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4 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before You Renovate
Renovating isn’t just about how your home looks. A professional organiser shares four points to ensure it functions, too
Patricia Lee
6 de diciembre de 2018
Renovating is an opportunity to create a space that reflects your personal style – but just as important, it’s an opportunity to incorporate better functionality into your everyday living. As a professional organiser, I’ve seen homes that were aesthetically gorgeous but didn’t flow well for my clients’ needs. This can happen when family needs change or when a home’s layout simply isn’t maximised for productivity and efficiency.
For the most successful renovation, you’ll want to consider how you live now and how you’d like to live ideally. After all, renovating is a chance to forge new, more organised habits. Why not create a home that will make implementing your new habits easier? Here are four questions to consider before you renovate.
For the most successful renovation, you’ll want to consider how you live now and how you’d like to live ideally. After all, renovating is a chance to forge new, more organised habits. Why not create a home that will make implementing your new habits easier? Here are four questions to consider before you renovate.
1. How do you use your spaces?
Consider the routines of your household members. How do you currently use your spaces? What isn’t working? For example, if you are a no-shoes-indoors household and footwear tends to pile up near your home’s entrance, consider having an attractive built-in added to the front entrance or wherever you enter the house to store your shoes. Or you could add a freestanding shoe shelf or cabinet for the same purpose.
Consider the routines of your household members. How do you currently use your spaces? What isn’t working? For example, if you are a no-shoes-indoors household and footwear tends to pile up near your home’s entrance, consider having an attractive built-in added to the front entrance or wherever you enter the house to store your shoes. Or you could add a freestanding shoe shelf or cabinet for the same purpose.
Similarly, if you have children, consider where they do their homework. If you want them to be in common areas near you as they work, you may want to plan work surfaces with storage nearby for their supplies. That way, you can prevent the clutter associated with school projects that can linger for days.
Also consider where you will work. Dedicating a space for important papers, basic office supplies, electronic chargers and equipment, stationery and thank-you cards will help keep you organised.
Also consider where you will work. Dedicating a space for important papers, basic office supplies, electronic chargers and equipment, stationery and thank-you cards will help keep you organised.
How frequently do you spread out paperwork and work on your laptop? If you often work from home – even if that work consists of managing other family members’ schedules and papers – an ergonomically designed home office or workspace could boost your productivity and be better for your body than working from the sofa. If your work at home is limited to paying a few bills online, perhaps you don’t need a dedicated work surface. However, I still recommend planning some space for keeping your office supplies and files organised in one location.
2. How many people need storage space?
Your plans should allow enough storage for everyone in your household. Otherwise you may end up with excess items that don’t fit in designated storage spaces, resulting in a cluttered home. Some upfront planning can prevent this problem.
Your plans should allow enough storage for everyone in your household. Otherwise you may end up with excess items that don’t fit in designated storage spaces, resulting in a cluttered home. Some upfront planning can prevent this problem.
- Pantry storage: I have seen many beautiful pantries that were not designed to be large enough for the needs of the family they serviced, leading to overflow and cluttered kitchen benches. Before you commit to the size and layout of a new pantry or other food storage area, consider your grocery shopping patterns. How large is your household and how often do you shop? Do you tend to purchase items in bulk and less often, or buy smaller amounts more frequently? If you are an avid baker, will you have sufficient space for your baking tools and ingredients?
- Dumping zone storage: You’ll have more success managing mess if your home’s flow makes sense for your lifestyle. When you and your family members enter the home, where do the items you are carrying go? Backpacks, school bags and mail need a designated location so they don’t end up cluttering the side table at your entrance, being flung onto the kitchen bench, or worse yet, the entrance floor.
The mudroom should be built close to where you enter your house but, for aesthetic reasons, preferably not visible from the main entrance. A mudroom with garage- and side-door access would be ideal.
If your floor plans can’t accommodate a full mudroom, you still can incorporate a drop zone elsewhere, perhaps with a small bench and a bank of cabinets in the garage, the laundry or within a multipurpose cupboard near your entrance.
Browse mudroom photos for inspiration
If your floor plans can’t accommodate a full mudroom, you still can incorporate a drop zone elsewhere, perhaps with a small bench and a bank of cabinets in the garage, the laundry or within a multipurpose cupboard near your entrance.
Browse mudroom photos for inspiration
3. Will your family situation change in the near future?
It’s wise to consider potential family changes as you come up with a floor plan, particularly if you anticipate these changes in the near future.
It’s wise to consider potential family changes as you come up with a floor plan, particularly if you anticipate these changes in the near future.
- Children: If you intend to have children, keep in mind that kids and their belongings take up a lot of room as they grow older. An adult-size wardrobe will be useful for storing and organising the various stages of childhood, from babies’ play mats and nappy boxes to toddlers’ toys, children’s dress-up chests and teens’ sporting equipment. Large cupboards that corral these items can help maintain an uncluttered feel in the rest of the room.
- Empty nest: Perhaps your renovation is coming toward the end of your child-raising years, and a reduced household is on the horizon. If so, think about how you might repurpose your children’s rooms. If you want an office that doubles as a bedroom when your child visits, it may make sense to incorporate a multipurpose built-in wall unit. If you’d like your young adults to feel some ownership over the space, you could paint the walls their preferred colour and consult them in your renovation plans.
- Ageing parents: If you plan to move your ageing parents into your home, consider including features such as a ground-level bathroom with a walk-in shower and built-in seating. This kind of accommodation can be helpful for someone with limited mobility since it reduces the chance of a fall.
4. Does every space have a useful purpose?
If you plan to stay in your home, don’t be afraid to design it to support your lifestyle. After all, you’ve paid (or or will be paying) for every square metre of your home, and therefore any unused or inefficient space is wasted real estate.
Tell us
What changes have helped your home function better? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save it if you plan on renovating, and save your favourite images. Join the conversation.
MoreNeed to talk through your needs before you take the plunge and renovate? Chat with a local home storage designer or professional organiser for some ideas
If you plan to stay in your home, don’t be afraid to design it to support your lifestyle. After all, you’ve paid (or or will be paying) for every square metre of your home, and therefore any unused or inefficient space is wasted real estate.
Tell us
What changes have helped your home function better? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save it if you plan on renovating, and save your favourite images. Join the conversation.
MoreNeed to talk through your needs before you take the plunge and renovate? Chat with a local home storage designer or professional organiser for some ideas
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