We were lucky to find this property with all the specifications that I wanted especially that we can afford it (housing is absolutely expensive here in Spain!!!), plus its near the church,hospital, health center, playgrounds, markets and public school (we already had the vision of our future family hehehe). It is beautiful, it has natural light, the neighbors are fantastic. We are relatively near some of the well known beautiful landmarks and tourist spots and we are close to an area where there is a family night life atmosphere!!! The ONLY DOWNSIDE IS WE DO NOT HAVE BIG SPACE which at some point is also subjective/relative. But... GOD has answered our prayers!! We now have our MANSIONETTE! And that´s all that matters. Hahahahaha
In the process of maximzing our space, I applied the concepts of minimalism and 5S, a Japanese work organization methodology that talks about the importance of organizing your workspace to achieve efficiency and productivity. I learned about 5S sometime mid 2000 in my stint as a Continuous Improvement team lead in the leading multinational consulting in my country. 5S stands for Sort, Set in order, Sweep, Standardize and Sustain.
Minimalism aside from being a concept, is a lifestyle which promotes the usage of only the essentials in your life and in the process, decluttering. There are extreme minimalism approaches such as 0 car, 0 tv etc. But in my case, I chose the essentials in my life as a wife, homemaker, mother, professional and an individual with hobbies (which means that I have a TV because I am a couch potato! Hahaha). In the process of organizing our things and our properties as a family, I make sure that I apply the 5S to organize them and ease process of locating them.
1. We ensured that we know the dimensions, floor area, corners of our house to ensure that the furniture that we bought fit in. Case in point, we have a foldable dining table. On regular days, it can fit it a family of 4, ideal for us as we are a family of 3. But on days that we organize parties, we extend our dining table and it can fit in 8 people, but.. we do not have a lot of space to move around hahahaha. That´s why it is folded on regular days. Hahahaha.. We also have a beautiful round center table.. Having a square shaped or a rectangle center table is not pragmatic in our case as we do not have a lot of space.
2. We made space for the things that our important to us as a family such as books, toys, sports/hobbies and personal effects crucial as working parents.
3. We limited our electrical appliances. Although I am seriously considering buying a kitchen aid or a thermomix, at the moment, my busy kitchen can only boast of the essentials in cooking.. I do not have any sophisticated kitchen robot.. My most sophisticated tools are the pressure cooker and the oven. Hahahahah.
4. We always organize. It´s like working in a restaurant.. We follow clean as you go policy. After using the kitchen, we make sure that the utensils, kitchen tools are clean, washed and are place in the proper cupboard. This ensures that our space is tidy almost always. Hehehee. Towels must be hung. Clothes upin drying must be folded and stored in the proper drawer.
5. We have beautiful, sophisticated drawers which also function as decorative furniture.
6. We invested in our built in cabinets, sort of had them customized to ensure that we have the compartments, drawers and the storage functionality fit to our needs.
With these mindset, we are able to make our small space, really functional! Even if we have a small space, the important thing is to make it work, make it really functional!! Thank you.
(photo courtesy of the gadgeflow.com. Thank you)
(photo courtesy of banakimporta.com. Thank you)
(photo courtesy of laoca.com. Thank you.)
(photo courtesy of importmania.es Thank you)
No comments:
Post a Comment