The Right Space for You

Are you living in the right space for your life right now? 

As people age and their lives change (retirement, becoming empty-nesters), the space they are currently living in may not work for them anymore. Much of this has to do with the items and belongings in this space, how it is organized, and how big it is. As people transition into different stages in their life, it may be time for them to re-think their current situation and start making plans for the future. 

Earlier in life (ages 20-40), people tend to accumulate a lot of “stuff.” Often, these are items that people eventually grow out of or no longer need – especially when it comes to children’s items, old sporting equipment, out-of-date clothing and accessories. While many people convince themselves they need to hang on to it “just in case” for many years, the reality is that you probably won’t be needing them anytime soon.  

This is especially important to consider as people age and think about changing their space and down-sizing into a smaller home. Before reaching this stage, it is a good idea to start going through all the “stuff” that has been accumulated while people have the time, energy, and ability to dedicate to the task.  

A good way for people to start this process is to ask themselves why they have been hanging on to all these belongings for so long – is it because of sentimental reasons, or a sense of obligation? Only keep items that are useful, and evoke feelings of love and value. If an item is no longer useful and isn’t bringing any joy or value into your life, then it isn’t worth hanging onto.  

If people are supporting someone else in this process, whether it is aging parents, relatives or friends, it is important to try and complete this process with them sooner rather than later. Often, many of the items keep for sentimental reasons have interesting stories and history that can be forgotten or lost as they are stored with an assortment of other items and belongings. Taking the time to organize and declutter their belongings together can bring a greater understanding of their purpose and how they may be given a new life or purpose instead of being regulated to a storage room or garbage bin. 

It may seem premature to undertake this process earlier in life, but why keep holding on to these items and pay for them to be packed up and moved or disposed of when they were never needed to begin with? Delaying the process with only make for a bigger headache later on – it is never to early to be prepared. 

This process can be overwhelming, and it can be difficult to say goodbye to items that have been accumulated over a lifetime. The team at Calm Order can help individuals struggling with finding the right space and preparing for their changes in life through the entire organization process and beyond. Large projects like this don’t have to be undertaken alone – Calm Order is here to help! 

What’s the plan? Preparing for your move

We’ve gone through the different steps involved in getting unpacked to organized on the blog, but one part of the moving process that we can’t emphasize more is the planning involved. Moving into a new home or even into your current home after a major renovation is a complex process that if done right, can be a stress-free and efficient process. In order to achieve that, you must be willing to take the time before you start moving to make sure everything is in place. Sometimes, this involves doing tasks in a counterintuitive way that forces you to think more about where you will be than where you are now. It doesn’t seem that hard, but it can be difficult to look beyond your current home to imagine your new space. That’s why Calm Order is here to help! 

Declutter 

The first step in any organization project, including a move, is to declutter. Purge anything that you do not need or want in your new space. This way, you’ll only need to pack the items that you are actually going to take with you to your new home. It will also allow you to handle the process of donating, selling, or recycling/throwing out the items you do not need or use. Depending on how many items and belongings you have, this could significantly lower the cost to remove the items and transport them to your new home. 

Create a schedule 

It’s important to keep in mind that there are a lot of tasks that need to happen in order to complete your move, and some of them need to be completed before the others. Create a schedule or timeline of what needs to be done and when, like the closing date of your property, the possession date for your new property, moving dates, and more. If it is possible, try setting the possession date for your new home before the closing date for your existing home, so you will have time and space to keep your belongings until you’re able to move in. This process can become complicated if you need to set-up temporary storage or move in with family or friends in the interim. Once you have an idea of the key dates, you can plan to take time off work, line up trades for minor upgrades, and coordinate movers, furniture and appliance installations, and other necessary tasks like cleaning or a potential estate sale. 

 
Transition your belongings

Before you begin unpacking in your new home, you should already have an idea of what items are going into what room. In some cases, items that you have stored in the bedroom of your current home might actually be going into your living room or a different space in your new house. To avoid it being moved into the wrong space, make sure you know exactly where each item should be. If possible, try to arrange for a time to do a walk-through of your new space so you can come up with a plan for the space based on the furniture and items you have in your current home. Whether it is due to space, different layouts, different needs, or personal preference, you may need to change up what room your belongings go in, so make sure you have an idea of there they are going to live in your new home before you get there.

Pack with a plan

Label, label, label! It is important to know exactly what is being kept in each box that you are bringing to your new place, especially if you have a moving company coming to move them for you. An important part of this is also labeling and packing boxes based on where they will be going in your new home, not on where they came from in your current home. This may be counterintuitive from what many people are used to doing – it seems natural to label boxes based on what we have in them or based on what room we packed them in. However, it is more efficient during the moving process to first create the plan for transitioning your belongings, and then based on that, labelling each box and item based on that plan. In this way, you won’t have to re-move boxes and furniture in your new place because everything will have ended up in the right room the first time. 

Prepare for the first night

The first day and night of any move can be a busy and stressful day – instead of making you and your family dig through all the boxes to find your tooth brush or phone charger, have a first night box or suitcase ready to go with all your essential items. This way, you can find the important items you need right away, like a change of clothes for work the next day. It will make the first day/evening in your new home less of a frantic process, and calmer and more orderly because you won’t be rushing to unpack everything in order to get to the few key items you need.

Get some help

There is a lot to deal with during the moving process, so why not get some help from the experts? Think about hiring an unpacking service to make sure you get unpacked and running as quickly as possible. You can learn more about Calm Order’s Move Services and how we can help you here.

Makeup room makeover: The right use for the right space

When you’re moving into a new home that has a completely different layout than your previous home, it can be challenging to create a plan for how you will use one space. Where will your items fit. How should they be organized? What will I need to create function of my belongings? These are important questions to answer before you move into a new home or plan a renovation in a current home.

Space and storage planning is an important step to make sure your transition into a new space is organized and functional. At Calm Order, our team of professionals conducts onsite measurements and creates an organizing plan. This way, we can come up with a design for your space and items and to make sure your space is set-up and organized right from the start.

Calm Order recently worked with a client that moved into a home that has an elevator shaft all set for aging in place. The elevator shaft was just an empty space. We came up with the idea to use the room as a make up room for her teenage daughter! Lets just say BIG hit! It’s one of her daughters favourite spaces!

The space was a perfect fit for a vanity set the client had purchased for their daughter. The Calm Order team set to work to transform the former elevator shaft into an fun makeup room that was organized and designed with creativity and vision in mind.

To make this makeup room a reality, the team didn’t need to purchase much to make this space functional and fashionable. The vanity, chair, and mirror take up most of the space, but Calm Order added in some floating shelving on either side of the mirror for extra storage and display space. Clear makeup organizers were purchased for lip stick, brushes, powders, and other supplies, and placed on some of the lower shelves and the top of the vanity so they were in easy reach. The top shelves were decorated with pictures and decor pieces. A few printables were printed and placed in frames for the walls. We used drawer organizers for hair accessories and other makeup items organized and uncluttered.

If you have a space in your new home or current home that you aren’t sure what to do with or think is under-utilized, contact Calm Order to find out how you could transform the function and design of your space. Our organizational design specialist can work with you to create the best storage solutions for all your belongings. We believe your space can be organized, functional and stylish, and will work with you, your builder and designer to make it possible!

Learn more about our Space and Function Planning services here.