Also ditto. We could start calling it smart sizing instead…or resizing.
Oh dear. DH and I are contemplating a small addition to our 4 Br house. Reading this thread makes me wonder if we are doing something wrong 
Our house is 18 years old and it doesn’t feel like the kitchen is dated. I’m not ready to move at all. Not sure where the kids will end up and I want to have space for them to visit once they settle down.
It’s a state of mind, not a location.
The right-sizing term, AFAIK, came out of the corporate world as an attempt to put a better spin on downsizing, as if to try to convince investors that there is a plan and management really does know what they are doing, the hundreds or thousands of people who just lost their jobs notwithstanding. But it never ever refers to growing a company, it only ever means letting people go or re-organizing or whatever - always smaller. When a company is growing and expanding, you never hear them say “we’re right-sizing”, then it’s all about how great they are doing.
And I find they term almost devoid of meaning. It gives no real clue as to what you are actually doing (well, aside from getting smaller LOL), but IMO it’s just an empty expression. When you say down-sizing, it’s pretty clear what is going on.
It’s possible my view of this is colored by my experiences in the corporate world.
It’s all IMO of course, so if the expression has value and meaning to you, don’t let me stop you. 
No worries! You are just right-sizing in your own way. 
We actually jumped the gun and downsized by a 1000 sq. feet when our kids were Senior/Sophomores in HS. Decided to move closer to the high school, with more privacy and land, but less house and have not looked back. We got rid of a lot of stuff, found a place we could stay in as empty nesters and the most important thing: It’s a single story! Both of our parents went down hill in a matter of months and could no longer do stairs and had to move. We decided to move to a place that we could stay in regardless of what happens. I also think having a second bedroom is very useful…never know when you need it for a caregiver : / The kids will come home less and less now that one is launching in July.
Our S helped us convert our bedroom into a guest room. He switched his bed to a futon/double bed. He also got rid of the old TV and installed a flatscreen tv in his closet, viewable while sitting on his futon. It’s a lovely space!
We right-sized, about the same square footage as our old house, but a very different configuration of that space that better reflects our lifestyle in our third quarter. The term for us was was not about size but usage. It’s “right” for us in retirement.
We actually got more sft if the finished basement is counted! If not, then the square footage is exactly the same, yet we have more useful for us space and less “kiddo space.” So it is “right-sizing.” 
In what universe is downsizing seen as a negative thing? If you live in a space that better fits the number of people actually residing in the house, you use less energy and in many cases pay less in mortgage, upkeep, etc. If you move to a house that is easier to navigate as you age and less work to maintain, how is this a negative? I suppose there are people who equate square footage and large yards with masculinity or some such nonsense.
I always have thought of downsizing as something you do once the kids leave the nest and the current place is too big. Never thought of financial problems as a reason. I would not call it “rightsizing” as there is usually never the right size perfect house available. More/less square footage than planned on can work if enough factors are good.
I don’t want to downsize in terms of number of rooms but more in size and layout. We have 4 bedrooms now but they are larger than what is needed for guest and bouncing kids. Need at least one more to be on ground floor. No longer need upstairs work/sewing room or room over (at least not as large). Current layout has way too much square footage just in upstairs hall alone… we are over 4000 now and I think could go down to 3000 and have same functionality. Less yard would also be nice. Afore mentioned grand piano will keep us from going much smaller.
@surfcity, my parents put a BIG addition onto their house in 1993, long after my sister and I had moved away. They are still in the house and are quite happy with it. I’m impressed that at 79 and 80 they do OK, since the garage is at basement level. They have to walk up one flight of stairs to get to the main floor level, and another flight of stairs to get to their large home office where they spend a lot of time.
I like the word “simplify.”
The plumbers just left our house. Sooooooo sick of repairs and maintenance on a 1924 house. 
We doubled the size of our kitchen and added a screen porch when our youngest was a senior in college. While I don’t know if we’ll get any return on our investment, I am sure that it will make it much easier to sell when the time comes. The house has a much better flow and we no longer have mustard colored peeling formica counters and a kitchen with a peeling ceiling and a single sad fluorescent light fixture. We now have a place for kids to set up board games. I’m happy every day.
No plans to downsize or move anytime soon. I like the community where we live, the privacy of a home and yard, and the space for visitors and entertaining.
Our downsizing and relocating discussions have felt more like a roller coaster ride than any sort of rational plan making. Until recently, dh felt that the positives far outweighed the negatives of our current house. The market here for large houses is not likely to recover any time soon, and recent sold prices have averaged only 50% - 75% of the property’s original cost and/or tax assessment.
With dh retiring this year, I think he’s become concerned about how much work this place requires. He’s now resigned to realizing a loss on sale of up to 50%, so we’re meeting with builder’s rep next week to contract on a much smaller house. We’ll wait until the new place is ready for occupancy before listing this house to make the transition easier.
Yesterday, I was happily focused on reviewing light fixtures when dh mentioned that if this house doesn’t sell for at least 1/2 of our cost then we can move back here and sell the new place since it’s in a higher demand area. I refuse to consider that a possibility. I cannot wait until we’re in a one level house that we can easily maintain without outside help, at least until we’re much older. If something should happen to dh before this house sells, I would look into donating it rather than move back if we can’t find a buyer.
I’m not sure which thread is more appropriate for my question. This thread or bag a day thread. But here goes.
We are moving to one less bedroom apartment.
How do you get rid of your adult children’s stuff? Like, books we all loved but no longer read, stuffed animals with emotional attachment but no longer hug, souvenirs from family trips long ago but very tacky - a hula girl doll or a coconut monkey curving.
- Do you just throw them away without asking?
- Do you ask them if you can throw specific items away like A & B?
- Ask them what they want to keep from their childhood bedroom over the phone (or email) so that they cannot really see/remember. Throw away thing they don't mention.
- Ask them what they want to keep and have me send over to them. Send the items they want and throw away the rest.
- Hide the stuff you want to throw away during their visit. If they don't say anything or never mention about items for a few years, throw them away.
- Other
Lay the stuff out on the floor and take a picture (or a few) of the stuff. Send it to them. Tell them you need an aswer by X day or you’re throwing it all out.
Chances are good they don’t want any of it anymore.
One of our kids has told us…anything left in his room can be pitched. Since he hasn’t lived here in over 15 years…we are taking him at his word. Already got rid of all the trophies and trip souvenirs. And stuffed animals except for one special one. The closet has nothing of his in it. Underbed box is empty.
Bookshelves…still have some books from childhood on them…but I view those as mine.
Other kid has a short list of what she wants from her room and also has purged much of the rest. Really…all we have to get rid of someday is a huge collection of teddy bears…which she says she might want someday.
Everything else our kids have taken already.
They have also put dibs on the few things very few things…they want of ours.
Right now we are emptying the utility room of everything we do not use. Probably will be 10 boxes or so of donations.
We are lucky that S was in the mood to dispose of many of the educational games we gave him when a neighbor was going to do a mission in Tahiti and was delighted to take our vanload of educational games for the school in Tahiti. They were all in excellent condition, many new or practically new.
D has a much tougher time parting with things and has a ton of papers from grade school through CC in boxes throughout her room. We keep talking about going through it and tossing it, but she hasn’t done it yet. They come home every year for Christmas and we will definitely make sure she gets through them.