Desk-less Chani is listening to a math class in the bed, Office-less Dad is working at the dining room table, Class-roomless Mom is recording lessons at the kitchen table, and Gym-less Mindy is trying out her new exercise equipment in the hallway.
Our homes are working overtime and crying out for a change having doubled and tripled in function this past year. By necessity the design world has broken rules and boundaries to accommodate the times. Jump on the band wagon, if you dare- and break some reno-rules to enhance the new reality.
Purchase smart furniture- The standard closet just doesn’t do it anymore. Every room in the house works hard and needs its tools. If you’re already investing, purchase furniture that doubles in purpose. Request sliding desks that pull out of closets, thin built-in drawers to hold a laptop in your kitchen table or breakfast bar and design cubbies for dumb-bells and basic exercise equipment in bedrooms.
Put the walls and doors back up – The open kitchen plan may have become a design of the past. Office work at the dining room table interrupted by Mom banging pots in the kitchen or music from the kids dancing around the living room is no longer something that can be tolerated. Many outside responsibilities are now tended to at home and require privacy and quiet. Be the first to put a door on your kitchen or living room and appreciate another space for productive work or a private conversation in serenity.
Learn inches from Ikea– Need to sprout work spaces all over the house? Husbands and wives are no longer able to share the same desk. Want to know the minimum amount of space you need to create a functional desk or storage shelf? Need creative ideas to store art supplies in the kitchen? Or a small table and chairs for a private conversation in your bedroom? Forget the large and spacious furniture pieces you’re used to. Use the Ikea website as a dimension guide to learn what works in every small niche of your home. Buy it there , or gather ideas and measurements and contact your local carpenter to customize it for your home.
Bring the outside in– Not getting out enough? Wish you had a garden? Today you can! Select a wall inside your home to create an indoor wall garden (see picture), a ceiling to add hanging plants and reflect natural sunlight with added mirrors. Pick up some garden furniture at your local home store and set your white-noise machine to fountain and you’re set.
Protect your walls- There are loads of new options on the market to replace the standard wallpaper. Try low maintenance options like stone tiles, tempered glass, wood or formica paneling and the like which both protect your walls from the beating it gets each day as well as add some atmosphere to the room
Renters for renovations- In the past this may have been considered an unacceptable expense, but today, with all the time spent at home and the selection of inexpensive merchandise available , renters can and should upgrade and many of the finishing touches around the home. New faucets, handles, light fixtures, curtains, rugs, toilet seats and even new closets should be considered to make your rental a more enjoyable place to live in. You would spend the money on the shaitel which you wear for a few years, why not on your apartment?
Plastic is in- Whoever decided that dining room chairs should be upholstered obviously didn’t have children who hang out at the dining room table doing homework and art projects all day. Dare to switch your classic dining room chairs to stylish lucite chairs made of durable, wipable acrylic plastic . You’ll never have reupholster stained chairs or dig out crumbs ever again.
Personalize your space– You’re spending a lot of time there, so you may as well love your space. Allow your teen to wallpaper her room with her favorite photos or let your kids paint a mural as their accent wall. Paint a section of the playroom with magnetic or chalkboard paint and give your kids the freedom to style the wall as they wish.
More storage space required- If anyone has been traumatized by running out of toilet paper or frozen pizza, they have already invested in an oversized pantry and an additional freezer. Make sure these large pieces make sense with the traffic flow of your house and workflow in the room. Don’t let one solution cause a larger problem.
Disinfection at the door- “Get those hands washed before you touch anything in the house!” This new necessity has inspired homeowners to unconventionally include sophisticated sinks as a design piece in the entranceway of the home or mudroom. Avoid the new water mess by making sure the basin is large enough to catch the water and the sink has a nearby stool for the kids. Include a disinfection zone in your mudroom next to the backpacks for alco-gel , masks, and hand / paper towels .
Don’t break the budget – a low budget doesn’t mean that home improvements can’t be made. Let your minimum budget get the creative side of you going. Make a list of the changes which will most affect the functionality and atmosphere of your home, and then do your research. You’ll be surprised to find an inexpensive alternative, some useful DIY guides, a great second-hand piece, or a professional-in-training to get the job done.
See the full article in mishpacha magazine http://mishpacha.com/reno-rules-time-to-break-them/
