This has really made me think about what I want to take and what to leave. Please more comments are welcome!!!:thumbup:

My husband drew each room of our TV house to scale (including where outlets are, etc.) and then cut out pieces of paper drawn to scale representing each piece of furniture we anticipated taking and where it will fit in the new CYV. We will be getting rid of some things and bringing some things. Personally, I don't want all 'new' things. I can change the look of a bed with a new quilt, etc. And sorry, I've walked through Souther Lifestyles and they had nothing close to my beautiful Ethan Allen bedroom set. This has been made easier for us as we have never lived in a large home and many pieces we have we bought scaled down in size to begin with. What you decide will be personal to your situation.

When we went to The Villages furniture store (don't remember which one as there are two) they had our home and placed the furniture we were purchasing scaled in the rooms they were going to be. It was a GREAT help because I decided to not have a sofa and a love seat as I didn't want to take up all my living room with furniture, so I purchased two loveseats! No one sits in the center of the sofa anyway and the loveseats have recliners in them! They gave us a copy so we can see what we have purchased as we make our decisions as to what to bring.

Like you, I can't find a dining room set like the one I have here so we are taking it! I don't want to buy all new and I don't want to move a lot of stuff.

My thoughts... from someone who hasn't move in over 35 years is that trying to move stuff sometimes ruins it! So.... We will move as little as possible. It seems the more I think about packing things that may or may not make it... The more I think I want to buy.... :D

I'm a bit of a minimalist so tend to not keep a bunch of junk around. We moved from almost the same sf, 3/2, but now have a garage, altho did lose the Tuff Shed which we really miss. With that said, we did a bit of each. I had an estate sale and sold the couch and futon, dining room set, both of our desks from the study lots of knick-knacks we didn't really care for, tools, extra garden equipment. The family china hutch went to the brother that wanted it. I kept and moved a fairly new bedroom set, the 2nd bed, a set of dishes, my cooking equipment (I love to cook). In other words, got rid of some, kept some. We arranged for a truck via "less than load" where we paid for space on a trailer. The trailer was unloaded that morning, could have been p/u'd by noon, but since no one else wanted space, it stayed until the next day, met us in TV in 7 days. We hired local laborers on either end to help load/unload stuff. In my mind, unless I was doing something wrong or overlooking an opportunity, it costs a lot to start fresh.
My stuff looks good in our new home, I have lots of stained glass and Mission Style furniture and it's comforting to me that it fit in so well. Makes me feel like we made the right decision.
Wow! That was a long answer for "did a bit of each!"

Not to worry.... For some reason I LOVE this thread! As I am thinking about our move and selling the house, I read this one EVERY time someone posts and I get something out of it EVERY time! Thanks! AND... thanks to whoever started it!

When we asked about the above service, we were told they didn't have our stretched CYV floor plan. Anyway, it was fine for us to do it. We took our time and had a lot of discussion. That is funny and true that no one sits in the center of the sofa! :smiley:

We've Started "Dejunking"
 

We used the majority of previous recommendations to downsize and "dejunk". I think the hardest part has been our discussions here on what to bring, i.e. wife wants to bring a piano she hasn't touched in 5 years. (Hope she doesn't read this or I'm in trouble.) Since we don't have any really good stuff, I say get rid of it all. I don't want to bring anything I haven't touched in years, just to have it take up space in our TV home. Plus, we are talking about getting a "turn-key" place as well, provided we can find one that we can "live" with the furnishing to start. Then upgrade a piece at the time. That way we won't have another large outlay of cash for furniture, etc. We have to factor into our budget things like the sharp increase in property tax (ours in AL are really low), plus the CDD annual maintenance and the monthly amenities fee. We don't want to get there and find ourselves house and furniture poor and not be able to do the things we plan to do after moving to TV. Things like going to the Keys, frequent trips to Disneyworld, Tampa, getting two golf carts. Another thing is adding in the cost of golf (which I plan to do a lot); I work at a golf course here and play for free, so planning our budget is a bigger factor for me than paying to move stuff that may end up as clutter we'll have to get rid of down there. More work! :(

Pardon the long reply, but sometimes we can get too wrapped up in moving "stuff" and not balancing it out with budget planning once we move. Remember, we are buying into a lifestyle, not just a house. That will cost a little more, so keeping everything in prospective will help avoid those annoying "uh-ohs"!! They can ruin your day for sure. Having just turned 69, I want to get down and start "living" as quickly as possible!! :pepper2: :beer3: :gc:

Years ago I used a reputable ( so I thought ) moving company. It was the experience from h*ll. They broke the base on my marble dining room table and told me it was like that when they picked it up from my house. They lost my bed wall unit and I was never compensated for their incompetence.

I will use a pod to move clothes and all of our personal items but the furniture will be sold or given away. A new start in life, a new home, by all means I need new furniture. Its the perfect excuse. Lol !

Mrsnjp,

Welcome to TOTV and soon Lower Paradise. Just think-- now you have all the justification you could want to buy new :D, so go for it and enjoy! :highfive:

Thanks, P.

mrnjp and I have been looking and lurking for about three years, now. We ordered the DVD, read the e-book, talked with friends already living in Virginia Trace...and well, long story-short, we decided some time ago that TV is the place for us without even having seen it. We're trying to plan a time to come down for a lifestyle visit, but the hubs and I both scan the CYV listings on a weekly basis...just in case something catches our eye. We'd probably have to be long-distance Villagers for a while, but we're definitely looking forward to transitioning from "wanna-be"s to frogs!

Weighing the cost to hire professional movers to move your furniture to TV against buying new is not as black and white as it may seem. For some, it may make for financial sense to move their belongings and for others, it may not. Sentimental value is also a factor.Another factor is affordability.

We bought all new furniture for our home in TV. It was much more of a hassle than I had anticipated.

We just sold our home in MA and will be moving in to a 2 BR condo in the same town in MA next month. We donated and gave away most of our furniture to our adult children.

Moving can be very frustrating and for most of us, there really isn't a frustration free solution.

We had a 3600 sq ft house in VT. We left a lot for the new owners and got rid of a lot when we got here. Al in all we have and need only about about 30% of what we used to own.
We also went from 2 cars to one car and two golf carts.

I'd like to add my experience to the conversation:

I've been here almost three months. I gave away most of my furniture to charity and family members arriving with my bedroom set (that went into the guest bedroom), my breakfast set, my patio furniture and some assorted pieces that will go into my den. I have had a wonderful time shopping for new furniture to fit my new lifestyle. Many of the stores here have a lot of instock items and delivery was pretty quick for the most part. One thing I found is that there are a limited number of stores to shop from and you might find your neighbor has the same furniture set as you. I still have some pieces to add, but I'm not in any hurry. My neighbors, who moved in three days after I did, are still unpacking, having to rent a storage unit and struggling to get their house in shape.

You don't have to buy new - there are many used furniture/consignment shops full of furniture at reasonable prices. But think about where it came from - mostly people who brought too much with them. So maybe there is a lesson there.