the move. Don’t assume that old furniture items will work in the new space. For instance, your current couch might be too small or too large for your new living room. If this is the case, then you’ll need to think about 1) what size couch you need for the new room; 2) if there’s anywhere else that the current couch will work in your new home; and 3) whether the current couch is worth keeping at all.

Consider the style of your home

From a charming cape cod style home with a traditional feel to a contemporary ranch style home with mid-century modern feel, the house style of your new home may help narrow down which items to keep and which items to toss when moving. For instance, if your new home leans more traditional, then your contemporary furniture and household items may not work. The style of one’s home is also heavily influenced by its location. Furniture that works in one type of home may not work in the other.

Think about reupholstering furniture

Worried that your current furniture won’t work with the style or color scheme of the new home? There’s no better way to make old items feel new again than by reupholstering or painting them. This could end up saving you thousands of dollars on new furniture. To reupholster furniture, you can either do it yourself or hire a professional to do the job.

Decide what you can make work temporarily

Can you make your current furniture work in the new home, at least temporarily? Finding and purchasing new furniture and household items takes time and effort. If you’re in a hurry, you could end up making a costly mistake and/or buying something that you don’t really love. Avoid this mistake by first trying out your current furniture in the new home before purchasing additional furnishings. Working with what you have first will allow you to assess what you really need for the new home.

Determine your budget

Can you actually afford to purchase new furniture? In addition to trying out your old stuff in the new home, we recommend figuring out your budget for new household furniture, goods and accessories. If purchasing new household items is simply not in the budget, then you’ll need to make your older items work and/or search for new, budget-friendly pieces. On other hand, if you have a flexible budget, then you have the luxury of finding and/or replacing old items more quickly.

Consider getting a designer opinion

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to get a professional’s opinion. If your budget allows, we recommend hiring an interior designer to help you develop a design scheme for the various rooms. A professional designer should help you decide what does and doesn’t work in the home. Those looking for more budget-friendly design services should try a virtual e-design program, which allows customers to leverage the help of professional designers for much less than the price of a traditional in-person interior design service.

What to do with your old stuff that doesn’t work in the new home

So you’ve studied your floor plan, taken measurements, assessed your items and decided what does and doesn’t work in the new home. Congrats! Now, you just have to figure out what to do with all of the stuff that doesn’t work in your new place. From selling items to storing them, here are four suggestions for getting rid of items that don’t fit or work in your new house.

Sell items – Thanks to a number of online marketplaces and mobile apps, there’s never been an easier time than now to sell pre-owned furniture and household items. Several popular online marketplaces include LetGo, OfferUp, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and Nextdoor.com.
Donate it – Prefer to donate pre-owned furniture and household items to a charity or non-profit? Consider donating used household goods to your local Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army or eBay.
Store it – Not quite ready to say “goodbye” to your household goods? For items you wish to keep (even if they don’t work in your new home), we suggest placing in a self-storage unit.
Trash it – Sometimes items simply aren’t worth selling, donating or keeping. If you wish to get rid of junky furniture and household goods, we recommend hiring a professional junk removal service to responsibly dispose of your items.

Article sourced from moving.com

Trackback from your site.

Leave a Reply

*
*