This post doesn’t need many words—the videos do most of the showing. Click play to see our finished Richmond house as it looked just before showings in early March. If you’re curious about how the showings went, we talked about it on a podcast episode linked in the post. If you have questions about paint colors, furniture, rugs, blinds, or accessories you spot, everything is sourced in the “shop our house” section of the original post.
Note: You can also view the video on YouTube via the original post.
For nostalgia’s sake, we included the “before” tour too. It’s wild to remember how the house looked seven years ago. It wasn’t an overnight makeover, but we’re thrilled with the result—this home has been so good to our family, and we’ll always love it.
Note: You can also view the before tour on YouTube via the original post.
We also filmed a walkthrough after packing and sending a moving pod to our new home in Florida. Since the new house is less than half the size—about 1,400 square feet versus 3,150—we couldn’t bring everything. Roughly 45% of our things went with us and about 55% stayed behind.
If you’re wondering how we decided what to keep, we actually used four clear questions to guide our choices. You can find those questions in the podcast show notes, which are typed out if you prefer reading rather than listening.
We gave the buyer of our Richmond house first dibs on anything we weren’t taking. We made an itemized list, priced things, and she bought everything we offered. There’s more detail—how we priced items and what we made from selling them—in the podcast linked in the original post. Click play on the empty-house walkthrough to see what remained (note: some plants and personal items like computers and bedding are coming with us in the car on moving day).
A few common questions up front:
- Our stair runner lasted over six years but got worn during our bathroom renovation. We replaced it with the same stair treads we used in our previous home to help our dog, Burger, keep his grip.
- You’ll notice styled items on built-ins, kitchen shelves, and in the kids’ rooms. Those items were part of the downsizing pile; the new buyer asked us to leave them styled, which made it easy to part with smaller pieces we couldn’t fit in the new house.
- Why send the pod and still be in Richmond? The pod takes about two weeks to reach Florida, so we packed it and shipped it before our actual moving day. We’re waiting for final repairs in the new house—floor fixes and a fully functioning bathroom—so the move date has been a moving target. We’ll coordinate arrival of the pod with the day the house is ready.
We also photographed rooms before and after packing to show what stayed and what went. For example, the office kept several key pieces—tall shelving towers, a parson’s desk, benches, and a filing cabinet—because the room was highly functional and used daily. The desk, curtains, deck chair, and light fixture are staying in the house, while computers and a fiddle leaf fig are coming with us in the car if they fit.
The living room photos show choices we made with scale and layout in mind. We loved the rug, TV table, and coffee table, but the rug and oversized coffee table don’t suit the smaller Florida floor plan—and the coffee table is extremely heavy. We decided to sell or leave items that wouldn’t have a practical place in the new home rather than move them and feel disappointed later. We measured spaces carefully and used those four decision questions to be honest about what to keep.
We left wall-mounted TVs because their wiring is hidden in the wall and removing them risked damage. Selling them for about the same amount we expect to pay for new TVs made sense, since the new house might need different sizes anyway.
In the bedroom, sentimental pieces like a large secondhand rug didn’t have a good spot in the new house. It was tough to say goodbye, but the new owner promised to care for it and even send photos. We also sold our beds because the Florida bedrooms will benefit from storage-friendly options—trundles or drawers under the beds make so much sense in a smaller home.
For the kids’ rooms, we had long conversations about what mattered most to them. Our daughter surprised us by choosing to keep her dresser and some art but not her headboard. She’s nearly ten, so we’re giving her creative control for her new space. She’s excited to use money earned from selling some of her items to buy new pieces she loves.
Our art room was such a success that we’re bringing it with us. It became a daily hub for crafts and homework, so we’ll recreate something similar upstairs in the new house to keep creative messes out of the main entry. That space will be part of our plans for the Florida home and will likely be a priority when unpacking the pod.
All in all, choosing what to bring and what to leave was bittersweet. We love everything in our house, but we can’t bring it all. Downsizing means making practical choices about scale, storage, and daily function. Admitting there’s no place for certain items—like a set of stools we adored—turned out to be freeing. Meanwhile, the pod contains items we’re most excited to use in our new beach house: the pieces that combine usefulness and beauty for a smaller footprint.
We can’t wait to unpack and set up the favorite things that did make the cut. And yes—there’s an ongoing debate about how many houseplants can fit in the car. I’m trying for all of them; John is not on board.
P.S. If you want paint colors or sourcing details for anything you saw in the house, the “shop our house” section in the original post lists all the information.
