Downsizing 101 and basement plans

February 21, 2019 By

That’s right! We are downsizing and have purchased a new builder home that will be ready in a little over a year.

It’s a long time to wait, but it gives us plenty of time to get our ducks in a row such as, disposing and donating many items and it gives me lots of time to play with the exact design and decor I want for this new chapter in our lives.

QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN DOWNSIZING

So if you are thinking of moving in the same direction or even if you are purchasing a condo or a smaller already on the market home, here’s some things to keep in mind.

Think about how you live or about how you want to live. Ask yourselves these questions.

How much space is needed for entertaining family and friends?

How many bedrooms or home offices are necessary?

Parking requirements

Ease of maintenance

Take the time to think about this and what your priorities will be for the next few years (we like to use 10 years in our plans). Write them down and compare them with your spouse or partner. It is so much easier to have a priority/dream list when you are out there looking for your next home.

For us, even though we are downsizing, we wanted a bungalow with a double car garage, space for two home offices, a guest room and an open plan for entertaining.

The layout we went with is approximately 1600 square feet without the basement. It has a very open layout with the kitchen, living room and dining room as one large room. This works well for us and when our large family comes to visit. There are two bedrooms and den in our plan and we will be converting the second bedroom to a second den. Click here to see our main floor plan from my previous post.

BASEMENT PLANS

Now onto the basement plans. This model’s basement comes partially finished with a family room and we will be completing it with a guest bedroom, exercise room and a full bath. This will give us lots of room to entertain and host family events.

 

Basement downsizing

 

We will leave the family room (or games room as it is called on the plan) will stay as it is. But we will be adding a gas fireplace centered on the back wall.

Bedroom #2 will be our exercise room and bedroom #1 will be our guest room, right beside the bathroom (which we are also keeping as per the plan). This gives us quite a bit of space for storage in the back room.

We want the family room to have a large seating area with a projector for movie watching. I also wanted a table with four chairs for games and hobbies as well as a large contemporary shelving unit for books and other items. I think we are bringing our pool table with us so that will take up a good chunk of the space.  It’s a little challenging to design as there is a post right centered about 8′ from the fireplace. I’ll be sharing a few of the design options in a later post.

One thing to mention about basements is that there needs to be alot of light. So make sure you think of that at this early stage. Our builder has placed quite a few pot lights in the space so I will be concentrating on supplemental lighting exactly where we need it.

So again, think about how you need the space to function and write your priority list. It’s a must!

NEXT STEPS AND WHEN TO HIRE A DESIGNER OR DECORATOR

Once you’ve signed on the dotted line for a newly build home, keep in mind that the questions and decisions will be coming at you fast and furious. It can be quite overwhelming.

Many major decisions need to be made quickly, so now is the time to hire a decorator or designer. They can walk you through these steps and give you some guidelines on where to spend and where to save. I’ve already made quite a few decisions, you can read some of them here.

Once you’ve decided on your new home and it’s layout, it’s time to look at your current furniture and ask these questions.

What will fit?

What do you need?

What can be multi purpose?

What can be reupholstered, repaired or painted?

I literally listed all my current furniture and then measured everything. I also thought about how it could be used (not only where it is used now). Keep an open mind about this. Lots of items can be repurposed. Downsizing can be liberating and fun!

Next post, I’ll be talking about exterior finishes and how to coordinate them.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: decor, design professional, Downsizing, Empty Nesters, Furniture, Haven, Organizing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How decluttering can help you redecorate your home for free

April 27, 2018 By
Photo credit: Melissa Kew Photography

Photo credit: Melissa Kew Photography

So what do you do if your budget is tight but you’d love to give your home a fresh update for Spring? You may not realize it, but there is a way to revive and refresh all the rooms in your house – without spending a cent. Do you think it’s impossible to redecorate for free? Well, just keep reading and I’ll tell you how.

Take a look around the house for all of the accessories and artwork you own – including art work, sculptures, vases, candles, picture frames, even plants. Gather them all up and place them all on your kitchen table, this is now your own little decor shop.

Look at everything on your table with new eyes, as if you are seeing it for the first time. Just because that piece of art has always hung over the fireplace does not mean it wouldn’t look even better in the foyer. Or maybe the frame just needs a quick spray paint to be perfect over your bed. Perhaps that red vase that faded into the background in the family room will make your powder room pop.

Keep going, item by item and room by room, until you have redone your entire house. This is the perfect job for a weekend so take your time and it’ll definitely be worthwhile in the end.

Keep in mind that when it comes to decorating, less really is more. That means you don’t have to find a home for all the pieces. Inevitably, there will be leftovers that just don’t seem to ‘fit’ anywhere – at least for now. If you love some of the unused items, store them until you redecorate again, and if you don’t, then it’s time to say goodbye. You can give find them a new home or donate them, just don’t keep them around taking up your precious space.

Now with less items around you’ll definitely spend less time vacuuming and dusting and just think you did it all without spending a cent plus you’ll feel great giving some much appreciated things away for someone else to enjoy.

Lisa

Filed Under: decor, design professional, DIY, Empty Nesters, Haven, inspiration, makeover, Organizing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 7 essential steps to decluttering and what you should not do.

April 23, 2018 By

Organization and decluttering Clutter…it’s our society’s nemesis. Everyone has their horror stories, relatives or friends’ relatives that hoarded until it was a health hazard. And we’ve all seen at least one episode of Hoarders on HGTV. Scary stuff.  But realistically, most of us have at least one area of our home that could do with a good decluttering session. Spring is the perfect time of year to tackle one or more decluttering projects.

So, let’s take it step by step so it’s not so frightening.

  1. First of all, don’t do your entire home, just do one small area to start. Then once you see how great it functions and looks you’ll be all in to tackle a bigger space. I’d suggest an entry, closet or even a medicine cabinet**. If you are feeling totally overwhelmed then just set a time limit, like 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes will give you enough time to tackle a junk drawer, medicine cabinet or cupboard. Once you see how great it feels, you can move on to spaces that require more time, perhaps an hour to do a closet. For this exercise, I’m going to use an entry closet as an example.
  2. Gather all your supplies first. You’ll need 4-5 boxes, one each for Keep, Relocation (for those items that have a home somewhere else), Donation, Trash and Recycle. Then grab the vacuum and any other cleaning supplies that you may need.
  3. Remove everything out of the closet and give it a good cleaning while its empty. You may want to even paint it, while you’re at it or perhaps not.
  4. So now you sort. Look at each item and decide where it’s going or if it’s going back in the closet. When I’m doing this I like to think about the last time I used or wore the item. If it’s been forever, then let it go. It may help you to think of all the people that could use this item, so go ahead and donate it. One key to remember is once the boxes are filled and ready to go, bring them immediately to where they need to go. DO NOT let them linger in your home, that just defeats the purpose of the decluttering session. I put the garbage and recycling out immediately. Donation or giveaway items get put in my car right away, so that I drop them off the next time I’m out and about.
  5. Once you’ve got done to the small keep pile, decide how you want to put it back into the closet. This is where you may need to purchase a few baskets or bins. But waiting till now, will make sure you only buy what you need. Pairs of gloves, hats and other small items stay organized in a basket.  If you have many pairs of shoes and boots, perhaps a boot/shoe rack will be necessary and this often helps to decide exactly how many pairs are needed versus what we can store. Out of season clothing and footwear can potentially be stored in a guest room or basement closet.
  6. Hooks or over the door racks are also great for adding usable space to a closet. Purses, scarves, shopping bags, leashes, etc. can be hung here for a quick getaway.
  7. Keep it up.  So now that it’s all organized, remember that you may need to spend a few minutes each day putting things away. Don’t let all that hard work decluttering go to waste.

** If you are decluttering a medicine cabinet, keep in mind that most drug stores will take back expired medications so that they don’t end up in the landfill or water system.

Lisa

Filed Under: decor, design professional, DIY, Empty Nesters, Haven, inspiration, Organizing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,