A Basic Question

I have a nice house on a Village lot.
I would like to change it for a nicer house on the same lot
I cannot figure out what I am supposed to do to swap houses and yes I have read the guide, twice!

Its not actually swapping the houses that is the problem, that seems straightforward, its the contents.

I can store the house complete with decorations in a slot. But then how do I get the decorations out separately?
I can use "store items" to put the decorations in my bank (except I only have about 5 bank slots free)

What I want to do is swap houses and re-place my decorations in the new house.

At present the only cunning plan I can come up with is to move all my decorations to the basement and then back again when the house above has changed. To which end, can I move the hatch without storing the basement?

Is there an easier way?

A couple of afterthoughts:
What can I do about trees penetrating the walls, or getting in the way of the boundary?
Can the house orientation be controlled. The house I have now has windows overlooking the river while the one I am looking to switch to has its windows overlooking the opposite end (which would give me a fine view of some row houses)

 

if you don't want to tie the decorations to the house you're replacing, do not use the property manager. click the lot stone and change the house there. that will send all the deco to the bank directly, rather than tied into a bundle with the house you switched out. the fact that you don't have bank space for them doesn't matter, they'll still go. you just won't be able to put anything ELSE in until you take them out.

regarding outside trees and lot angle: if this is a npc or prt you're stuck with the angle and should bug the trees. if it's a pot the governor or a steward can wiggle the lot angle for you and maybe put down a paver to cut down the tree.

edit: and yes, placing or moving a hatch does not hurt the basement contents.

 

To add to that, you can store your current house and decorations using the Property Manager and then move those items to the bank later by right clicking it in the Property Manager. That way, you can swap out your house and then restore the old house and decorations if you decide against the change or send your stuff to the bank if you decide to keep the change. I also recommend investing in a Remote Bank Access Device.

 

If you are changing houses the best i have found is to put EVERYTHING into chests. Alot to do but if its in chests and sent to the bank it will only take a slot per chest. And makes it easier to move back to your newly placed house.