Is your home fulfilling your 2017 lifestyle needs? Has your home been on the market for months and still not sold?
If you answer "Yes" to any of these questions, your home may be going through an identity crisis; it is not configured to best meet your current way of living - or to attract potential buyers. Your home needs a jump-start and a newly defined purpose.
It is time for "OPERATION: RECONFIGURATION."
Begin by assessing the rooms in your home. Each room should serve a distinct function for you and your family - or for your prospective buyers. Are you offering a home office to buyers or just all bedrooms? Have you been recently practicing yoga or painting more pictures? Do you have a room set up for these activities?
If you determine that rooms in your home are not serving your family's needs or are not pleasing to buyers, then now is the time to "perform a reconfiguration" - move rooms within your home.
That's right; moving is not just from one house to another house. By reconfiguring rooms, you can discover a new home within your old home.
Just take these steps to put "OPERATION 2017: RECONFIGURATION" in motion and transform your home's identity:
STRATEGIZE; CREATE YOUR ACTION PLAN
•Set Goals. What do you want to achieve from the room reconfigurations? Consult with each family member or your realtor to determine the goals for each room.
•Re-assign rooms. Based on the goals of family members or the selling points you discussed with your realtor, create a detailed plan of what room fits best with each goal. Maybe you daughter's room would better accommodate your son's wish for a bunk bed? Would your son's room be a good space for your creative art projects? Is one of your bedrooms so small it would be better to present to potential buyers as a yoga space or a home office? Has the existing guest room gone unused? Transform it into a media or game room.
•Design. Let family members choose the paint colors for their new rooms, as well as accessories (new bedspread, window coverings, throw rugs, etc.) and furniture layout. Instruct older kids to stay within a certain budget amount. No need to spend a lot, a little hard work and a new paint color can transform a room. Repurpose old furniture - sand and repaint.
ROLL-UP YOUR SLEEVES; SET ASIDE ONE WEEK PER ROOM MOVE
•Move out. Transfer all of the furniture and belongings from the chosen room to a temporary space in your home (garage, basement). If you are short on time, space, and/or help, hire a moving & storage company to move furniture and place items in storage.
•Clean. Scour each room. Shampoo the carpet, wax floors, wash windows, wipe down walls, dust closet shelves. An empty, sparkling clean room provides the best blank canvas in order to reinvent that space.
•Decorate. Paint and/or wallpaper the walls. Install new carpet or flooring, window coverings, etc. Complete any other DIY projects that the room's budget allows.
•Move in. Using both new and old pieces, arrange furniture, hang wall art and thoughtfully place accessories to personalize for each new occupant - even hang their name outside the door.
ENJOY YOUR NEW ROOMS
•Take it all in. Your children get to sleep in their new bedrooms that they helped design. Perhaps Dad can read a book in his new office or you can have some quiet time in your new meditation space.
•Get inspired. Whatever the new space is designed for, it will be clean, organized, and provide inspiration for you or your potential buyers.
Some people move to new homes every 5-10 years, but many stay put for decades. Over time, a home can lose its way, lose its identity. Reconfiguring rooms within a home can push the restart button, set you and your home in a different direction, giving everyone a fresh perspective and a new beginning in 2017!