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What is right-sizing? right-sizing is not downsizing. In fact, it is the opposite. You can live more fully in your home if you Right-Size. No one wants to admit that they are really cutting back, but whether you are driven by immediate needs or future ones, this is the time to shift gears.

Perhaps your house hasn’t changed to keep up with your needs, and maybe you bought into the idea that what your real estate agent or builder told you was gospel truth. Do you really use your living room or dining room on a regular basis, even though those experts told you that you need to have them?

You or your spouse may be working from your home now, and working or not, everyone needs computer space. Your whole family may seldom sit down to eat together because of various and busy schedules. Maybe your grown kids are planning to move back to the house.

Your bathroom multi-functions. Forget about your guestroom; who has time for guests, except on state occasions? And you use the couch as a crash pad after a long hard day. This is hardly the way you envisioned living in your house, but sadly, it’s probably the reality.

Before you decide where you live doesn’t work, and that you need to leave the neighborhood, learn to Right-Size. It will help you repurpose each room of the house, to use the space you already have to achieve exactly what you

want—a house with options, in terms of space and the way you really live! That is Right-Sizing.

Some homes can be Right-Sized just so much before you need major help, and maybe more money than you are willing, or able, to spend. While I can’t guarantee magic, I will assure you that you will look at your house with a new understanding and a different vision.

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Step #1Evaluate Your Needs

It’s all too easy to complain that your house doesn’t work for you, and that you should think about moving or maybe renovating. Both are daunting prospects, especially these days. Maybe just stay where you are and fume? Nonsense!

You can—and should—do something about your living situation. Your home should be all you want it to be. Your home should have the room you need. For example, if you’re not dining formally, then do you need a dining room or are you actually eating in the family room most of the time? Your home should fit your and your family’s lifestyles.

There are remedies that don’t require such drastic measures as complete renovation or actually moving. Start with one room. Take a step back and try to envision it as though you have never seen the room before; as though you were someone else, walking in for the first time. How would that person react if you weren’t within earshot? Too scary, perhaps to be so objective, but necessary.

How about taking photos of the room? A couple of shots of the whole room, from different points of view, plus a couple of details will suffice. Don’t move things around first, and don’t put things away that are always visible. Take honest photos. When you finally look at them, it will be like seeing yourself

in a three-way dressing room mirror, when no one else is looking. What do you see?

A worn out sofa covered with a blanket to hide the dog fur, or a stained carpet that’s created its own new patterns? Some mismatched lamps that hardly illuminate the room, or a lumpy chair whose springs are about to burst through the seat? Have you been ignoring all this, or have you simply refused to undertake the task of making improvements? No matter, you’re about to start—right now!

the first step in learning how to right-size is to evaluate how (and if) this room is actually used. Forget about the furniture disaster

Get it Right!rIgHt-sIzIng Your Home can cHange tHe WaY You LIve.Here’s WHat to doBy gale steves

continued on page 23

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you just uncovered; this is more important. You are going to make a list for your eyes only, with the under-standing there are no right answers—only the truth.

List all the ways you currently use this room, no matter what the room’s name really is. For example, if you are focusing on the family room, what else do you do there besides watch TV? Do you read, do puzzles, listen to music, or play games? Maybe this is your workspace during the day when no one else is at home? Admit it, many evening meals are eaten in front of that large TV. How about the kids: do they do their homework there? Is this where friends and family gather when you’re enter-taining? It is, of course, a hangout for the dog or cat when no one is looking—put that down as well.

Okay, now let’s make another inventory. This second list is about how you would like to use this room. Maybe you need one area of the room for homework, both yours and the children’s. Another area might be dedicated to entertainment, in a more organized space, instead of spread all over as it might be now. You get the idea. Instead of trying to cram all the family activities into this space, why not consider moving some of the quieter recreations to another room? Folding your laundry or doing some of your craft projects could easily be shifted elsewhere. Reading, especially if it competes with the TV, should probably move out of this space as well. Now, compare the two lists (how the room is used and how you would like the room to work) and see if they agree or compete. Slowly but surely, you will develop a plan of action. As you study the plan, other rooms will come into play since you have started to consider moving certain activities to those areas. Keep the lists, notes, and photos in a folder—“Getting My

Act Together in the Family Room.” Repeat the process with each of the other rooms in your home that need rethinking, keeping a folder for each. When you’re finished, you will have created a comprehensive plan.

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Step #2Envision The Arrangement

once you have completed step #1—evaluating Your needs—you are ready for the next step in the Right-Sizing process. This is a little more difficult, but not overwhelming.

You might need the assis-tance of a trusted friend or family member who can be the voice of your conscience in this process. Let’s call this person your “GF” or Good Friend. Take out the pad and pen again, and walk through that room one more time. Look at it with fresh eyes.

Now start mentally weeding out items in the room. The good news is, at this point, you don’t have to actually move anything. You are just assessing the contents and beginning to imagine the space in its new incarnation.

Now, two more lists. First, list everything you absolutely need to keep in this space. Then list what you think should be removed, either permanently or simply shifted to another area.

This will give you a sense of what continued on page 24

your former laundry room has Been converted into a craft area, and now

you have an upstairs laundry, which is more convenient.

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needs to be replaced or added, whether a new purchase or relocated from another room. If you have created a floor plan, (Learn how in Right-Sizing Your Home book), you can better envision the space, including how to deal with built-ins such as a fireplace or bookcases.

Here’s where the good friend (GF) comes in. It’s one thing to mentally weed out your pos-sessions, and quite another to physically begin the process. Even if you don’t particularly like that chair or rug, you may be emotionally attached to it. Do you remember where you bought it? Are there memories of that rug in your grand-mother’s house?

The GF’s job here is to remind you that the rug is moth-eaten, and has more than served its purpose. The GF has to be honest enough to motivate you. Nothing brutal, but they have to help you see the sofa has needed a new slipcover for ages, and that the rug has definitely got to go!

Now you can start the fun part—imagining how the room will look in its new life. Pull out that floor plan and little cutouts, and try the new furniture arrangement. Are there pieces in other parts of the house that would be perfect for this “new” room? Also, think about other spaces that would be improved if you could reuse some of what you have eliminated with this plan.

For example, let’s say you’ve targeted the under-used and neglected dining room. Your need for a dedicated office is higher on your list of needs than eating in a formal setting once or twice a year. Start with the dining table, which is usually the largest piece of furniture in the house. Try to envision it as your desk (because it has great spread out space, which most home office desks are lacking). If it doesn’t work for the layout you are creating, then mentally put it aside.

The chairs are not suitable for a

home office. You need a mobile chair with proper support when working at your desk. Dining chairs can be moved to other locations and brought back if need be. The large china cabinet, buffet, or breakfront is a big question mark.

Your GF suggests that you could retrofit the heirloom cabinet for storage of paper supplies and files. Then GF reminds you that you probably do need the table twice a year (that’s what friends are for!) and that it might make an appropriate desk if the leaves were removed and stored away.

now you also have a short list of things you need: a comfortable desk chair on casters, some discreet file cabinets, and a better computer—as opposed to buying a whole roomful of office furniture. With a little fiddling and disguising, the room can periodically return to functioning as a part-time dining room.

Congratulations! You have just really begun to Right-Size, and you have not moved a thing—except in your mind and on paper. You have completed Step #2: Envision the Arrangement.

You are well on your way… You can probably do the next three steps yourself: Getting Rid of What You Do Not Want, Using the Space Wisely and Well and How to Maintain Your Right-Sized Space. But in case you cannot, head to your local bookstore or online at Amazon for Right-Sizing Your Home – How to Make Your House Fit Your Lifestyle by Gale C Steves, Northwest Arm Press, Publisher.

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