For a home to function well, it needs to have some sort of organization – macro organization, not just micro organization. That is, it isn’t just about having a place to store your pens and cookie cutters. Each room needs to have a purpose, and all the routine things that happen in your home need their very own space. In other words, if you have school age children and nowhere designated for them to do their homework (with appropriate lighting and comfortable seating), your home may not be functioning well. That’s just an example.
The way to fix it? Make a couple of lists. One list contains each room or useful space in your home (including closets and storage places). Write next to it everything that the room should do – function as a gathering place, store out of season clothes, provide a place to read, etc. The next list is the easier one – what actually happens in those spaces? Do the lists match up? Are there things that happen in your home that don’t have a space? And now things get tough… Once you’ve made and analyzed your lists, look at each space and determine how you can make it function better. Is the lighting right? What about seating? Is the space too cluttered? Does the furniture fit its purpose?
When I first did this, I went to work immediately on all the closets first, because they were the most out of sorts. I still haven’t finished organizing and planning my home – it’s constantly a work in progress. But… there is progress, and that makes it work for us.
[...] May 17, 2007 Filed under: Lifestyle — mudlark @ 7:14 pm Last Thursday we talked about using your home for a purpose. Plan the purpose of each room and storage space. Make your home fit the purpose you need it to – [...]