ilovetv -- oops I just duplicated your post! See what happens when I stay up past my bedtime :).

Wow. Thanks, everybody, for your opinions and advice. We certainly have a lot to think about as we work toward becoming full-time Floridians in the next few years...but I'm going to continue scaling back a little bit at a time (just in case).

:wave:

Sure wish my ex-hubby felt that way.....:(...his motto was "my way or the highway". Then he took the highway......
Suzanne

Wish we had packed
 

our underwear only (and may have left some of that in NC also, giggle) but we brought tons of stuff here and then dumped the majority of it in the driveway to be hauled away by the very guy that moved us here, that was dumb, Huh?.....Word to the wise, more than likely you are starting a new life, why not start from scratch.....Bet this home style will be totally different....Of course bring anything that is sentimental but more than that enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the journey and hurry on down to paradise!

I just joined the forum today and so glad I did. My wife and I are in the process of getting our house ready for sale so we can move to The Villages, and I have been thinking about whether to move our furniture or buy new. You guys have been a big help, we will buy when we get there.

ghenley -- Welcome to TOTV. Keep reading and keep posting and you will learn a lot about living in The Villages. :welcome:

If you do use a moving company to bring your things anywhere make sure you take the time to take pictures of what you are sending. If you pack any bins yourself label and put your name on them, put duct tape around them and number them. We just had the move from **^%#. Some of our furniture arrived wet and warped, glass table top broken, damp rugs and missing parts to some items. Some of our boxes even had grass stain on them.

Move or not to move - furniture
 

If the pieces have special meaning and you would always look for that item, then I would say keep it, or take a picture of it and put it in a special photo album if it wouldn't make the move.

Antiques - some peoples lifestyles are to be on the fly and not worry about keeping the dust bunnies at bay. That seems to be the lifestyle of TV. Antiques need care, they don't usually like humidity, and cleaning them can become a chore.

Please - decide if you would wish to go shopping for something brand new to you - that you would have to 'break in'. Is shopping fun for you? Then just bring your photos and toothbrush - shoot - we've got Walgreen's down here and you can buy a new toothbrush.

BUT - if you detest any type of shopping and you aren't looking to have a home where you want a designer to salivate but you are comfortable, then perhaps the less stress of shipping your present furniture is more inviting.

MANY people move down here with their 'treasures' and decide they want a change, there is not enough room, or they just couldn't choose at that time. Then they put their items into storage and make the decision later. That costs for the moving and for the storage. BUT you are able to postpone the big decision until you decide what lifestyle you will have and sometimes with a small budget you can replace a piece at a time......

My brain hurts - too much thinking for a Friday afternoon - Hope this helped!

One suggestion - important - when packing up boxes, make a list of EVERYTHING in the box and then number the box. - Make a copy of the list and mail it to a neighbor or friend in case you lose your copy. In numbering the boxes, you may then A.) re-use the box in the future for anything; B.) YOU know what's in the box and no one else will; C.) You will know which boxes you will need immediately as they will be a higher number! teehee!:highfive::thumbup:

I love my house here, but it is not meant for storage. Since we had so much "stuff" to move, I used the old 5 second rule. If I couldn't figure out where to use it or store it, it went into the donate,sell, or trash pile. It's been 5 years now and I don't regret taking so little from up north and bringing it here. I brought my bar because I couldn't find another like it. Brought some clothes and my Oral B and that was it. Oh, yeah, I brought Mr. Mac9 too!

I know when my wife were down in June looking at homes, the real estate agent mention I believe I am correct that the Villages will line up movers for you. Is this correct? And has anyone used this service?

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!