Downsizing To a Little Fixer Upper For Retirement

Retirement is just around the corner!

As we thought about OJ’s upcoming retirement, we decided we wanted to spend this next stage of life in our home town. We have never strayed too far, but we have moved several times, and we felt it was time to go back home. It didn’t take long for OJ to find a little house he liked. I was not so easily convinced, given that this house required a lot of work before we could move in. But, in spite of being over 65 years old, I knew we could turn this little fixer upper into a cute little cottage. 

Join us over on YouTube and follow our progress as we renovate this little house! 

We purchase this little house in November of 2023, and started documenting our progress, with the plan to hopefully have all the renovations inside far enough along that we could move in sometime in the spring.

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You can follow our channel, Coffee Walks and Whatever  here:Coffee Walks and Whatever

Beyond Decluttering, Does It Ever End?

So, you've spent a few months, or maybe a year, decluttering your home.

You've dumped all your clothes on the bed and only kept what you love...folding them neatly Marie Kondo style, you've pared down your bookshelves to only your favourite authors, you've given away all your nicknacks, emptied the basement and garage...you've even tossed all of the expired medication! You can finally breathe a sigh of relief...it's done! Until you open a closet or cabinet and aaaarrgh it's overflowing again! Or the junk mail and flyers have once again piled up on the kitchen counter! Picnic plates in the winter? And what are those tools doing in here? Please tell me I'm not the only one who's had this problem!

My Top 5 Posts of 2019

  It seems we're not the only ones trying to simplify our lives. Four of my top five posts are from my Decluttering and Downsizing series. In fact, the top post of all time is the first I wrote in the series. Part 1 of our Foster-Adoption story made it into the top 5 as well!

Clutter Or Keepsakes?

 In a previous post, I posed the question, 

"But does decluttering mean we're becoming minimalists?"

For the most part, I'm a very practical person and a messy house stresses me out, so minimalism does have an appeal. But I'm also sentimental about some things. What I consider clutter is stuff that once had a practical purpose, but is no longer needed...clothing that doesn't fit, extra dishes, miscellaneous containers, old financial papers, pamphlets or magazines. The impractical items like mementos, gifts and ornaments aren't clutter to me. 

 If you too enjoy being surrounded by mementos and collectibles, this little peek into our new home is for you.

Our House Tour; Downsizing & Moving On

 I know I promised a house tour months ago, but life just got a little hectic and we never did find time to do a video before moving out of our Hoops Loop house. We did, however, manage to get one done when we went back to do a final cleaning. 
 For those of you who haven't been here before, I'll give a little intro. As my husband nears retirement age, we realized we hadn't really planned for this stage of life. Most of our family has grown up and left home, and we've retired from 30 years as foster parents, leaving us and just 2 kids in a very large house. We had started a decluttering and downsizing process about 2 years ago, and in June 2019, we moved into what we hope and expect to be our retirement house.  I'll be sharing more about that in the future but for now, I hope you'll enjoy taking a walk through our previous house.

Living Simply; Going Minimalist?

  Having just gone through a major decluttering of our house, I've spent some time watching various videos to get myself organized and motivated. Whether it's the tiny house movement, capsule wardrobes or downsizing, everyone seems to be talking about minimalism. 

But does decluttering mean we're becoming minimalists?

Just Put One Foot In Front Of the Other

  Having come to the end of the monumental task of decluttering our home, I thought it fitting to share this story...

My dad grew up near Miami, Manitoba, at the foot of a huge hill, called Mount Nebo. One day a neighbour commented that he was so tired, he felt like he had just moved Mount Nebo with a wheelbarrow. That statement somehow grew into a favourite saying of my mom’s, and one that my husband quotes quite frequently, 

“You can move a mountain with a wheelbarrow, just put one foot in front of the other.” 

Decluttering; Laying Aside Every Weight

My parents lived on the same property for 61 years; first a small house, then one they had built. I can't imagine how much stuff I could have accumulated if we`d stayed in one place that long! My kids should be thankful that we've moved 18 times in 38 years! And even more thankful that I'm not leaving all of our stuff for them to clean up.

Knowing that we would be downsizing in the near future, I started decluttering.

It wasn't until pictures started coming up in FB memories that I realized just how long I'd been at it! Here I am a year later, finally at the end of what has been a very long but satisfying journey. I thought I'd share a little of the process here.