FRESH START

For most of us, downsizing from a much-loved home will provoke mingled, bittersweet emotions. On the one hand, the big move can feel like an adventure: a chance to jettison the clutter and begin a new life in fresh surroundings. But anticipation is usually accompanied by the emotional wrench of saying goodbye to a home where every room is resonant with memories – anniversaries, birthday parties and family gatherings – all those rites of passage moments that mark our lives. Closing the door on this for the final time is rarely easy.

‘Victoria and Julian wanted their home to be cosy