Having the kids home all day long throughout the summer is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is you have your kids home all day long. There is no rushing out the door to catch the school bus, there is no homework to be done and you can basically pick and choose how you want to spend your days. The curse? Somehow your home has been transformed into a total stranger right before your eyes. There are things strewn about the floor, the house always seems to be untidy and there doesn’t appear to be any structure.
Fall is a great time to fall in love with your home. As the kids embrace their new structure with a new teacher and classroom, your home can go through the exact learning curve, too, with these three tips.
Tip #1: Purge. Fall is a great time to go through all of the summer things you have. Closets should be the first area you tackle. Anything that was not worn this past summer needs to go. Clothes that are too big or too small also need to go. Embrace your inner Goldilocks: Too big and too small, they don’t make the cut. Only the ‘just right’ clothes and coats and jackets are the ones that get to stay! Bag up all the misfits and get them out the door.
Tip #2: Color. There are a million articles written about the psychology of color. Happy colors, relaxing colors, energizing colors... just search Google and see for yourself! As we leave the long days of summer behind and start facing the shorter days of sunlight and cooler temperatures, Fall is a great time to spruce up a room with a new paint color. It’s amazing how one room can be totally transformed with the magic of color.
Tip #3: Micro renovation. One does not necessarily have to go through a massive renovation to get their space functional and pretty. When you are looking at a space, the first question you need to answer is: What is the function of this space? If the function is to have a space your kids can place their agendas at the end of the day and pass you all of their handouts and forms from school, then you need to either create a space for that or carve out a space that will work for you and your family. Typically that space is near the kitchen.
If the bathroom is your bone of contention because your teens need to share that space, one option is for each teen to have a bin or basket that contains all of their belongings. You could take the space between two studs on the wall and create a built-in shelving unit to house all of the stuff teens seem to need in a bathroom. An easier way is to use floating shelves (using your vertical space) so that each teen has their own shelf.
When looking at any space in your home, always nail down the function first. Once you know the function and create a functional space, then it’s time to make it pretty. And, yes, you can have a very functional and pretty space.
Sheri is the owner of Get It Together. An eye for details, she is able to proactively plan your entire renovation including the design, ensuring that no item, no matter how small, is missed. For more information about Get It Together and Sheri’s services, visit gityyc.com.
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