How to Downsize a Household with Children

My friend, Alicia, recently asked a great question on Facebook:

If you were downsizing from 1600 sq ft to 900 sq ft, 6 big closets to 4 small ones, and a 2-car garage to a 1-car garage, what would you get rid of??

I would declutter 4 major space consumers:  kitchen stuff, kid's clothes, toys, and books.  As I decluttered I would throw away broken or stained items, give away things, sell stuff on Craig's List, or return it to a less cluttered cabinet.

Assuming the kitchen drawers and cabinets are already organized and like items are already grouped together, I would tackle one or two spaces at a time.

• Do I have a duplicate of this item?  Do I need more than one of this (platter, mixing bowl, serving bowl, etc.)?
• Have I used this item in the last year?  
• If it's a seasonal dish or serving utensil, do I have a non-seasonal item that could be used instead?

For the kid's clothes:

• Designate 1 large tub for their baby/toddler clothes that I loved and would like to pass down to a grandchild one day (crazy thought!!).  
• Get rid of everything else that was too small, I didn't like, or my child didn't like.  Do this again at the end of a season.
• How many of each item does a child really need for the new location?  For example, does a boy really need 4 sets of church clothes?  (I think 2 is enough.)  Does a girl really need 5 nice church dresses? (Again, 2 of each season should be enough.)

For toys (the bane of my existence):

• Is it broken?  
• Not seen the light of day in 3 months? 
• Have they outgrown it? (Feel free to keep their old infant and toddler favorites, but limit them to one container.)
• How many action figures, Hot Wheels, Polly Pockets, Thomas trains, etc. do they need?
• If it doesn't fit inside a medium-sized container or under a bed let it move to someone else's home (Grandma?).

For books (my delight and temptation):

• Is it a quality story, illustrations and binding?
• Have they outgrown it (boardbooks)?
• Do I like the book?
• Is the binding broken?  Pages torn or stained?
• For grown-up books - will I read it again?  Would I loan/ recommend it to someone?
• Do I have similar books?  (3 variations of Goldilocks?  Or 5 marriage books?)
• Can we borrow this from the library or a friend?

Thank you for asking a tough but great question, Alicia!

Even though I don't plan on downsizing anytime soon I am hoping to move later this year.  When the time comes I don't want to pay to move or store a bunch of stuff I don't need so it's helpful to start thinking and decluttering now.

Do you have any ideas or tips for downsizing a household?