MotherTalk-Downsizing Your Home With Style

Even though the main idea of this book is to help homeowners make the transition from a larger home to a smaller one, I signed up to review this book because I live in a small house, and I need help with organizing and decorating it. Since the subtitle of Downsizing Your Home With Style is “Living Well In A Smaller Space”, I was counting on author Lauri Ward to give me specific tips on how to make the most of the small rooms in my house.

I’m happy to report that I got exactly what I was hoping for out of this book. I was also happy to learn that there are some things we are already doing correctly-grouping furniture and accessories in pairs, for example. One long couch should be balanced by two smaller chairs, creating a “conversation area”, which we have in our living room. We have matching end tables with matching lamps on them, and behind the two chairs, we have tall floor lamps that don’t have matching bases, but do have matching shades.

But, the biggest mistake I am making in creating a home that is inviting and comfortable is having too much clutter. I am a piler. A horrible, horrible piler. I can clean off a surface, but after a day or two, the urge to start piling stuff up on it takes over again. And it’s not for lack of storage, either. I just have a big problem with “out of sight, out of mind”. But this book did give me a few ideas on ways I can work around that problem.

For example, Ward recommends closed storage as opposed to open storage. Which means that instead of piling the books, DVDs, and products I get for reviews on the top of the sideboard, I should store them INSIDE the sideboard where they are accessible but out of sight. The problem is, the sideboard cupboards are stuffed full of afghans and blankets. So, where can those go?

A lightbulb went on in my head when I read the section on bathroom storage. We have a large vanity sink in our master bathroom that has a storage cupboard underneath. I went and looked inside it-a bottle of Scrubbing Bubbles cleaner and the hand mirror my husband uses when he trims his beard, and that was it! There’s a ton of unused storage under there. So what I’m going to do is rearrange the linen closet, move hand towels, washcloths, and some of the bath towels to the under-sink area, move the blankets that are in the sideboard to the linen closet, and VOILA! A place to put my product review materials!

The real focus of Downsizing Your Home With Style, though, is people moving from a large house to a small one, for example, an older couple who’s last child has moved out of their five bedroom house, so now they are moving to a four-room condo. How do they keep the pieces of furniture they love, without overcrowding the rooms? What do they do if the furniture is too large but they can’t bear to part with it?

I would have never thought of Ward’s suggestions to have furniture remade to be smaller. Entertainment centers can have sections removed, sofas can have the large arms removed, tall tables can have the legs shortened to make smaller cocktail tables. I don’t think most people would think to do that, but a good carpenter should be able to take something apart and put it back together. What a great idea!

Ward also suggests repurposing furniture, like taking extra dining chairs, setting them against a wall next to each other, having a slipcover made to go over them, and there’s a bench to sit on. Or having two chairs that don’t match covered in the same fabric, which then makes them coordinate with each other. I especially liked her idea of using two filing cabinets in a kitchen, placed back-to-back, with cookbooks on top, a blender and coffemaker on either side, and recipes filed inside. And here’s a great idea-a small unused bookcase turned on it’s side, used to conceal computer, printer, and lamp wires in a home office, plus a place to store books!

The book is also packed with full-color before and after photos, and pages of “Good Buys”-Ward’s specific suggestions for brand names that she likes to use. I’d recommend this book to anyone looking to, well, downsize their home, whether you’re moving from a large home to a smaller one, or just want to make the most of the small spaces you have already. I know that I am inspired to take a fresh look at how I’m using our available storage, and also to work very hard on conquering my piling problem. I want my home to be welcoming and comfortable. I don’t want to be embarassed at the thought of someone dropping by unannounced (which at the moment would cause me to faint dead away, I swear).

Thank you so much to MotherTalk for sending me this book and to Lauri Ward for writing it! For more about Lauri, visit her web site. MotherTalk also has other links to the publisher’s web site, a decorating contest, and links to other books written by Lauri. I have to stop writing now, I have a bathroom storage area to reorganize!