What is the difference between a house and a home? A house is an empty shell. A home:
- Reflects the uniqueness of the people that life there
- Meets their needs
- Makes them feel comfortable and secure
The objective of this blog post - and the two others in the days to come - is to provide some starting points for thinking about refinements you might want to make to wherever you are living. I know that my home benefits from periodic tweaks because my needs and wants change; the beginning of summer is a great time to do a little reflection and take action to enhance those good feelings you want your home to evoke.
First let’s consider rooms - the floor plan of the house. Consider that static. What does not have to be held constant is how the rooms are actually used. Getting the most from every room may involve some non-traditional usage.
A dining room does not have to be used as a dining room if you never use it for that purpose. It could become a home office.
- Use an S hook to raise the light fixture
- Decide what furniture will provide storage you will need in the office (since there is not a closet)
It’s an easy conversion.
Using a bedroom for a home office is even easier. Add some attached shelves or assemble some standalone metal shelves inside the closet and the office in the room itself can be very streamlined.
A room intended to be a formal living room may not be needed for that purpose. In fact, any room you don’t use every day should be considered for additional use(s). What about the living room as a music room?
The contents of the built-ins in the rooms - particularly in the kitchen - should be arranged for the way you do things in the room. Spices you use at the stovetop should be near the stove top. Glasses and dishes should be convenient to where you retrieve them when you eat and to put away when you unload the dishwasher. Mixing bowls and containers for left overs should be put away in the cabinets near the place you would use need them. The top shelves that you will need a step stool to reach should be used for items not needed very frequently.
What about drawer liners or shelf paper? That is one of the first things I do to turn a new-to-me house into my home: thoroughly clean the kitchen cabinets and then put down fresh shelf paper. There is a similar idea for bathroom cabinets.
Sunday I’ll post about walls, windows, and floors.