Grand Little Place

If there is one thing that most of us have collectively began paying A LOT of attention to the last few years it’s our home.  I have always been big believer that our homes need to serve us.  Our homes do that by functioning in ways that streamline our lives, provide the best experience in our day to day living, and are comfortable, safe and inviting to us.  Though I’ve preached this on the blog for years I’ve never been more aware of it than when our family went into quarantine and a year of virtual school.  Suddenly all of the pain points that I hadn’t seen came raging up (hence why my husband upgraded most of my kitchen appliances and pulled the trigger on a master bathroom remodel, ha!).  I am beyond thankful for the million ways our house proved to be more than up to the task, even allowing us to host my sister for a year while she was in school. Today I want to share the clues I use to check in on how well our home is functioning.

Take a minute and think of various things that are a struggle in your everyday life at home.  These are the things that your home is not serving you well in.  Be thoughtful and list out the pain points of your home, ask yourself:

• Is there a space in your house that’s always messy?
• Is there a space you’re always pulling chairs into?
• Are there rooms you don’t like going into?
• Are there spaces that aren’t being used?
• Do you have needs that your house isn’t filling?
• Do you feel like your house is ‘too small” or ‘too big’?
• Do you have too little storage for ____?

Once you have identified your specific struggles you can address it.  Using the examples above here would be some solutions:

• Is there a space in your house that’s always messy?
  • Why is this space always messy?  What item categories are consistently in disarray?  Make a real pen and paper list of EXACTLY what types of items need a home (clothing, kids art work, markers, tape, glue, coloring books, play doh, mail, etc)  Now that you know WHY the space is messy and WHAT you need to store, you can figure out HOW to make it happen.  You can never fix a problem without knowing what the problem is.
• Is there a space you’re always pulling chairs into?
  • Ask yourself what types of gatherings you regularly host.  Look at the type of seating that you normally pull in when needed and determine if there is a way to add more permanent seating. Challenge yourself to think outside of the box!  
• Are there spaces that aren’t being used?  Are there rooms you don’t like going into?
  • Why do you have unused spaces in your home?  What purpose are they currently designed for?  What need does your family have that isn’t being met?  Is the unused space dark?  Cluttered?  
• Do you have needs that your house isn’t filling?
  • We often have spaces in our house that aren’t being used to their potential.  Years ago my photography business needed a home studio for meeting with clients.  The answer ended up being a rarely used sunporch in my house.  It checked all the boxes we were looking for and gave purpose to a space that was underused.  If you find yourself in need of a functional space, mentally walk through your house room by room and evaluate what you are and aren’t using.  You may surprise yourself, I know I did!
• Do you feel like your house is ‘too small” or ‘too big’?
  • We often will label our homes as ‘too’ much of something based on it’s purpose.  If you feel your home is too small try the exercise above and see if you can’t carve out extra square footage somewhere unexpected.  If you feel your house is too big it’s because you haven’t defined the space well enough.  Dig deep into making your house the home you’ve always wanted!  You wanted a library – make one!  You want an exercise space – do it!  A ‘too big’ house is simply room to make it ANYTHING you set your mind to!
• Do you have too little storage for ____?
  • As a mom of growing children, this is a reoccurring pain point for me.  It alternates between the items I need ‘more’ room for – linens, toys, dishware, clothing, shoes, books, games, extra decor – you name it!  The first step is always to pull out allllllllll the items in a category and go through them.  Touch everything and evaluate if anything needs to be pared down.  Lightening up any collection always helps.  Once that is done look at your available space and determine if you are using it well.  Would it be better used with additional shelving?  Organizer baskets?  Do you need to move the items to a different location?  This is the easiest home pain point to solve, you just have to be willing to get in and do the organization work.  If you are looking for solutions to clear toy clutter check out my tips for toy storage that doesn’t mess with your home decor.

When I feel that my home is stuck in a rut I use these check points to call out what the problem is.  Do any of these resonate with you?  Tell me in the comments!

Don’t forget to pin!