Downsizing mission

It took a year of looking, planning, simplifying and consulting a design expert, but life is prime living in smaller quarters for the Spillings

Karen and Rob Spilling did everything right when it came to downsizing and now they are smiling with a high view over the city.

For 25 happy years, they lived in a 3,000-square-foot home in the Hunt Club area. Then with retirement a reality, they started to explore the idea of moving to a smaller place.

Before their home had been put up for sale, a friend who was a real estate agent phoned to say she had some eager clients. A viewing led to a sale and suddenly the Spillings had to act.

Their transition — from a four-bedroom, two-storey detached suburban home with a backyard pool to a compact two-bedroom highrise condo — is a textbook case of how to successfully downsize. And it's an example for the thousands of homeowners who, as the population ages, can be expected to follow their lead in the coming years.

Over coffee in their new home, an 1,800-square-foot condo they decorated with the help of Ottawa designer Sheila Evans, the couple explains how they did it.

First, they kept a level head.

Though shocked to sell their home so quickly, the couple insisted on being given a full year before the deal closed. They used the time to find a new place to live and prepare for the move.

After considering various options, including adult bungalows, they settled on a highrise condo close to their old neighbourhood. This offered several advantages, not the least of which was being able to keep socializing with old neighbours. And because the condo was still being built, they were able to customize finishes and do things like wire it for sound — something husband Rob is particularly pleased with.

But the condo was still quite a bit smaller than their old home. So the next step was to get rid of as much of their stuff as they could.

"I spent every minute I had de-cluttering," says Karen, adding that the process took a full six months. Just going through boxes of old photos and slides took her a month.

"I enjoyed every minute of it because I was already in a de-cluttering state of mind, and now I could really let loose," she says.

Not everyone is as enthusiastic. Evans says some people find decluttering overwhelming because they feel they are throwing out memories. So they end up moving way too many things to their new home.

"This is the worst mistake you can make because you end up buried," she says.

Karen, however, was merciless. They originally thought they might rent storage space for items they weren't sure about, but in the end, they found they didn't have to.

They threw very little into the garbage; instead they found new homes for as many things as they could, and things that weren't taken by friends and family were donated to charity.

The next step — one that often must be done in tandem with the decluttering — is to measure the new space to see what furniture will fit. The furniture must not only fit in the room, it must also — if the building is a highrise — fit in the elevator.

"If you have an idea of where you are going, it helps you focus on what you need and what you don't," notes Evans.

"We realized we were going to have to get new furniture because a lot wasn't going to fit," adds Karen.

This is when they called in Evans, who measured, drew up plans and helped them plan. "We needed somebody to reassure us," says Karen.

Evans says she tries to find out what downsizers are passionate about, and why. She will try to build a design scheme around their passion. "I have an expression: In downsizing, the end result is upsizing your own living. I feel my job is to help people focus on this ultimate goal."

The Spillings kept a lot of artwork, and a very unique dining room table — a rectangular piece of glass on a mermaid pedestal.

The table now occupies a place of pride in their dining room. What's more, the mermaid, with her curved shapes, provides inspiration for many elements, from the swirling, curved designs in the rugs to the curly shapes of the table lamps in the living room.

"I was in reality designing for Karen, Rob and the mermaid," jokes Evans.

It can be hard to leave things behind, adds Evans, particularly when people are moving from a home in which they brought up a family.

But you can get creative.

She recalls one client who was reluctant to part with the door frame on which the couple's children's heights had been notched.

So the husband took the notched section of the door frame, replaced it with a new un-notched one, and the couple took the memory with them to their new home

Particularly if downsizing coincides with retirement, you also need to plan for a changed way of life.

"Life moves on, and you change and your styles change," says Evans

The Spillings, for example, used to have a house with a garden and a yard. Now their only outside space is a balcony

Being retired, they travel a lot, so there was trade-off: No yard? Yes, but also no yard work in summer or snow shovelling in winter. That means they can turn the key on their condo and leave on a trip at a moment's notice.

And to compensate for the loss of flowers and greenery, many elements of decor — fabrics and artwork, for example — have floral themes.

Because the space was smaller, Rob decided it couldn't be ho-hum. "I wanted to walk in the door every day and go, 'Wow,' " he says.

The couple decided that Karen would have the bigger say on the dining room/living area, while Rob would be responsible for the den — "my man-cave."

Downsizing ends up being all about compromises and trade- offs. To compensate for the loss of her garden, Karen opted for fabrics and artwork with floral motifs in her part of the house

Rob chose a jungle theme for the den, and Evans made sure the two themes — floral and jungle — worked together.

"We spent a lot of time planning every square inch," says Karen, adding that they are thrilled to have done so because they ended up with a space they like. And a new, simplified lifestyle to boot.