Does Your Home Need A Redesign Or Reorganization?

Wait! Put down the paint swatches, and don’t buy that new furniture just yet. If your home doesn’t feel quite right, it’s tempting to jump to redesigning your space or planning renovations. However, before you invest a bunch of time, money, and effort into redesigning your home, consider whether what you really need to do is reorganize.

If your home functions well, but you’re getting bored with how things look, you may need a redesign. However, if you’re running into problems with flow, clutter, or systems, then you need to reorganize. Understanding the difference between redesigning and reorganizing is important, so you don’t waste time on the wrong changes.

When your home doesn’t feel right, it’s understandable that you want to jump straight to big, expensive solutions. But before you commit to a makeover, it’s worth asking what it is exactly that’s bothering you. A home that feels off isn’t always a design problem.

Redesign versus Reorganization: What’s The Difference?

Before you decide what your home needs, it’s helpful to understand the difference between redesign and reorganization. People often consider these terms interchangeable, but they aren’t the same thing.

When redesigning your home, your primary focus is on altering the look, style, or structure of a space. You should also consider function, since how a space works is a significant component of design. Think things like furniture placement, paint colors, decor items, lighting, curtains, rugs, and minor renovations.

Conversely, reorganizing your home concentrates on how you use the space and store items within it. The main focuses of reorganization are to edit belongings, add or adjust storage systems, improve flow, and maximize functionality and efficiency.

Both redesigning and reorganizing your home can make major impacts on your space and how you live your life. However, they solve two different problems, so you don’t always need to do both.

So, what does your home need? Scroll through the following lists to determine if a redesign or reorganization is best for you. (Or maybe even both.)

Four Signs Your Home Needs A Redesign

Here are the clues that style, layout, or function might be the real issue with your home, warranting a redesign of your space.

1. You Don’t Like The Way The Space Looks Or Feels

If you walk into a room and think things like, “outdated, boring, bland, uninspired, or just plain, meh,” you have a design issue. Perhaps the furniture isn’t your style anymore, or you’ve developed a new favorite color palette. Sometimes, you might just get bored with having the same look for so long, and you need a change. Reorganizing can help make things tidy, but it can’t change aesthetics. You need a redesign for that.

2. Your Furniture Doesn’t Fit

When furniture pieces are too bulky, undersized, or awkwardly shaped, no amount of organizing will change that. If you’re constantly sidestepping around the sofa or squeezing between chairs to walk through a room, it’s time to update the layout.

3. You Have Bad Lighting

Lighting is a game-changer when it comes to how a space looks and feels. If your space feels a bit off, assess the lighting. Dim, harsh, or poorly placed lighting changes the entire mood of a room, often more than you may realize. Even a meticulously clean, tidy space will feel dark, gloomy, and unwelcoming if there’s bad lighting. In this case, updating overhead lighting, getting new lamps, or even changing out bulbs for a different color temperature or higher wattage can help.

4. Your Home Doesn’t Match How You Live

Are you frustrated with your home because you’re trying to force your life into your space? For example, you’re making yourself work in the home office, but you actually prefer working in the dining room. You need to flip the script — make your home fit into your life. Set up an office space in the dining room and use the old home office for something else. Think about the spaces you need to maximize your potential and create those spaces in your home.

Four Signs You Need To Reorganize Your Home

Overall, if you love the way your house looks, but things feel chaotic or stressful, you may need better systems in place. Here’s how to tell if your issue is more organizational than aesthetically challenged.

1. Your House Always Feels Cluttered (And You Feel Overwhelmed)

If clutter is taking over, it could be a storage issue, but even with tons of storage, you can have a clutter problem. Usually, this is a sign that you don’t have good systems in place, or items don’t have clear homes. A room can be beautiful and still stress you out because the shelves are stuffed and the closets are overflowing. Clutter also inhibits flow, which further hinders how you maneuver through the space.

Decluttering is a good first step, and then you need to implement effective storage solutions and systems that work with your habits. There’s no need to repaint or buy a new sofa.

2. It’s Hard To Maintain A Tidy Home

A tidy-looking room doesn’t automatically mean it’s well-organized. Do you feel like you’re constantly having to clean and pick up items to keep things looking halfway decent? This indicates that you don’t have systems that stick. The goal is to achieve a sustainable level of tidiness that only requires minimal effort to maintain. Store items where you use them, create low-effort, simple routines, and make a habit of editing inventory regularly.

3. It’s Hard To Find Clear Surfaces

Is the problem cluttered countertops and tables? Do your coats end up draped over the backs of chairs and sofas? Is your bed a landing zone for clothes? If so, you’re lacking dedicated storage space for these things. You need to reorganize to create systems that corral daily-use items, give you a designated drop zone for mail, purses, shoes, etc.

4. You Keep Losing Things And Running Late

Even the most beautifully designed home won’t help you find your keys or make it to work on time. However, a well-organized space will help you do those things. If you feel like you waste tons of time searching for items and consequently running late, reorganization is the solution. Successful systems make things easy to find and access. It also becomes easier to implement storage strategies that make sense.

Sometimes You Might Need Both

Don’t let these two lists make you think you only always need to choose one or the other when it comes to reorganizing or redesigning your home. Sometimes, the issues you’re facing may require a little bit of both.

For example, you might need a new desk because you need better storage for your office, and don’t like how your old desk looks. Perhaps the best solution for your living room is a better layout that requires a major decluttering first.

It’s about finding balance. A gorgeous bedroom doesn’t look so hot if it’s filled to the brim with clutter. Likewise, a super tidy den still seems off if it’s outdated.

Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Make Any Changes

Before you buy anything, change anything, or make any plans, ask these simple questions.

1. What Exactly Is Bothering Me?

Be specific. Is it the color, lack of storage, furniture placement, clutter, or lighting? Identifying the problem is the first step to finding the best solutions.

2. Would This Room Work Better If I Owned Less?

If your answer is yes, then start by decluttering before making any changes. After decluttering, reassess the space and how you feel in it.

3. Does This Space Match How I Use It Today?

Sometimes, we shift how we use rooms as time goes by. If certain areas of your home no longer match your lifestyle, a redesign may be in your future.

4. Can I Solve This Problem Without Spending Money?

If you say yes, then reorganization is the answer. You can make a lot of changes when it comes to organizing without spending any money. Redesign typically calls for some spending, even if it’s just new paint. (Although sometimes, all you may need is to rearrange existing furniture and perhaps shop your home for items that would work better in different areas.)

5. Do I Want A New Look Or Less Chaos?

If you want things to look different, redesign. If you desire a home that works more smoothly and brings you clarity, this indicates reorganization.

To Redesign Or To Reorganize? That Is The Question

Your home should support your life and make you feel good. If something feels off, a redesign or reorganization of your home can help, but you need to know which one is the best fit. If the space looks dated, feels mismatched, or doesn’t reflect your lifestyle, you probably need a redesign. However, if clutter, chaos, or cleanliness are the main problems, then you likely need reorganization. And, yes, sometimes, you need both.

Start small, and pay attention to what isn’t working. You don’t have to overhaul everything. Many times, a better-feeling home is closer than you think. Start with what you already have, and make it work smarter, look better, and feel more like you.

Related Guides:

• Interior Design Tips To Improve Mental Health
• Home Design Choices For Reducing Stress
• Are You Wasting Time On Over-Organizing?