3 Key steps in Space Planning 101

3 key steps for good space planning before you start your next renovation project. Space Planning is not a difficult process, but can be challenging for those who are not intuitively visual, so here are 3 key steps to help you stay on track of achieving your design goals.

Step #1-Organization: Take a good look and inventory your belongings. Ask yourself the following questions about each item on your inventory list.

•   What do you use? How often do you use it? 
• Where do you use? Store it in the house and what room or in the garage?
• What don’t you use? Can I get rid of it?
• Clutter is one of the biggest sabotages of a good home renovation project. Your home needs to work with you and your life style so you should design it around that life style.

Step #2-Mastering Planning: You should be using your list from step #1. This is when you need to figure out if the room your needs. You should evaluate the whole house even if your plan is only to renovate one room.

• Proximity is a key element to the master planning step of a renovation project so think about the adjacencies of rooms. Is it convenient to have these spaces next to each other or is this a good time to make improvements. It could be the coat close is not located near your primary entrance; this typically results in outer wear being tossed on the first horizontal surface you come to. It does matter how beautiful your house is if it’s buried under a pile of debris. I think you get my point. If you look at how the whole house functions before you start you renovation you can save thousands of dollars in unnecessary redo work when you go to do you next renovation.  
• Sizing up your space. Does the room have too much or too little space for its intended function? Working though your planning process does mean you need a major renovation it could mean just changing or swapping how you use a space or even just replacing a piece of furniture to one that is better suited to your need.  Make sure you can easily move around your furniture. 
• Keep it simple. Always look for the simple solutions first, they you can get more drastic if need be. With the green design trends larger homes are not in fashion and making your home large does not mean it will be worth more money when go to sell it. A small more functional home is a much better investment.

Step # 3- Implementation: Now you’ve have your master plan sit down prioritize the work in a manner that is most logical and will minimize rework on future project. If you’re not doing the construction I strongly suggest you talk to your contractor(s) on which room you should attack first. You may have personal desires of what you’d like to get done first so make sure those desirer are weighed to the scheduling process before the implementation begins.

This process may change everything you planned, but rest assured that you will save money and have a much nicer end result with a home that supports you and your family’s life style. Making a house look good is easy, but creating a supportive living environment is what quality design is all about.