Why Rightsizing is Important No Matter What Your Age
No matter how old or young you are, it’s important to rightsize. Are you asking yourself “What is rightsizing?” It’s a fairly new expression which can refer to a number of different things. A company rightsizes when it reduces the number of employees to fit the anticipated earnings. In this case I am referring to changing the size of your home. You can say that a family rightsizes when they move to a bigger home to accommodate their growing family.
You can also replace downsizing with rightsizing when a couple moves to a smaller home once their children have moved out on their own.
Rightsizing is important because you want to be like goldilocks and live in a home that is just right for you; neither too big nor too small.
How Many Bedrooms?
In the past, you would have thought about how many people would be living in the home and then considered how many bedrooms you needed. Of course, the home would also have a bathroom or two, a kitchen, and living space. If you were a college student sharing the home and the rent with fellow students, the rightsize for you would depend on how many people could easily share the space and afford the rent.
If you were a young single person, the rightsize home for you might have been a single efficiency room. My son had such an apartment for a short time. The one room had a small living space, an alcove for a bed, a closet, a bathroom, and a kitchenette. It was perfect for him at the time.
Location
The other consideration was location. We wanted our homes to be within a reasonable commute to our work or school. Proximity to things we like to do and places we like to go was also important in the past.
Rightsizing Differently
Now, we are not just looking at our homes as places to be when we are not at school or at work. We are now looking at our homes differently.
Our homes have become the place we work, play, exercise, socialize, eat and relax. They are everything to us. Rightsizing is even more important. Much more important than being in the perfect location because we are doing so much more inside our homes.
Repurpose Rooms
An older couple may want to stay in the home that had been big enough for their entire family because they can repurpose those extra bedrooms.
They may turn one or more bedrooms into office space.
Another bedroom may morph into a mini-exercise studio.
Rightsizing this way means they have everything they want to do in their home.
More Rightsizing
Another older couple may rightsize differently. They may decide to move into an apartment with just enough living space for them, but the building they move into has a fitness center and an office suite which accommodates their other interests.
Rightsizing for a couple with a growing family can mean they are looking for a home with space for an office or two and space to incorporate homeschooling for their children. They will probably also want a separate family room and a yard for the children to run around in, weather permitting.
Life has changed and so has the importance we place on our homes. We are staying in our homes and using our homes in ways we rarely if ever anticipated. No matter how old or young you are, your home has turned into the place you do everything.
Strategies to Repurpose Rooms
Figuring out how to incorporate a home office and a home school in the space which used to be a guest room can be a challenge.
One strategy is to take everything out of that former guest room and store it temporarily in another room in your home. If space is tight consider using a public storage facility for a limited amount of time. Here’s a review of public storage places in Atlanta.
Then make a list of things that must come into that room.
Sort that list according to use of the room.
In other words, what are the things you must have in the room to support the office and what are the things you must have to support homeschooling? Will this also be a place for overnight guests?
Make Use of Vertical Space
So often we pile things horizontally on flat surfaces. Make use of the walls. You may want to install shelving. Have the top shelves hold things for the office and the bottom shelves dedicated to the homeschooling.
If you are rightsizing by selling your home and moving into an apartment, you may want to store some furnishings temporarily while you figure out what will or won’t fit in your smaller home.
No matter what your plan, the rightsize of your home is the size which supports how you intend to use your home.
Contact me for help in repurposing rooms in your home so they better support you and your interests.
Diane N. Quintana is a Certified Professional Organizer®, Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization®, Master Trainer and owner of DNQ Solutions, LLC based in Atlanta, Georgia. Diane teaches busy people how to become organized and provides them with strategies and solutions for maintaining order in their lives. She specializes in residential and home-office organizing and in working with people affected by ADD, Hoarding, and chronic disorganization.
