Top 5 Tips to Increase the Functionality of Your Home
Staying in that starter home for longer than you planned? With higher interest rates and a competitive real estate market, homeowners are opting to stay in their homes longer. Make your current home more functional with some tips on how to maximize your space.
1. Remove Clutter
Decluttering is the first step in maximizing your usable space. If you haven’t decluttered in years, there are chances that your home has things that you might not need any longer. Don’t feel burdened by heirlooms or gifts. You may feel guilt for wanting to toss or donate those heirlooms or gifts, but you need to prioritize your space for items that serve a function in your home. A good place to start is the garage, which can be a large scale “family junk drawer”. Take everything out of the garage and create categories for frequently used and lesser used seasonal items.
2. Design an Effective entryway
Think of the items you always drop off right away when you get home and design an entryway that has places for all of these things to go. There will be less instances of mail piles on the kitchen counter, coats draped over the couch, and shoes in the middle of the room. Don’t forget to account for handbags, backpacks, shoes, and random things you need at the door (like, weather-related accessories). Creating a drop zone with cubbies, baskets, shoe benches and hooks will help keep things tidy. The team at GDS can help customize a design to create a mudroom in an entryway or your garage. Custom options are available to increase functionality and establish organization systems.
3. Convert Spaces to Add More Usable Square Footage.
The garage or basement can both be transformed into inviting, clean spaces to increase functionality. Adding a home gym, office space or playroom to your home can be a relatively simple project by converting your basement or garage. GDS can install floor coating, organizers and custom cabinetry to upgrade your space. If have a rough idea of how you’d like to use your space, our designers can help by providing a custom design and a 3D rendering.
4. Store Items Efficiently
Consider the category of the item when finding a place to store it, but also consider how often you think you’ll be using it. Store items you barely use out of the way, either in the basement or in the hard-to-reach cupboards. Store items you use all the time at an easy point-of-use spot. You’ll want to pick a spot that makes it easy to grab the item and also easy to put
away when you are finished. Paring down your kitchen items/utensils to the things you actually need and will use on a semi-regular basis is also essential. It’s much easier to find more places for storage when there is less stuff to store. Apply these principles to all the zones of your home, kitchen, living space, garage and basement.
5. Leave Empty Space
Allow yourself some wiggle room so you can grow into your space. Adopt a method of removing old items if you add something new. Leave extra space in your home for family activities such as exercise, art projects, or playing. This space should exist without having to move furniture out of the way to create it. Ideally, leave at least one corner or wall space empty for balance and resist the urge to add one more houseplant to the corner or frame to the wall.
These simple tips will help create less clutter and more function in your home. Partnering with experts, like the team at Garage Design Source, can provide guidance and professional insight. GDS can customize flooring and organization solutions for your home.
