Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to really use your space. People tend
Speaker 1: to be happiest when there is an everyday use for
Speaker 1: the spaces in their homes. So if you don't use
Speaker 1: a room for its traditional function, change it. After all,
Speaker 1: it is your house. So back in two thousand eleven,
Speaker 1: while I was writing a book called All the Money
Speaker 1: in the World, I interviewed architect Sarah Suzenka about the
Speaker 1: size and scale of American homes. Sasenka, author of the
Speaker 1: Not So Big House series of books, noted that she
Speaker 1: encountered many homes with unusable rooms spaces that didn't reflect
Speaker 1: how people actually lived. Such waste could be pricey for
Speaker 1: normal folks, but she reported that even her clients with
Speaker 1: unlimited budgets tended to be happiest with everyday uses for
Speaker 1: their spaces. The goal should be to use every square
Speaker 1: foot every day. After recently rereading All the Money in
Speaker 1: the World, I have been revisiting my old work. Like
Speaker 1: I recommended in a recent episode, I have been thinking
Speaker 1: of that goal. With my new old house. We spent
Speaker 1: a year renovating this historic home, partly to be sure
Speaker 1: we could use the somewhat eclectic spaces. Now, a year
Speaker 1: after moving in, I tracked where everyone was during a
Speaker 1: normal weekend day, and I am pretty sure we do
Speaker 1: indeed use the full house, or at least I turn
Speaker 1: off the lights and every room every night. This use
Speaker 1: has been achieved partly by shifting room functions. What is
Speaker 1: technically a dining room has become the space where the
Speaker 1: kids can play on the family computer and where I
Speaker 1: do my various one thousand piece puzzles, generally while supervising
Speaker 1: the computer using kids. We knocked down walls between a
Speaker 1: few tiny, ambiguous rooms to create a children's playroom whose
Speaker 1: current mess level suggests it has achieved new life. So
Speaker 1: the obvious caveat here. I know that even pondering these
Speaker 1: matters is already a function of having more space than
Speaker 1: is strictly necessary. Back when my family lived in a
Speaker 1: small New York City apartment, we definitely used every square
Speaker 1: foot every day. We didn't have a choice. But in
Speaker 1: any case, if you too are pondering your space and
Speaker 1: how it is used, it might help to remember that
Speaker 1: a home exists to serve you. If you don't need
Speaker 1: a space in its traditional function, you don't need to
Speaker 1: preserve it for that function. You might be able to
Speaker 1: use it in a different way. So, for instance, if
Speaker 1: you are not doing a lot of formal entertaining, maybe
Speaker 1: that formal living room could become a playroom. My guess
Speaker 1: is the toys already migrate there. Now you can just
Speaker 1: embrace it, keeping a sofa for a parent to sit
Speaker 1: on and relax. If you mostly eat at your kitchen table,
Speaker 1: then a dining room could become a crafting or game room,
Speaker 1: or a library for a book lover, or your real
Speaker 1: home office. If you've got a guest room but don't
Speaker 1: have many overnight guests, maybe it can be something else.
Speaker 1: A movie room for movie buffs, or a music room.
Speaker 1: If you've got lots of family members who play instruments,
Speaker 1: perhaps you enter through the garage and your front foyer
Speaker 1: sits empty. If you've got a green thumb, perhaps that
Speaker 1: becomes your plant room, so you can finally use that
Speaker 1: giant window over the door. Now, to be sure, habits
Speaker 1: don't always follow possessions. Plenty of people by treadmills and
Speaker 1: never use them. But if a space is not being
Speaker 1: used at all, you may as well try shaping it
Speaker 1: to an activity you think you would do. Doing so
Speaker 1: increases the chances that you do use every square foot
Speaker 1: every day, and that will most likely make you happier
Speaker 1: in your home. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcasts at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
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