What Two Words Will Double The Space In Your Home?

What Two Words Will Double The Space In Your Home?
By Karen Fritscher-Porter, Fri Dec 9th

Just two words and a bit of explanation about them will help youto double, maybe even triple, the space in your home now. Thosetwo words are "Go vertical."

FUNCTION FIRST, LOOKS SECOND That means that when you buybookcases or other types of furnishing with shelves, make surethese items have five or six shelves. Two or three shelves peritem are just wasted space. When it comes to home organization,you want to buy furnishings based on the criteria of functionfirst and then looks second.

So if two items are both of acceptable appearance to you, alwayspurchase the one that is most functional. If one item isslightly prettier than the other but the other item has morevertical shelving, cubby holes and nooks, choose that seconditem. The peace-of-mind you'll get from having a more organizedhome will be much more valuable to you in the long-run.

DON'T FOLLOW YOUR EMOTIONS Always remember that stores want tosell to you based on your emotions. That's a fact. Mostmarketing research agrees with that statement. If the seller canhook your emotions, they're closer to a sale. For example, yousee a pie safe cabinet that's outrageously priced but beautiful.So you say to your spouse who's shopping with you: "Oh, look atthat pie safe cabinet. It's gorgeous. Look at that blue color.It's a little a high priced but maybe we can get it on credit..."

Stop right there!

As a smart shopper (and a smart home organizer), you want to buybased on what your brain tells you. So for example, now you lookat that same pie safe cabinet and say: "Oh, look at that piesafe cabinet. It's gorgeous. What a pretty blue color. But weneed something a bit more functional. That cabinet only has fourshelves and the one next to it has six shelves and is cheaper.The second one is maple stained, not blue. But that's okay. It'sstill a handsome piece of furniture and it's more functional.We'll get more space to use in our home and more product for ourmoney."

Use your head, not your heart, to make decisions aboutfurnishing items for your home. Then you'll have functional homefurnishings that double your home storage space. Think like ahome organizer versus a home decorator. Think function first.

ANALYZE FURNISHINGS IN YOUR HOME NOW Look around your rooms. Doyou have a two shelf horizontal bookcase? Do you have a tinythree shelf freestanding pantry in the kitchen? Do you have alittle three drawer jewelry or lingerie armoire in the bedroom?Go room-to-room and make a list of any type shelving unit likethese or others (e.g. microwave cart, television cart/stand,etc.)

Unless these items truly hold sentimental value, it's worthselling them to a used furniture store or at a yard sale for abit of cash. (I'll tell you why sell in a minute.) Or spend afew bucks to put an ad in your local "Pennysaver" type newspaperadvertising the item for sale.

SELL HIGH; BUY LOW Then negotiate with the potential buyer soyou get the best price possible for the item you're selling.That means you must suggest a price that's beyond what youexpect to get. Why? Because these days potential buyers willalmost always ask you to come down on the price. In fact, Iguarantee three out of four buyer prospects will try to get youto lower the price. So start high so they feel like they'renegotiating the price down.

Why sell the item in the first place? Because you want to usethe cash you make to upgrade to a taller unit of the same item.If you watch those home decorating/organizing shows ontelevision, you may recall that there is a certain

show thatuses just this strategy. They have a big yard sale with all theparticipant's useless items and use the money to upgrade to moreuseful and stylish items for the same space in the home. Thedifference in the home is usually extraordinary at completion.You're striving for a similar method and outcome.

NOW DOUBLE YOUR SPACE You want to use the cash to buy acomparable piece of furniture that serves a similar function asthe piece you just discarded. You can even put the new furniturepiece in the exact same spot where you had the previous piece.But make sure the new piece of furnishing is taller with moreshelving or nooks. Remember, the big two word secret in thisarticle is "go vertical." So in the end, you'll use the samefloor space in your home but double its storage capacity.

And when replacing your items with comparable items, don'thesitate to buy used furniture (even from the same shop you soldyours too). If it's in good shape in regard to quality (e.g. norotting, flimsy wood panels, etc.) but not exactly your favoritecolor, you can fix that. Get a four dollar can of spray paintand a primer spray coat and change the color. Or get creativesuch as use some pretty contact paper to redo the outside. Andone final piece of advice: Don't forget to negotiate when you'rethe buyer!

About the author:Karen Fritscher-Porter writes about home organizing solutions atwww.EasyHomeOrganizing.com. Visit www.EasyHomeOrganizing.com toread more than 50 FREE articles containing dozens of homeorganizing ideas and solutions. Plus subscribe to the FREEnewsletter updating you about the latest home organizationproducts sold in stores.