Retire VA 2018 - 9

"The decision to move to a
Life Plan Community takes
time and may feel overwhelming. We're here to
help," states Jessica Buhler,
Director of Marketing at
Kendal at Lexington.
K E N DAL AT LE XI N GTO N

Residents Tell It Like It Is:
The Upside to Downsizing
The decision to downsize can be stressful, emotional and complicated. However,
relocating to a home and community that
better suits your needs can be well worth
the effort in the end. Kendal at Lexington
residents recently held a forum to discuss
their downsizing experience.
Here are a few tips from Kendal at Lexington residents Beth, Dianne, Heather, Hardin,
Kay and Gordon to help guide your downsizing process:
GE T I N T H E R I GH T FRAME O F M IND
As Beth puts it, "You have to be in the right
frame of mind. Don't even think about it
if you're depressed, sick or stressed over
other things because it won't happen."
DI V I D E AN D CO N Q U E R
Diane says, for her, having an outlined plan
in advance of how she planned to go through
each room of her house helped the task
seemed less enormous. "If you take it tablespoon by tablespoon, you can do it," she says.

VISUA LIZE YOUR NEW SPAC E
Heather kept a downsizing notebook
throughout the process, which included
photographs of every piece of furniture she
and her husband Hardan owned. Several
residents recommend using floor plans to
help visualize how your belongings will fit in
your new space.
FIND NEW HOMES FOR YOUR
BELONGINGS
If family members aren't interested, donating is always a good option. Gordon worked
with an antique dealer and sold several
items. "I have happy memories of all those
things that I used to have," she says.
DON'T BE A FRA ID TO KEEP THING S
As important as it is to make the tough decisions, it's also OK to keep things that you
don't want to part with. "Just bring it with
you and deal with it later," suggests Kay.
And as Diane puts it, "Bring what you love
and let go of the rest."

Want to hear more from real residents who
have succeeded at downsizing? You can
watch the full video of the downsizing forum
or schedule a visit at kalex.kendal.org.

SPONSORED CONTENT
http://kalex.kendal.org
Retire VA 2018

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