Saying goodbye to your family home

Record the memories

Take photos of things you’d like to remember but can’t take with you, such as the kids’ first artwork, report cards and Aunt Agatha’s armchair.

Alternatively, walk through the house and garden with a camera, recording your memories. Take photos of the views, or the way the sun shines into certain rooms, if that is something you’d like to remember.

If you’re a gardener, propagate some of your favourite plants so that you can take them with you.

Sift, sort, donate

It can be hard leaving the home your family grew up in. Every room, wall, chair, cupboard and drawer will hold powerful memories.

• Decide what you’ll take with you to your new home. If you’re downsizing, plan out what furniture or appliances will suit your new home and list the treasures you can’t bear to part with.
• Get the family together and have them take any of the other things that they’d like. Apart from their childhood toys, clothes or books, there might be pieces of furniture, kitchenware or linen that they would like to have in their homes.
• Have a garage sale, advertise on Gumtree or donate the rest to a charity.

Be objective

Wander through your home, looking in each room and remembering things but also seeing the room for what it is. Does it still serve that purpose? What are the things that you would have liked to have differently? Maybe it will be different in your new home. Do the kids still use the garden or playroom? Entertain possibilities for change while acknowledging the passage of time.

Package up the past

Put together a folder for the new owners, containing plans, original blueprints, paint colours used, instructions and owner manuals for appliances in the house, together with a history of any renovations you had done to it. You could even give them a little of your family history in the house, including things you enjoyed most about it. If you like, you can leave a welcoming bottle of champagne for those who are about to create their own family history there.

Whether you’re downsizing, moving for work or for family reasons, see it as a chance to have a whole new life, in a different space and neighbourhood. It can be hard leaving the family home, but home is always about the people who live there, and in no time you will find yourself creating wonderful new memories with your family.