Blue Happy Living

After the blog on My Big Massive Redo I got several emails and messages. Each person had different questions but one that seems to be asked the most. Where do you start when you want to decoratively organize a room in your home. Well that’s an easy question for me to answer or at least I can tell you how I go about it.

Step 1 I pick the room that I want to get organized. If you are wanting to do the entire house lets narrow it down to what rooms will be first and what rooms will be last. When I started my house I went with the area that is most used by my family and where I would welcome guest. That was my family room  that is open to my dining and Greg’s poker room. These 3 rooms can be seen from my front door and welcomes all that enter my home.

Step 2 is a bit more complicated and takes a bit more thought. This is the point where you have to decide what the room is used for and I mean all its functions. In todays busy world our homes and the rooms have to provide space for many different functions. Most rooms other than a closet are not one function rooms. I like to make a list as to what we will be doing in that room. When a room has to serve several functions it’s so important to have it organized and everything have a place for that activity.  If your home is short on space a family room has to act as a study, work space, family time and even an office space.  It’s important to make the room work for all of the activities your family will be doing in this space.  If you have to bring things in to work during the day or move things to make a homework space chances are the room will fast become cluttered and messy.  So Planning for the activities in your space in top of the important list.

Step 3 is all about what you will need for your space to function without fail.  Take a piece of paper and draw out what and where you want everything to be.  Doing this will allow you to play with it before you put all the furniture in the room.  If you make a plan you have to be willing to give a bit when it all goes in, sometimes things need to be changed to work.  When making a plan for the room make sure storage is the one thing you don’t cut corners on.  If you are adding a homework station to your family room you will need to have a cabinet or shelf with baskets to put all the school work away when not using it.  The same thing with an office space or game system storage is top of the list.  When you start  to fill the room look around your own home to see if you have furniture you can repurpose.  Asking family members if they have anything they are getting rid of is a great idea.  You don’t have to spend the big bucks to decoratively organize a room.

These 3 steps are what lead you to filling the room with all of your goodies for the family.  Make sure you organize each area with the needed supplies to make that activity work.  Over filling your room with items that aren’t about these activities  can get you right back where you were in a cluttered mess.  Always remember to organize up your walls so not to waste that vertical real-estate.  Lighting is also important and a way to give your room and space character.  So many things can make or break a room if you plan out your family needs for a room you are sure to make it a Blue Happy Place. I hope you come back on Wednesday when I will be sharing with you a bold move with color for one of my new room redo’s.   I hope your Tuesday is fabulous and Blue Happy!