Season 3 of The Big Downsize premiered on Monday, April 5, 2021, on VisionTV. Don’t worry if you missed the first episode; there are still four more very entertaining shows left!
This season, I work with Lunenburg artist Doug Bamford and the Sparks family in Dartmouth. Both clients need a thorough declutter before moving to a smaller space; the challenges abound! The reality of this huge life change hits both households as they begin to edit what they have collected over many years of living in a large home. If you need some motivation to let go, this show might just provide that.
Tips to Help You Survive Your Next Downsizing Project
- Start with whatever grouping of stuff is the easiest for you to let go of. Or you could start in the room that you use the most each day. Alternatively, start in the area which will make you really happy if you’re able to declutter and organize it. The idea is to warm up your decision-making muscles on something easy, so your skill for discarding grows as the work becomes more difficult.
- When you think you have finished discarding, revisit everything at least once more. A second pass with a more critical lens on what you need to keep will be well worth the effort.
- Once you declutter, ideally, you should limit your shopping and the accumulation of new stuff. We are bombarded every day with advertising telling us we need the latest thing. Every time you fill up your shopping cart, either online or in the store, stop for a minute or two and look at what you have decided to purchase and ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” and “Where am I going to put this” and “What am I going to let go of to make room for this?”
*2026 Update: Sadly, VisionTV no longer streams The Big Downsize. But you can still watch a few episodes of Season 3, and some short video clips by entering “The Big Downsize” in the search function on the VisionTV website.