Are the rooms of your house working for your current needs and tastes?
At dinner the other night, my friend Melissa commented about how her family growing up never changed things in their houses once they occupied them. If there was wood panelling on the walls when the family moved into a house, there was wood panelling on the walls when they moved out of it. If her mother hung a picture in the hallway, that same picture was hanging in the same spot the entire time they lived in that house. Couches, chairs, and dressers were never rearranged.
As Melissa explained this frozen-in-time behavior, I realized my grandmother was that way, too. Not a single picture or wall color or piece of carpet changed in her house during my childhood. She added a library onto the house when I was in elementary school, but once that room was decorated, it wasn’t altered in any way.
Since moving into our current house a year ago, we have done the same thing. We unpacked boxes, set up furniture, and hung artwork on the walls, and then let things stay. There are numerous ares of the house that aren’t working for us, but we haven’t attended to them.
It’s time we did. We need nightstands in the master bedroom (a year of putting things on the floor is too long), the pantry needs a makeover, the laundry room has become a storage room (and it needs to be turned back into a laundry room), our living room needs a better arrangement, and the cable panel must be installed on my desk because I’m tired of looking at cables.
The one year mark is a good time to evaluate how you’re living in your space and make changes if you’re dissatisfied with it or if it isn’t supporting your needs. We’re getting ready to embark on this evaluation and improvement process, and I’ll share with you the daily tasks we plan to tackle in March:
- Room Purpose. Start simply by taking 15 minutes or so to walk through every room and write down all the things you do (and hope to do) in the space. Your kitchen might be a place to prepare food, serve snacks and small meals, and store food and cooking equipment. Your kitchen might also be where your children do homework or you have your home office or where you keep the family calendar.
- Uncluttering. For most readers, myself included, this part of the process will take more than one evening. We’re dedicating one room per night to uncluttering. We did a good amount of uncluttering in 2011, so we’re not expecting a room to take more than one evening. If you need more time for each room, schedule that on your calendar.
- Repairs. Walk through each room again, and this time note any structural repairs that need to take place. Is a window cracked? Has the garbage disposal stopped working? Make note of all the repairs that need to take place (not improvements, those will come later).
- Appointment Setting. Make appointments for all of the must-do repair work that has to be completed to keep your home safe and in good condition. The only exception to this might be if you plan to do major renovation work and want to have a contractor take care of all the odds and ends at the same time as the big work. I’m assuming, however, that most readers aren’t looking to renovate their homes right now and just need to get the broken items fixed.
- Planning Improvements. Time to take another walk through the rooms of your home and decide all of the changes you wish to make. Consult the list you created on the first day of what exactly takes place in each room. Make sure all of these purposes are addressed in your improvements, if you have any. You may simply want to rearrange furniture to better suit the needs of the room. Or, you may want to organize some shelves or get storage containers or paint the walls. What improvements do you want to make?
- Budget. Many home improvements, even the small ones, come with a price tag. Sit down and review your budget and see how much money you have to devote to the improvements you’ve listed.
- Making Improvements. Again, set aside one or more evenings to work on a specific room making the improvements you desire. Change out the artwork or carpet, organize a cabinet, move the furniture or hang new shelves.
Mark on your calendar for a year from now when you will go through this process again. Keep your home from becoming a museum, based on whatever random design you determined on the day you moved into your house (or apartment or office or wherever it is you spend a good chunk of your time). It’s very likely your needs and tastes must have changed a little since you moved into your place, and will continue to change as you are in your home.
21 comments posted
Posted by Jessica @ Faith Permeating Life - 03/01/2012
This is funny to me because my husband is constantly rearranging our furniture! My parents have visited every 6 months or so and everything’s always in a different place whenever they come. We’ve been in our apartment over two and a half years now, and we’re pretty happy with the current arrangement, although my husband says he will probably still continue to tweak things
Posted by chacha1 - 03/01/2012
I change things pretty frequently, but generally not the big things. I mean, there is going to be ONE space that’s best for the big sofa, and ONE space that’s best for the dining table.
But use of space certainly can change over time. One of the biggest changes I made was to move little-used books out of a cabinet in our den and use that cabinet for my craft supplies instead. Got rid of a lot of the books and hid the others at the back of a closet, where I used to have to go dig for my crafty stuff! Seemed so obvious in retrospect.
Posted by Patty Gardner - 03/01/2012
We buy crummy houses and fix them up so we’re changing things ALL the time! That being said, there are still usually a few things we don’t get to until right before we sell. I always wonder why we didn’t take care of those sooner so we could enjoy them, too!
Another strategy for knowing what to change is to walk through your house as if you were getting it ready to sell. The things you would fix for re-sale are probably things you should fix or change for yourself NOW. And then your house is sale ready in case you decide you want to move!
Posted by Rindy Sherman - 03/01/2012
Just took out two garbage bags of kitchen clutter, so this is very relevant to me. Moving things around puts things in your hands and gives you the chance to think “pitch” or “keep” and follow through with it
My clothing closet is next and then the pantry. I now, for today, have the world’s cleanest fridge! I really enjoy spring cleaning.
Posted by Karen - 03/01/2012
I’m constantly rearranging things. I love those little houses on trailers but most have so much built-in. That would drive me up a wall. As I’ve been decluttering, I’ve been really moving things around and it’s helping to show me what else I have too much of.
Posted by Adina - 03/01/2012
I am constantly rearranging my home. I movde furniture, paint rooms, and change pictures in my last house all the time. I thought there was something wrong with me because am always changing things – but I now see that I actually just need to make the rooms fit my needs, and with 2 kids, running a home business, and starting graduate school these were always changing.
Posted by April - 03/01/2012
About once a year I naturally get the urge to move and start over in a completely new space. Sometimes that’s possible, but when it isn’t, that’s when I redo my current space top to bottom. I may have already rearranged furniture a couple of times, but this time I’ll re-evaluate every inch of space, purge, organize, rearrange, etc. Makes it feel like a new space, which satisfies my itch for new.
I’m a TCK, so wanderlust is my middle name.
Posted by Thrift Store Mama - 03/01/2012
I feel like I’m constantly re-arranging and shifting as our lives change. As babies turned into toddlers turned into kids who prefer pretending over playing with toys, we’ve changed lots of things. Those changes made more space available, a kid starting public school made money available for decorating, and since my husband and I each work from home 1 day a week (and I do a ton of other non-paid work) we each needed some work space.
The biggest difference was the change from babies to kids and how space appeared everywhere: their bedroom, the kitchen (no more bottles or sippy cups), and our living space (no more exersaucers, swings, etc.)
Our children’s bedroom is on the same level as our living space, so it’s easy for them to keep the living area tidy with just a reminder.
However, I do foresee a day in the future when I will be “finished” and I can see how people can go years without changing things . . .
Posted by MelD - 03/02/2012
I agree with Karen – love those tiny houses and the idea of built-ins but would it be for me who is constantly rearranging furniture?!
When I saw the title of this post, I expected to see something about actually rethinking the use of rooms, so I guess our understanding is a little varied! Here in Europe where we are used to smaller homes, there is a move from some willing parents to take a smaller bedroom in order to give their kids larger rooms to play in or to use as playrooms – if you’re only in there to sleep and your bed fits, why not?! Personally, now that my kids are grown and I see things a little differently, I think it’s a better idea to have a (shared) bedroom and a playroom rather than each child having a bedroom to itself. I don’t agree that kids should be little kings and queens; I think they should learn to share rooms and space – you can still give them individual retreats within those rooms.
Another thing I see sometimes is a bedroom sacrificed for a bigger bathroom – that can make a difference to a busy family! Then the smaller bathroom can become a walk-in closet or a laundry room or craft room or whatever, depending on the individual needs of a particular family.
Some families prefer a separate kitchen and dining area. Many eat in the kitchen so don’t bother with a dining room, giving that over as office or play space…
Friends of ours whose family increased a little more than planned (5 kids) and yet they loved their house – originally 2 larger bedrooms and a tiny one, 2 reception rooms – changed things round radically. The living room became a closed-room for all the family, the dining area a bedroom for the eldest daughter, and a conservatory was built onto the back of the house as dining space, while one of the older sons took over a space that was originally part of the built-on garage and they converted that into a room for him. They added a 2nd WC and closet in the entrance and thereby stayed in their beloved home and neighbourhood… cool! They didn’t even use the attic space, which is a solution for many! That could have made a separate office, had they required one…
Posted by Paul - 03/02/2012
Even in my youth when I was growing up in my parents’ home, I was always rearranging my room. In my teens I would shift everything around at least a couple of times a year, and once I got a saturday job and had money I DIY’d bookshelves all along one wall (big book fan!) and paid for an electrician to come in and install 3 extra double power points in my room plus extras in other places in the house. So I guess you could say I’ve never been satisfied living in a suboptimal space…
In the current house (big – 5 bedrooms) the usage of the space has changed drastically in the time we’ve been here. The general layout isn’t traditional – never was – and there are e.g. 2 main lounges, 2 kitchens, 2 ensuite bathrooms. It’s more or less arranged as two self-contained ‘layers’, each of which has one of everything you need. When we moved in, for the first few years we lived ‘upstairs’. My partner’s parents would come to stay a couple of times a year and just take over what we referred to as ‘the downstairs suite’. They’re no longer around and we have effectively moved downstairs, but one of the upstairs bedrooms is now my office (I work from home permanently) and the loft room is my partner’s office (ditto).
In the nearly 20 years we have lived here, we’ve redecorated almost every room (in some cases more than once); removed walls; gutted and redone a kitchen and bathroom; fitted out a room with reclaimed bookcases as a library (it’s now my office too); put a laundry room and toilet in an annex… the whole place is a continuing work in progress. Add in dogs and cats all bringing their own requirements (3 Golden Retrievers do take up a bit of space!) and it’s a recipe for constant change.
In some ways I think a home is a bit like a to-do list. No active tasks only happens when you’re dead!
Posted by Kat - 03/02/2012
I, too, am a constant re-arranger. My three kids and I just finished redesigning the twins’ bedroom yesterday and their brother’s room the day before. We don’t do much more than evaluate what’s on the walls, move the bed to the opposite side of the room and create new story corners. But the most important part is that it is a chance for me to move every single piece of furniture and really vacuum behind. I find stray Legos, barettes and a few dead winter flies along with a collection of long forgotten dust bunnies on our hardword floors. And with just a layout change the kids are exstatic – just like the big reveal on HGTV!
But what really caught me was the last paragraph – it is my workspace – an 800 sq ft classroom off of the garage that needs a new design for spring. I really hadn’t thought much about it because I change things for the season or for new classes, but I think an entire layout change is in order. And it has been just about a year since it was converted from a dance studio. Thanks Erin, for the reminder!
Posted by karen - 03/02/2012
Jessica, my husband is always rethinking the way our house is configured. When we moved in we took the master bedroom upstairs (huge, with an attached bathroom), and the kids were portioned into separated bedrooms. One was a baby, so that made sense at the time.
Fast forward four and a half years, and the three boys share the master bedroom, the (new) baby has his own room upstairs near them, and we took a downstairs study and turned it into our bedroom. It’s perfect, because the baby’s room is near the stairs, and so is our room, so we can easily hear him at night. But because we are downstairs, when the kids are in bed, we can get ready for bed and chat without worrying about waking the kids. It’s perfect. Some of our friends and family were baffled—why would we give up the big bedroom, for a smaller one? But the kids play in their bedrooms, we only use our for sleeping or reading, so it makes perfect sense. And the boys’ room is big enough, now, that when the baby grows up and wants to sleep in there, he can. And then we will have a guest room again.
Posted by teresa - 03/02/2012
We live in a very small house with 5 kids and another on the way so there is a constant change in all the rooms of the house! My husband has become an expert in building shelves and even built in beds. We have a large loft for the kids and I think it is so much better for them to be together then spread between a couple of bedrooms. The best space in our house is our clothing shelves, the kids have no clothes in their room so it eliminates lots of problems.
Posted by Jeanette - 03/03/2012
Growing up, whether in apartments or in a house, my mother almost constantly rearranged furniture within rooms. The worst was when she, who was a true night person, would do something while we were sleeping. On more than one occasion I and others in the family would end up tripping over or bumping into something that was in a totally new place.
Cut to me as an adult and living on my own. Even before space and changes in room usage dictated rearranging, I was always playing with various pieces (large and small) in a room and changing them. In fact, I was so known for my skill in rearranging rooms that my friends would have me come over and redo their rooms (How I smiled when I first saw those home and garden TV shows years ago that showed people coming in to change a room with existing items from the total house, not just one room! Shades of my life.)
That said, there are bits and pieces and “sections” within my current apartment that have not changed for years, nor will they change because items are truly in the best possible location (bed in the bedroom, for example; items in the bathroom).
We don’t know anyone who isn’t always tinkering or “fine-tuning” (their words) their apartments and homes even if not dictated by a change in living circumstances.
When my mother reached a certain age, the rearranging stopped. In part, because of physical necessity but also because she just really felt comfortable with it.
Some homes, and I’m thinking here of custom designed and very high-end ones, are often designed so that various pieces literally cannot go anywhere else than where they are. Now, some of these are beautiful and you get why they stay the same. But honestly, it would drive me mad.
Rearranging stuff helps us feel as if we are in a new space and to experience our “old” space in a new way. I won’t stop till the day I can’t physically do it or get someone to do it.
Oh, and let’s not forget about closets, which are always a work in progress no matter how functional. Things go in and out, so it makes sense to rework them at times.
Posted by Jaimie - 03/03/2012
As a teenager I would move my furniture around every 3-6 months whenever I felt the need to. It wasn’t like there’s a lot of variations you can do with a bed, dresser, and desk, but I did it anyways.
As an adult with a house now, there’s not as much rearranging, at least not the big pieces, but I keep a running list of things I want to do in each room. I may never get to the big things like new flooring, but I like keeping track of what changes small and big I’d like to get to. It’s also nice to cross things off the list as they are completed. If everything was perfect, how terribly boring that would be. I wouldn’t have anything to do.
Posted by ChrisD - 03/03/2012
When I moved to Germany I got an unfurnished flat without even a kitchen (that’s normal there), so I had to do everything (paint, buy and install ALL furniture). And after it was done I did feel a big empty void in my life, but I filled it with non house related stuff
. Normally I and my family just leave things in the same place for ever.
Posted by Sue - 03/05/2012
My childhood house was also frozen in time. Same curtains, carpet, furniture, paint, and artwork. My father did, finally, buy a new couch and remodel the kitchen. But that was after I left for college.
My house, on the other hand, has gone through lots of changes. Maybe the difference is that my parents bought a new house, and once they set it up they were happy with it. My house was old and in serious need of some updates (shag carpeting and harvest gold tub, anyone?). We had no money to make improvements until recently, and we had little money to buy furniture. So we used thrifted and free furniture and lived with the awful decorating for a while.
We also make the rooms fit our lifestyle, rather than the traditional uses. I don’t have a formal living room or even a dedicated guest bed room, even though we have the space. That would be a waste for us. We each have separate office space, and one “bedroom” is the TV room. We have an extra bed, but that room is mostly used as my craft space. We’ve had guests exactly 4 times in the 14 years we’ve been in this house, so there’s no point in giving up an entire room for a guest bedroom.
Posted by Erin - 03/06/2012
I thought my husband’s head would explode when I told him I wanted to get “rid” of our living room and move the dining room furniture into that room and then turn the current “dining area” into a sitting area outside the kitchen. His answer? No Way! I knew the spaces weren’t working for us…at all. So, I waited until he went to work and moved all the furniture myself! He walked into a redesigned house and, of course, he loved it. He was so taken aback by my willingness to repurpose the rooms, he couldn’t “see” what I was saying. “But it is the living room!” “Um, no, it is four walls that have been used as a living room…it is our home, though, so it can be whatever we want it to be.” Since that point (five years ago!), that little dining area outside the kitchen has evolved as our needs have evolved and it is currently an eat-in kitchen area with a small table and chairs. The living room is still the dining room, though. It just works better that way!
Thanks for a fabulous post…I loved the comments as much as the post!
Posted by Kate - 03/07/2012
I used to paint – acrylic on canvas – and have been wanting to start again. But, I did not think there was an area in my 1275 sq ft house that would work to set up a painting space.
I also like to work out at home — DVD workouts with weights. I had moved the coffee table in my living room to the garage so I would have the space to workout. I rearranged furniture to hide weights.
One day I was looking at the breakfast area to the side of my kitchen and decided I did not need a breakfast area and a dining area. So, I took out the breakfast table and chairs, put down a piece of carpet, moved my little used TV and DVD from my bedroom into this new space, put all my weights on the floor of the pantry, and brought in an easle and small cart to store my paints. It’s much more open then it was with a table/chairs and my dog likes the big piece of carpet.
I now have a coffee table in the living room again and rearranged the furniture – no need to hide weights.
Posted by Julie N - 03/12/2012
I’m also one to always be looking to rearrange rooms and furniture. My husband and I often switch bedrooms from summer to winter! Your steps to reviewing what each room should be and what it needs is a great way to be concrete about it.
Taking a look at your blog, I really enjoy and just subscribed via email. Looking forward to the updates!
Posted by maggie - 03/14/2012
my hub, two kiddos under the age of 4, two dogs and i live in a 923 sq.ft. house with no garage. we love the coziness of it and have worked to maximize space (adopting a zero waste lifestlye and minimizing the amount of unnecessary things we have has helped tremendously) as well as providing areas where one can feel “away”. we added a deep covered front porch; the kiddos have bunk beds with curtains, lights, and a couple of shelves to keep books on; our bedroom has just enough space for a comfy chair and a reading light; the living room has two built-ins flanking a window seat with its own dedicated light source – yet another away place; and lastly, we used amex reward points to procure home depot gift cards that were then used to purchase all the materials to construct a 10′x12′ work studio in our backyard. it’s been a work in progress for a while, but adding “away” areas via furniture grouping or small amounts of construction (when allowed) can give a small home (even a large one) a sense of spaciousness.
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