Maximise your space

As a child, my mum (a former London window dresser) would often re-arrange the furniture. The different layouts would reflect the season and how we were using our home. She was never afraid to try something new and maximise the space. She showed me that, when it comes to our homes, anything is possible.

I have thought about this a lot recently as many of us are spending more time at home. Most of my family, friends and clients are using their homes to work, in some cases home school, exercise and relax, as well as all the usual activities like cooking, eating and sleeping. We’ve had to adapt as we’ve been encouraged to use our homes in a multitude of different ways.

Staying safe and staying at home

During the nine years I’ve lived in my apartment, I’ve made a lot of changes. I enjoy switching things up to accommodate my life and work and how I’m spending my time. As we find ourselves in our second national lockdown here in England, I thought I’d share some of the simple changes I’ve made to support my current home-centred life.

Creating space and getting organised

When things are no longer working, I take a step back, evaluate and let go of what I no longer need. This could be anything from physical items to digital clutter. If it’s no longer serving me, I let it go. One of the things this year has shown me is that I don’t need so much stuff. To be honest as a minimalist I didn’t have very much to begin with, but as I’m sure you know, things have a way of accumulating!

Donating things to charity and reorganising everything that remained has helped me to make my space feel even calmer. It has also made the rooms seem larger. With time spent at home and in the absence of a garden, I’m grateful for these changes. I’ve enjoyed being in a calm space during such a turbulent and anxiety-inducing year.

If you’re new to simple living and minimalism, I have written about the concepts many times on my blog. My minimalist journey began in 2011 when I moved from a three-bedroom house to a two-bedroom apartment. It’s quite possibly the best lifestyle choice I have ever made!

Further reading

How to simplify your life
My decluttering tips: how to declutter your home
Ten things I gained when I decluttered my home

Multifunctional rooms

With my partner working from home and us sharing an office, we initially encountered a few problems when I needed some privacy for my client calls. During these times, he moved into the living/dining/kitchen space. This set up worked until he had a private meeting and I needed to use the kitchen.

After some careful consideration, we decided a desk in the bedroom would solve the problem and as much as it pained me, I had to accept that my wobbly vintage French dressing table wasn’t up to the job! The new addition (see the first image) has given us two private meeting rooms. And what I now call the hot desk doubles up as a dressing table.

Multifunctional spaces

Another thing we did was create a seating area in our bay window. A calm space to enjoy my morning tea with a view. On the weekend, with a little ambient café music courtesy of Spotify, we have our very own coffee shop where we can relax and watch the world go by. The space also doubles up as a delightful reading nook, which on sunny days feels blissful.

And finally, we cleared our wide hallway of stuff to make way for an indoor gym. I’m exaggerating a little here because our gym only consists of an exercise bike and some weights! But with regular walks and runs outside, we only need a couple of extra things to keep us active. I’m enjoying the space and I don’t miss the expensive gym membership!

Maximise your space

Although these are small changes, the results have transformed the way we use our home. I enjoy having little nooks and spaces around the apartment to support our weekly activities. I’ve been grateful for our comfortable and adaptable home during such a challenging year. It’s certainly made me approach my life and work slightly differently. It feels good to maximise the space.

If you’re looking to make a few changes at home, one way of approaching this is to list all the activities you undertake allocating an area for each one. Remember that rooms can be multifunctional and serve you in different ways throughout the day. I find it helpful to think of them as blank canvases, after all, there’s nothing to stop you transforming a dusty, unused dining room into an inspiring home office or a neglected guest room into a tranquil yoga and meditation sanctuary. Feel free to break the rules of how you think a home should look!

Further reading

Finding peace and serenity in turbulent times
Five ways to embrace a cosy autumn and winter at home
The benefits of keeping a gratitude journal

Thank you, as always, for stopping by. Until next time, I’ll see you over on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.