1
00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:09,560
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

2
00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:16,680
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

3
00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:21,800
Speaker 1: tip is to really use your space. People tend to

4
00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,040
Speaker 1: be happiest when there is an everyday use for the

5
00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:28,760
Speaker 1: spaces in their homes. So if you don't use a

6
00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:35,040
Speaker 1: room for its traditional function, change it. After all, it

7
00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:40,479
Speaker 1: is your house. So back in twenty eleven, while I

8
00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,040
Speaker 1: was writing a book called All the Money in the World,

9
00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:48,159
Speaker 1: I interviewed architect Sarah Susanka about the size and scale

10
00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,560
Speaker 1: of American homes. Susanka, author of the Not So Big

11
00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:57,040
Speaker 1: House series of books, noted that she encountered many homes

12
00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:02,080
Speaker 1: with unusable rooms spaces that I didn't reflect how people actually lived.

13
00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,200
Speaker 1: Such waste could be pricey for normal folks, but she

14
00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,959
Speaker 1: reported that even her clients with unlimited budgets tended to

15
00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:17,480
Speaker 1: be happiest with everyday uses for their spaces. The goal

16
00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:23,959
Speaker 1: should be to use every square foot every day. After

17
00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,240
Speaker 1: recently rereading All the Money in the World, I have

18
00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,080
Speaker 1: been revisiting my old work. Like I recommended in a

19
00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:34,200
Speaker 1: recent episode, I have been thinking of that goal. With

20
00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:39,880
Speaker 1: my new old house. We spent a year renovating this

21
00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,039
Speaker 1: historic home, partly to be sure we could use the

22
00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:49,160
Speaker 1: somewhat eclectic spaces. Now, a year after moving in, I

23
00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:53,680
Speaker 1: tracked where everyone was during a normal weekend day, and

24
00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,639
Speaker 1: I am pretty sure we do indeed use the full house,

25
00:01:57,760 --> 00:01:59,960
Speaker 1: or at least I turn off the lights in every

26
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,640
Speaker 1: room every night. This use has been achieved partly by

27
00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:11,480
Speaker 1: shifting room functions. What is technically a dining room has

28
00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:13,840
Speaker 1: become the space where the kids can play on the

29
00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,800
Speaker 1: family computer and where I do my various one thousand

30
00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:23,840
Speaker 1: piece puzzles, generally while supervising the computer using kids. We

31
00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,360
Speaker 1: knocked down walls between a few tiny, ambiguous rooms to

32
00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,720
Speaker 1: create a children's playroom whose current mess level suggests it

33
00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:39,080
Speaker 1: has achieved new life. So the obvious caveat here. I

34
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,480
Speaker 1: know that even pondering these matters is already a function

35
00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:49,280
Speaker 1: of having more space than is strictly necessary. Back when

36
00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,280
Speaker 1: my family lived in a small New York City apartment,

37
00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:57,160
Speaker 1: we definitely used every square foot every day. We didn't

38
00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,200
Speaker 1: have a choice. But in any case, if you too

39
00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,480
Speaker 1: are pondering your space and how it is used, it

40
00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,160
Speaker 1: might help to remember that a home exists to serve you.

41
00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,360
Speaker 1: If you don't need a space in its traditional function,

42
00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,320
Speaker 1: you don't need to preserve it for that function. You

43
00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:23,120
Speaker 1: might be able to use it in a different way. So,

44
00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,640
Speaker 1: for instance, if you are not doing a lot of

45
00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:31,240
Speaker 1: formal entertaining, maybe that formal living room could become a playroom.

46
00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,480
Speaker 1: My guest is the toys already migrate there. Now you

47
00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,200
Speaker 1: can just embrace it, keeping a sofa for a parent

48
00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,720
Speaker 1: to sit on and relax. If you mostly eat at

49
00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,520
Speaker 1: your kitchen table, then a dining room could become a

50
00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,640
Speaker 1: crafting or game room, or a library for a booklover,

51
00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,720
Speaker 1: or your real home office. If you've got a guest

52
00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:01,200
Speaker 1: room but don't have many overnight guests, maybe it can

53
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:06,520
Speaker 1: be something else. A movie room for movie buffs, or

54
00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,960
Speaker 1: a music room. If you've got lots of family members

55
00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:14,400
Speaker 1: who play instruments, perhaps you enter through the garage and

56
00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:19,040
Speaker 1: your front foyer sits empty. If you've got a green thumb,

57
00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,520
Speaker 1: perhaps that becomes your plant room, so you can finally

58
00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:28,680
Speaker 1: use that giant window over the door. Now, to be sure,

59
00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:34,040
Speaker 1: habits don't always follow possessions. Plenty of people buy treadmills

60
00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,719
Speaker 1: and never use them. But if a space is not

61
00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,719
Speaker 1: being used at all, you may as well try shaping

62
00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,360
Speaker 1: it to an activity you think you would do. Doing

63
00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,760
Speaker 1: so increases the chances that you do use every square

64
00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:56,200
Speaker 1: foot every day, and that will most likely make you

65
00:04:56,279 --> 00:05:02,599
Speaker 1: happier in your home. In the meantime, this is Laura.

66
00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:08,640
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

67
00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:17,719
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

68
00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,640
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

69
00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,960
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

70
00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,840
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then

71
00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,880
Speaker 1: Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at

72
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,600
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That before Breakfast

73
00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,280
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.

74
00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:49,520
Speaker 1: Should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast

75
00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,839
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

76
00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,040
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

77
00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:06,240
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows. Bang Gang