A downsizing checklist for seniors and the families helping them
Phase by phase and room by room: what to decide, what to throw away, which papers to keep, and who in the family takes each job.
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What should be on a senior downsizing checklist?
A senior downsizing checklist covers five jobs in order: agree on the move and the date with the person moving, measure the new home, sort room by room into keep, family, storage and let-go piles, gather important papers, and book the mover at least six weeks ahead, as the Illinois Commerce Commission advises. Yorkville Movers (Amenity Moving & Storage) handles the packing, moving and storage.
- Start
- Two to three months before the move date
- Book movers
- At least six weeks ahead (Illinois Commerce Commission)
- Sorting piles
- Keep, family, storage, let go
- Local help
- Senior Services Associates, Beecher Center, Yorkville
- Moves and storage by
- Amenity Moving & Storage, ILCC 73744 MC-C
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Where should a senior downsizing checklist start?
Start with the decision and the date, not the closets. Before anyone sorts a drawer, the person moving and the family should agree on where they’re going, when the keys or move-in date are available, and how much space the new home has.
Amenity’s advice to families puts the senior at the center: evaluate their needs, including mobility, health conditions and any timing or help they require, and involve them in decisions so they keep a sense of control. A checklist the person moving helped write is one the whole family can work from.
- The destination: a smaller house, a condo, a senior community or a relative’s home
- The target move date, and any fixed dates such as a house closing or a community move-in
- The new home’s floor plan and room sizes
- Who signs contracts and pays bills, if the person moving wants help with that
- A rough budget for movers, storage and any hired help
- How the person moving wants heirlooms and gifts to family handled
Who does what in the family?
Give each job one owner, so nothing gets done twice or not at all. The person moving decides what goes; family members carry out the work around those decisions.
| Job | Suggested owner | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Final say on belongings | The person moving | What goes to the new home and who receives heirlooms |
| Mover and storage contact | One adult child | The estimate, scheduling, questions and moving-day contact |
| Paperwork lead | Whoever handles finances or holds power of attorney | Address changes, accounts and records |
| Sorting partner | A relative who lives nearby | Weekly sorting sessions, drop-offs and curbside pickups |
| Out-of-town relatives | Siblings who live farther away | Claiming heirlooms early, arranging their own delivery, joining calls |
| Community liaison | Whoever toured the new place | Move-in rules, the floor plan and elevator booking |
Amenity works with seniors and their adult children, so naming one mover contact keeps the estimate, scheduling and moving-day questions in a single conversation instead of five.
The downsizing checklist, phase by phase
Work in four phases, starting two to three months before the move: plan, sort, prepare and move. The timing below assumes a local move; for a long-distance move add time, since Amenity suggests planning 8 to 12 weeks ahead for those.
Two to three months out: plan
- Hold a family meeting with the person moving and agree on the destination, date and roles.
- Get the new home’s floor plan and measure the furniture you hope to keep.
- Ask each family member to name, in writing, the heirlooms they want.
- Request a free in-home estimate so you know how the move and any storage will work.
- Look up the mover’s Illinois license on the ICC’s licensed mover search.
Six to eight weeks out: sort
- Book the move; the ICC advises starting your search at least six weeks ahead.
- Sort one room at a time into keep, family, storage and let-go piles, starting with the rooms used least.
- Line up donation drop-offs or sales, and note the next city bulk-item pickup if you live in Yorkville.
- Choose between full and partial packing.
- Arrange storage for anything still undecided.
Two to four weeks out: prepare
- Hand over or ship family heirlooms, or tag them for the movers.
- Take hazardous products and old electronics to proper collection.
- Gather important papers into one folder that travels with the person moving.
- Confirm move-in rules, elevator times and parking at the new home.
- Start packing rarely used items if the family is doing part of the packing.
Moving week: move
- Pack a first-night bag with medications, glasses, hearing aids, chargers, clothes and toiletries.
- Mark furniture by destination with colored tape.
- Confirm the arrival time with the mover and with the community or new building.
- Plan where the person moving will spend the loading hours.
- Unpack the bed, linens and lamps first at the new home.
What to throw away before moving, room by room
Throw away what’s broken, expired, unsafe to move or kept only out of habit, and donate or sell what still works but won’t fit. The lists below cover what tends to pile up in a house that has been lived in for decades.
Kitchen and pantry
Expired food and spices, chipped dishes, mismatched containers, duplicate pots and appliances unused for a year. Keep one everyday set of dishes sized to the new cabinets.
Bedrooms and closets
Clothes that no longer fit or haven’t been worn in a year, worn linens, extra pillows, and spare-room furniture the new home has no room for.
Bathroom and medicine cabinet
Expired medications and old toiletries. Ask a pharmacist how to dispose of medications safely instead of putting them in the trash.
Basement, garage and shed
Old paint, solvents, pesticides and pool chemicals belong at a household hazardous waste collection, not in the trash or the moving truck; Illinois EPA lists long-term collection sites, including one in Naperville, plus one-day events. Yard tools, ladders and spare lumber can go if the new home includes maintenance.
Home office and storage boxes
Dead electronics, cords for devices you no longer own, outdated manuals and duplicate photos. Many electronics, including TVs and computers, can’t legally go to an Illinois landfill, so use a recycling pickup or collection site.
For Yorkville addresses, the weekly bulk allowance, twice-yearly bulk pickups and scheduled e-waste collection are laid out on the downsizing moves page, and what to get rid of before you move goes deeper on the hard calls.
Want a straight answer on your move?
Book a free, no-obligation estimate with Amenity’s office. One household per truck, licensed since 1986.
Which papers should you keep, shred or hand off?
Keep identity, legal, medical, insurance and property papers together in one folder that travels with the person moving rather than on the truck. Shred only what you’re sure nobody needs, and ask the family’s accountant or attorney before discarding tax, estate or property records.
| Keep together | Ask before shredding | Usually fine to recycle |
|---|---|---|
| Driver’s license or state ID, passport, Medicare and insurance cards | Old tax returns and supporting records | Expired warranties for appliances you no longer own |
| Power of attorney, will and advance directives | Bank and investment statements | Catalogs, old magazines and junk mail |
| Deed, closing papers or the lease for the new home | Paid medical bills and insurance statements | Manuals for devices that are gone |
| A current medication list and doctors’ contacts | Records of home improvements | Extra copies of anything already kept |
Shred anything with account numbers, birth dates or Social Security numbers rather than recycling it whole. Scan family letters and photos the person moving wants to keep but can’t house, and give a copy of the scans to each sibling.
How do you keep a parent involved without stalling?
Keep them deciding, but keep each decision small: one room, one category or one hour at a time. Amenity notes that involving a senior loved one reduces anxiety and helps them maintain a sense of control, and short sessions keep that involvement from turning into exhaustion.
- Start with easy spaces, like a spare bedroom or linen closet, before the kitchen and the photo boxes.
- Ask “what do you use?” rather than “what can you get rid of?”
- Photograph collections and keepsakes before they leave; an album takes less space than the objects.
- Let them give heirlooms now, so they see where those pieces end up.
- Agree on storage for the items they can’t decide on yet, so no choice is forced.
- Stop when a session stops being productive, and set the next one before you leave.
Where can a Kendall County family get help?
Free public agencies answer questions about care, benefits and services, and paid professionals can take on parts of the downsizing itself. Families anywhere in Kendall County, from Yorkville to Oswego, can use the same agencies.
- Senior Services Associates has a Kendall County office at the Beecher Center, 908 Game Farm Road, Yorkville, (630) 553-5777. Its programs include information and assistance, caregiver assistance and transportation services.
- AgeGuide Northeastern Illinois is the Area Agency on Aging for Kendall County and seven neighboring counties; call (800) 528-2000.
- The Senior HelpLine of the Illinois Department on Aging, 1-800-252-8966, answers statewide program questions on weekdays.
- The Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116, finds services where a parent lives now if that’s outside Illinois.
- Senior Move Managers, listed in NASMM’s directory, are paid professionals; NASMM says most can help with sorting, floor plans and arranging estate sales or buy-outs.
- Amenity Moving & Storage handles the physical move, from partial packing to short-term storage while the house and the new home overlap.
When should you book the movers?
Book the movers as soon as the move is decided, and no later than six weeks before it. The Illinois Commerce Commission advises starting your search at least six weeks ahead, and Amenity’s own advice is to call as soon as the family is committed to moving.
Have the mover visit the home. The ICC recommends showing the estimator every room, closet and garage you want moved and talking about what to expect at the new home, then getting a written estimate. In Illinois that estimate isn’t binding, so be ready to pay 110% of it at delivery if the move runs long. What happens at an in-home moving estimate walks through the visit, and senior moving and downsizing explains how Amenity plans a move around an older adult. For the household-wide timeline, pair this list with the 8-week moving checklist.
Keep reading
- Office Move Checklist for Fox Valley Businesses
- Moving to Yorkville, IL: A Relocation Guide
- Yorkville Neighborhoods: A Mover's Guide
- How Moving Costs Work in Yorkville
Browse the full moving guide library or see every moving service.
Frequently asked questions
What should an older adult throw away before downsizing?
When an older adult downsizes, throw away anything broken, expired or unsafe, plus duplicates and items kept only from habit: chipped dishes, old toiletries, worn linens, dried paint and dead electronics. Hazardous products and many electronics have their own Illinois disposal routes, so set those aside for a collection site or scheduled pickup instead of the trash.
How long does it take to downsize a house?
For a house that has been lived in for decades, plan on two to three months from the first family meeting to moving day, with weekly sorting sessions in between. A smaller home, a parent who decides quickly or a family with more helpers can move faster. Booking the mover early keeps the date from pushing the sorting.
What should seniors not get rid of when downsizing?
Keep identity, medical, legal and property papers, daily medications and medical equipment, the furniture used every day, and a few items that make a room feel like home, such as photos, a quilt or a favorite chair. Don’t part with heirlooms in a hurry; storage can hold them until the family decides.
How do you downsize when a parent won't let go of anything?
Make decisions smaller and slower: one drawer or one category per session, starting with low-stakes spaces. Ask what they use rather than what they’ll give up, photograph keepsakes, and offer storage for anything they can’t decide on yet. Amenity’s advice is to involve them in every decision, because control matters as much as space.
What do you do with furniture nobody in the family wants?
Sell it, donate it to a charity that accepts furniture, or use your city’s bulk-item pickup. Inside Yorkville city limits, Groot runs spring and fall bulk pickups and takes one large item under 50 lbs each week. Amenity doesn’t offer junk removal or donation hauling, so plan these before moving day.
Should we downsize before or after selling the house?
Sort before the house goes on the market if you can, because the work is easier while the home is still fully yours to use. If the sale closes first, put undecided furniture in storage and finish sorting afterward. Tell the estimator which order you choose so the move and any storage are planned together.
What does a senior move manager do?
NASMM says most Senior Move Managers can develop a move plan, organize and sort belongings, draw a customized floor plan, arrange an auction, estate sale or buy-out, interview and oversee movers, and arrange shipments and storage. They are paid separately; only NASMM members may use the title, and NASMM’s directory lists them.
Do movers take things to the dump?
Amenity Moving & Storage doesn’t; it packs, moves and stores, and it doesn’t offer junk removal. Leftover items go through city pickups, charities, buyers or a hauler you hire separately. Plan disposal for the weeks before moving day so the crew only handles what is going to the new home or into storage.
Sources
- Specialty Moving for Chicagoland: Gun Safe, Hot Tub, Senior — Amenity Moving & Storage
- ICC Smart Tips for Hiring a Household Goods Mover — Illinois Commerce Commission
- FAQs — National Association of Senior & Specialty Move Managers
- Contact Us — Senior Services Associates, Inc.
- Household Hazardous Wastes — Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
- E-Waste Recycling — United City of Yorkville
Who handles your move
Yorkville Movers is operated by Amenity Moving & Storage Inc., 10028 Mandel St, Plainfield, IL 60585 — a family-run Illinois mover since 1986 whose crews dispatch to Yorkville and Kendall County from its Plainfield warehouse. Illinois household goods license ILCC 73744 MC-C. Interstate moves are transported under the authority of Wheaton Van Lines, Inc. (USDOT 70719, MC-87113), for which Amenity is an authorized agent. See licenses & disclosures.
Last reviewed November 11, 2026 by the Yorkville Movers team against Amenity Moving & Storage’s published service details and the public sources listed above.
Want a straight answer on your move?
Book a free, no-obligation estimate with Amenity’s office. One household per truck, licensed since 1986.