Rita, the downsizing designer, continues to inspire communities around downsizing, decluttering, and minimalist lifestyles.
By Rita Wilkins The Downsizing Designer If you are like many baby boomers right now, you might be looking around your home wondering where did all of this stuff come from? You’ve started to notice, especially during Covid just how much clutter is piling up and how much stress the mess is causing. You realize [...]
You just dropped off your youngest child at college and moved him into his dorm. The ride home seems longer. It’s quiet and tearful. You walk through the front door of your home where there are no more lacrosse sticks or gym bags to trip over. There are no dirty socks on the family room [...]
Rita Good morning, and welcome to day 23 of my 30 day journey to the South of France and today I'm here with a new friend Patricia Brooks. We're in this beautiful town that she chose to move to just a little over a couple of months ago, right? Patricia I’ve been in France [...]
Good afternoon. I just arrived in Marseille a few hours ago and I'm settling in to my tiny little hotel room on the fourth floor overlooking a beautiful tree line street. A little jet lagged, but so excited to be here and to share my new adventure with you. Little did I know when I [...]
What is it about packing? Does anyone else have the same problem that I do? I started last week, five edits later, one carry on for 30 days in multiple locations in the south of France. But did I really need three yellow tops and three blue dresses? As I was packing, I heard myself [...]
Six more days, until I leave for the south of France for 30 days. In January of this year, I had this dream to go on an adventure that I'd never been on before. I decided to live for one month as a digital nomad somewhere in the world. So I picked France, not too [...]
By Rita S. Wilkins, The Downsizing Designer As a young girl growing up in Germany, our family of seven took frequent road trips to neighboring countries. Our mom was usually the instigator of these adventures. Dad was the consummate planner. In so many ways, they were the perfect team. She was curious, a learner, a [...]
Have you downsized from a larger home to a smaller one? It was fun and easy, right? Do you still have unopened boxes that you have no clue what’s inside of them? Have you ever asked yourself WHY you brought so many things with you even though you knew you were trying to downsize? [...]
Mothers and daughters talk about all kinds of things. But there is one conversation Susan Beauregard, 49, of Hampton, Conn., is reluctant to have with her 89-year-old mother, Anita Shear: What to do — eventually — with Mrs. Shear’s beloved set of Lenox china? Ms. Beauregard said she never uses her own fine china, which [...]
Jimmy Buffett is wasting away again in Margaritaville. On Feb. 16, the 70-year-old singer of calypso tunes about flip-flops, boozy cocktails, and cheeseburgers in paradise announced a partnership with Orlando, Fla.–based Minto Communities to bring Latitude Margaritaville—a tropics-themed, “no worries” active-adult community—to a development parcel fronting Daytona Beach. Complete with a fitness center, aerobics studio, [...]
