1) Video walkabout - Grab your iPhone or Flip camera and narrate your way through your home with your spouse. Talk about things on your ToDo list. Quickly scan your closets, cabinets, and dressers (I'll tell you why in a minute). If you don't have a video capture device you can take photos and make a list using a legal pad.
2) Two lists - Pour one of your favorite beverages and make a list of the Mr. Fixer projects that came up on the walk. List number two is a Dream Project list. Give yourself the freedom to talk about what you'd really like to change about your home.
3) Awareness - At first, a complete project list can feel overwhelming. Fear not. Awareness brings transformation. If you are not consciously aware of what you want done in your home then you are leaving it up to your subconscious. The only thing your subconscious does for you is stress you out about the projects you refuse to make decisions about.
4) Decide to Move or Remodel - This is a great chance to check in with why you live where you do. What are the things you absolutely love? What are the elements that cannot be duplicated (location, memories, scenery, proximity to your life, character of this home). Many people seek my input at this point for a professional opinion. After listening to clients, I counsel dozens of people each year to move versus remodel. Is it a goal now to move or stay? If the decision is to move then the game plan will be to take the list and check off the low hanging fruit to make your home appear Clean and Current.
5) Decide to Love Where You Live - When you know that you plan to stay in your home for a long time, then you get the opportunity to recreate your home to better fit your life. You can Love Where You Live! Together, we can talk through your vision for your home and make a plan to accomplish it. The typical stages of change are: Discuss, Design, Feedback, Prioritize, and then we start checking items off the list. Each project phase moves you closer to the vision you have for your home.
Bonus: Risk Management - Take that raw video and transfer it to a thumb drive, place it in your safe deposit box at the bank. If catastrophe (fire, smoke, flood, burglary) ever strikes your home you have a visual record of all of your possessions. You just saved yourself dozens of hours recreating a list of what you hopefully will never lose, and thousands of dollars of reimbursements you would have overlooked.
