Room by room might be OK, but I would move my bed and clothes and everyday stuff like dishes, towels, sheets.

Do not bring anything into your house that you do not intend to keep!! Not a chair, not a pot, not a tablecloth or tchotchke...

Then bring over the bigger pieces that you want to keep - sofa?? dining room pieces? kitchen table?

DO WITHOUT rather than bring stuff you will be replacing in your new house.

Once you have moved all the stuff you want to keep, have a big moving sale in the old house (once it's sold if you want to keep some furniture in the space) and arrange for a charity to pick up the rest.

See, it's easy!!

Good luck!!

Congratulations on your new home, ditty! I predict that once you adjust you will love your new home and how small it is. I agree with homemaker that you should move things that you LOVE first, find a spot for them, and then fill in the gaps with other items from your previous house. We made our move from larger to smaller about 18 months ago and we are really, really happy with our smaller space. We did, however, find that we needed to trade out some furniture pieces for new ones (done via craigslist) to find items that better fit the smaller scale of our new home.

Try using google images to find pics of minimalist decorating...

Robin

I downsized a few years ago. Actually I'm still downsizing. Our house needed alot of fixing up and we've worked on one room at a time. Living in the house gave me a feel for what I absolutely needed and what I could get rid of. Right now we are working on the office. Once the built ins are finished we can get rid of my DH's large desk, file cabs etc. I stored alot of stuff in the garage and rotated things in and out until I had what I needed. Don't feel rushed.

What's a tchotchke? Is it like Jonie Loves Tchotchke? Lol.

LOL @ westranch!

Tchotchke (originally from Yiddish tshatshke (often spelled in a variety of other ways because there is no standardized transliteration) (trinket), ultimately from a Slavic word for "toys"  Polish: czaczko, Russian: öà öêè) are trinkets, small toys, knickknacks, baubles, or kitsch.

So, how's the move-in going, ditty? Are you finding the scale of your old furniture overwhelming in smaller rooms? I wouldn't worry so much about the "stuff" aspect of downsizing because when there ain't any room, there ain't any room. I think the most startling facts might be the kingsize bed which has no place in the house any longer, or the over-stuffed sofa, or the dining set sized to fit eight. Some of the doorways in our house won't even allow furniture past a certain size. And, before we added on in the back, we literally had to dismantle our boxspring to get it up the stairwell. It was only a queensize bed, but it wouldn't fit between two specific angles.

Hope all is well!
-a

It's going slow....still decluttering ....Haven't even moved furniture yet but got the kitchen cupboards filled. At least we have a basement and in time it is going to be finished so that will provide a tv room. (that's where I will put my sofa and loveseat) In my living room upstairs, I am thinking of doing club chairs in a conversation like area and NO tv. We should be in by the end of the month so I will let ya know how it goes....I have to say though I can't wait to live SIMPLE !!!

We just moved 6 months ago. We got rid of stuff gradually. Some things were given away to friends and acquaintances. We also had a garage sale for large items and priced low because we didn't want to move certain items. (We moved ourselves to another state). Over time we also made many trips to the Salvation Army. It felt very liberating to get rid of stuff.

One thing we are lacking in our new house is storage space. We also had no room for a computer desk. So we went to The Container Store and the friendly sales person there drew up plans to use half of a closet for a 'computer desk' and the other half for storage selves. When the computer is not in use, we just close the door...out of sight!

I am so happy for you, you won't regret this move at all. I did the same, and we are a family of 4 with two kids still at home (girls, 16 and 11).
I just want to point out that smaller space doesn't always need smaller furniture, sometimes you make more of a statement and it's cosier just with fewer larger pieces. I did this in my living room: although it is only just over 20 m2 (215 sq ft?), I put a large corner lounge sofa in that is perfect and holds all the family and guests, it is so cosy and I have had so many compliments on it. We were able to get a new flatscreen TV (the kids and my DH still wanted to have one!) that goes on the wall: another piece of furniture less! I put a glass coffee table in front of the sofa to keep things light.
This room is a living/dining room in one, and the dining table is 7 ft long and seats 8-10 comfortably, also big for the room, but hey, it works sooo well. I have a large mirror on the dining end wall that helps with the space, the room has 3 not-so-large windows and is quite light.
We moved here 9 mths ago so have had family Christmas and everything here, without any alternative space in winter and two biggish dogs, so we have seen it works!
BTW, the computer: I use a laptop for my work so I can sit anywhere, kitchen table, dining table, sofa, bed (I have an overbed table on wheels that lives at the end of the bed when not in use)... Workstuff and files are in a windowseat set up for hanging files. The kids, who have the whole attic space for their "room" have a PC up there, too, as they need it for school.