7 Steps To Make Your Home Improvement Dream A Reality
Many people have a lot of good ideas but not enough time to turn those ideas into reality.
didesign021/Shutterstock Do you have a plan for your home that you want to do or make? Is this a plan that's been floating around in your head for a while now?
Often, I hear clients say something like, "Someday, I want to organize this room and turn it into my office." Or, "It would be great to clean out the garage so that my car can fit inside."
You can replace this wishful thinking with thoughts of your own with a few well-planned home organization hacks.
If you have a someday plan or idea, there's the solution to make it all a reality.
Here are 7 home organization hacks to make your home improvement dream a reality.
1. Name the end result.
Have a concrete idea of what you want to accomplish. Create a vision board showing how you want it to look.
You can do this by cutting pictures out of magazines or by creating a virtual vision board on Pinterest.
In addition to knowing what you want to accomplish and how it will look, put into words how it will make you feel when you get this project done.
2. List all the things you need to do to make your plan happen.
Next, take out a notebook or sit down at your computer and make a list, in no apparent order, of all the things you need to do to take this project through to the end result. List out every piece of furniture, every pot and pan.
3. Order the list.
Now, think sequentially but start at the end. What is the very last thing you will do before declaring this project done? Then, what is the step that comes before that? And so on.
Often, one step hinges upon the completion of the step before. Go into great detail here. Write down even the smallest tasks.
4. Buy supplies and/or find help.
Do you have all the supplies on hand to complete the project? Spice racks, cleaning supplies, drawer organizers? The follow-up question to this is: do you have the skills necessary to complete the project?
If you need an extra pair of hands to work on the project, enlist that help. Perhaps, you need to find someone with certain expertise to complete part of the job. Is it a big project in the laundry room and you need to move the machines around?
Find the help you need before getting started so that you can keep the momentum going.
5. Schedule the steps.
As you list the steps to take, think about how much time each step will take to complete. You may consider breaking the steps down even further so that you don’t overwhelm yourself.
For instance, instead of emptying it out and completing the entire garage organization in one day, you can decide to clear one wall of the garage in an hour or two.
Next, schedule each step in your calendar. Consider how much time you have available and allow some flex space in case something more important crops up in your day.
6. Find an accountability partner.
Enlist an accountability partner to help you keep your project moving forward. Tell that person what your plan is for the day, the whole week, or even longer as it applies to the project.
Then, continue to give your partner updates on your progress.
7. Celebrate each win.
Celebrate and reward yourself every time you complete a step. Save a big reward for yourself when you finish the whole home organization project.
Many people have wonderful plans in their heads but when it comes right down to it, they don’t know how to start or what to do to finish the plan.
Thinking up the plan is just the beginning. If you want to make your plan a reality, you have to put the work in.
When you have a concrete end result and a vision of how you want the project to look and feel, it's much easier to follow through.
And, if you have a significant reward in sight, something to work for, that's even better.
Diane N. Quintana is a Certified Professional Organizer®, a Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization®, Master Trainer and owner of DNQ Solutions, LLC and co-owner of Release●Repurpose●Reorganize, LLC based in Atlanta, Georgia. Contact Diane for a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation.