Home organization
A home is a place where you retire after a long, winding day. Homes are essentially a reflection of the inhabitant. They should be comfortable, stylish, spacious, modern and warm. Bricks and walls make up a house, but it's people and relationships that make up a home.
Home organization is an important aspect of home building. Mostly, in urban locations homes are organized keeping the structure, function and utility in mind. And most homeowners consult with their interior decorators and architects while setting up a new home.
An old home is not such a bad idea. You can re-organize your old home to fit in the various rooms and utility areas that you might need. A flat in any metropolitan city requires the arrangement of the hall, the kitchen, the bedrooms, the terrace and the bathrooms.
Let's start with the bathrooms. A clean, neat and useful bathroom normally reflects on the personality of the owner. Make sure the bathroom is well ventilated and is not near the kitchen. Old homes that had bathrooms and toilets away from the main home were scientifically designed to keep away diseases. But in the modern context, the need for privacy keeps us from having toilets and bathrooms away from the home. A flush and plumbing that works, a loft water tank, a commode in probably white, tan or maroon are the requisite items of a bathroom. Next, a shower saves more water than a tub. You can have warm and cold water functions of taps and hoses.
The kitchen is the next place that will need some work and planning. You can have modular kitchens, kitchens with themes and ideas, but most importantly, you have to have the right gadgets in your kitchen. A juicer, a grinder, a beater, a dishwasher, a microwave, a refrigerator, an oven and an exhaust fan are some of the essentials for a small kitchen. Make sure you also have a tap and a sink for all your vegetables.
Next, in the kitchen you need to have a stove. Most people in Bombay use LPG so you can have stoves with 4 or 6 burners so that you can cook simultaneously. The lighting in you kitchen and dining areas should be bright. You can also have a chimney to get rid of all the fumes.
The drainage should be working in all areas of your home. Your bathrooms should have good plumbing and your taps, faucets and hoses should be of good long-lasting quality.
The next place is your bedroom, your own private place. Double beds are better than single beds in the long run. You need air conditioning and heating if you live in a very cold place. You can have a mini study in your bedroom, a small library and even a plasma TV outlet.
If you live in a very cold place, you need to have central heating. Make sure that your outlets at home are able to support voltage fluctuations. And if you live in an area with load-shedding, make sure you have generators and means to endure the low voltage.
Your bedroom can have good lighting, especially if it's the place where you'll be reading. Place colour coordinated curtains on the windows and grills of your bedroom to ensure privacy. Paint your bedroom in light, pastel colours so that when you end your day, you retire to a room full of warmth, where you get good sleep. You can also make sure that your bedroom and your home altogether are Vaastu compliant. Place your wardrobe in your bedroom, so you can experiment with your clothes.
If you have the means, it makes sense to make place for a mini office at home, where you store all your bills, the computer, laptop and your workspace desk. You can have a storage unit in your office, a library, a fax machine, a telephone with STD and international dialing, and some storing cabinets.
Next comes the hall. The interiors of the hall have to have an inviting and appealing look. You can place some individual plants in your hall, with a plasma, LCD TV, a seating area for guests and a cabinet connecting to the kitchen. Minimalist interiors are the order of the day. Make sure you have some items, artifacts and objects up on the walls of your hall. You can also keep some décor in the corners of your hall and a show piece to make it all add up. Ethnic, traditional items like stone, sandalwood and bronze statues of deities and the Buddha add depth and character to your home.
It will do you a lot of good if you invest in art. You can put up art pieces in your halls and corridors, making your home appear lively and interesting. Experiment with colours and textures in choosing the flooring and walls of your house. Marble seems to be the eternal favourite, but you can try other flooring and stones if you have the budget.
If you have a terrace flat, make sure that there is greenery in it. This gives you the required oxygen for your house and it also looks very soothing to the eye. A good garden is a symbol of growth, prosperity and a loving attitude.
If there's still space remaining in your home, turn it into a hobby space. Here you can have a painting studio, a musical room, a photography hall, and most importantly, you can have some Âme' time all to yourself where you can meditate and think and plan. A window in such a corner would mean that you can spend hours gazing out the window, running through the events of the week. Finally, your house has turned into a home!