Ah Australia. The land of wide open spaces. It’s our way of life here to have a big old home where we can escape from the world…and sometimes from the teenagers. But as house prices skyrocket, that big old home is getting a little smaller. We’re not talking New York small at least, but small enough that we’re all seeking ways to find more space.

So what do we do? And what’s important? Is it a new study now that you’re working from home? A rumpus room to banish, excuse me, entertain the kids in? Whatever it is, here are a few thoughts that may help you get more home from your home.

Declutter to the Marie Kondo

It might seem really obvious but sometimes the best way to get more room at home is to actually remove things from your house. We’re talking serious cutting of clutter and potentially changing your look altogether. Minimalism is in and clutter is out, way out in the rubbish bin.

Some people like the three bag system when it comes to decluttering – one for the bin, one for donating, one for storage. Or if you like Marie Kondo, you can go for the ‘spark joy’ technique. Does it spark joy? No? Goodbye. You don’t need it. Please don’t apply this to practical things like you’re ironing board though – you may lose a lot of domestic goods in your home!

Find your decluttering technique and make it happen. Do you really neeeeed all that stuff?

Create multi-purpose spaces

Flexible homes are great homes. Finding ways to make rooms multi-purpose has been a fun way to keep busy/survive lockdown as people spent more time at home then they’d ever spent before. We really got creative, creating little nooks for work, study and homework. Some people turned cupboards or under the stairs spaces into study nooks.

You can use room dividers like standing screens or bookshelves to separate large spaces into two spaces – it’s all clever rearrangement of furniture really.

If you have really high ceilings (2.7 metres and above), you could consider adding a mezzanine space, which could be used as a bedroom or for storage. And that’s the perfect segue to our next thought – extensions.

Extensions

Now we’re talking change. If you have a large enough block, you can always build out, if not, up! Depending on your foundations and council approval of course, you’re open to all kinds of exciting new additions.

The downside is it can be expensive and can potentially unearth existing problems that were protected by the current structure. Look into it, but make sure you do your due diligence before you full commit.

Start again!

Had enough? Knock it down and rebuild! Once again, not exactly a cheap option but if your land is worth loads and your home just ain’t cutting it, demolishing your home and rebuilding a new one could be the way to go.

This is especially true if you have a long list of things you’d like to fix. It could be better/cheaper than renovating. Plus you’ll get a brand spanking new home to call your own. Doesn’t that sound nice? Of course you’ll need somewhere to live while all this is happening, so make sure you factor that into your costing too.

Move!

Of course, there’s always other options. Maybe it’s time to pack and find bigger and better things. You can keep your current home and rent it out and find another place, perhaps a little further out with more space for the same rent. Or you could keep it, rent it and buy something new. Or just sell! Sell! Sell! And buy something new. Whatever your plan, I’m here to help make it happen. Drop me a line.