LIVE LARGE IN THE HOME YOU HAVE NOW BY RETHINKING SOME ROOMS
By Jes Alexander (originally published in THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE)
© 2008 Jes Alexander

Winter. Ugh. The grass is dead, the remaining leaves are brown and crunchy, and your garden looks as if it has succumbed to the after-effects of a nuclear attack. Don't get the post-holiday blues. Instead, immerse yourself in out-of-the-box winter projects inside your home.

Have you heard of the 80/20 rule? Usually, it is the rule that applies to your wardrobe. You know, you wear 20 percent of your clothes 80 percent of the time. Well, it applies to your house, too, for most people live 80 percent of the time in 20 percent of their house. Still, we all reach the point where we feel we have outgrown our homes.

As the economy spirals out of control and we transition from a seller's real estate market to one dominated by buyers, live your existing house larger, and enjoy the other 80 percent of your current abode with these and other fun, quirky and remarkably practical ideas.

Most homes, no matter how they are configured, have the same basic formula for public spaces - kitchen, family room, dining room and that tiny room at the front of your house formerly known as the formal living room, the receiving room or the parlor. Now, honestly, when was the last time you "received guests" in your parlor? Never, you say? Thought so.

Forget what it says on your home's floor plans. If you must have a formal dining room, it will probably be the least-used room in your home - put it in that tiny parlor and save it for special occasions. Chances are, your dining room furniture is some of the nicest furniture you own. You might as well show it off. Besides, are you really so lazy that on the rare occasion that you do use your dining room, you can't walk an additional 12 to 15 feet with the mashed potatoes? Really. The way families live today, it just really makes little sense to dedicate such a large, prominent space to the dining room simply because you might have Thanksgiving at your place every third or fourth year. Besides, most people eat in the kitchen or breakfast area much of the time anyway. Or in front of the television. Or out. You see where I am going with this?

The kitchen is the center of any home. It only makes sense that the next-most used rooms radiate out from this space. Now that you have moved the formal dining room out to the perimeter, turn the former dining room into a library, a media center or, if you have kids, a gaming room, so you can reclaim the family room for the rest of the family while the kids play video games within earshot. No kids? Turn your former dining room into a cozy sun room free from the effects of harmful UVA and UVB rays.

The point here is that by rethinking the function of your rooms, you can actually grow your living space without building an addition or moving down the street.

Speaking of the dining room, if you're not blessed with Grandma's mahogany dining set, go a little crazy. Fill the space with greenery, purchase a picnic table (usually on sale this time of year) and bust the winter blues by having family picnics instead of dinners. Go crazier and build an intimate trellis. Maybe you are a Francophile, so forget the big table and, instead, create a your own bistro with brightly colored walls and little cafe tables. You can always shove them together for family meals (it always works in the restaurants, doesn't it?).

You can even buy an inexpensive picture frame, paint the backing with "chalkboard" paint and list the evening's menu like the specials of the day. And speaking of chalkboard paint, use it on a wall of the kids' rooms, and you'll never have to use Killz to cover up marker and crayon on the other walls of your home; use it in the kitchen, where you spend most of your time anyway, to jot down phone numbers and chart schedules and plan meals. To that end, write out a recipe on a chalkboarded backsplash, and your meal preparation will be so, so much easier.

The man room. The guy cave. The dude spot. Who came up with this ridiculous idea? First of all, are you planning to entertain? Are you planning on being upwardly mobile in your career? Guys, nothing says, "I am not ready for the responsibility of a promotion" more than re-creating your college fraternity's basement in your home. Now, on the off chance that you still have tunnel vision about creating your leather sofa-filled, big-screen dream hut complete with bar stools and a light-up Heineken sign, are you really prepared to concede the entire rest of your home to your wife and kids? Come, now. And women, remember the aforementioned 80/20 rule? Are you really ready to have your guy holed up in his slob grotto 80 percent of the time?

Enjoy your home. Live it larger by rethinking the use and function of your rooms, and grow within your existing walls. A house is the single most expensive investment of your life. Enjoy it. Have fun with it. Just don't waste your space by living in merely 20 percent of it.

GUILT IS A SALESWOMAN'S BEST FRIEND.
The real reason you cringe as you walk to the mailbox. (<-- clicky-clicky)

JUST SAY NO TO THE TYRANNY OF THE LAWN.
We all don't look the same .. why should our yards? (<-- clicky-clicky)

SUBTLETY MAKES THE MOST OF SCENTS.
Quit masking odors and clean your house, already! (<-- clicky-clicky)

SORRY, MARTHA.
HOUSEKEEPING IS NOT MY IDEA OF REALITY. (<-- clicky-clicky)