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planning+ printables

Overwhelmed? The Most Powerful Way to Triage a Home Project List

list of home projects
do you have a home project list as long as your arm?

Inside: This home project planner (free printable!) uses insights from psychology to help you prioritize.

THUNK. THUNK. THUNK. THUNK.

The noises interrupted my creamy, cloudy, marshmallow-y daydream. I was in the middle of a few minutes of delicious “me time” on the computer. My quest: the perfect off-white paint colour.

Meanwhile, my one-year-old daughter had seized the opportunity. She cleared off every single low shelf in the living room…onto the floor. Standing there, she looked somewhat proud of her shelf cleaning efforts.

My eyes skimmed the room. Piles of stuff on the floor. Boxes “to sort” lurking in the corner. Those dents in the drywall needed filling. I felt that sinking feeling in my stomach.

Who was I kidding? Picking paint colours was the least of my worries.

I had so many home projects on my to-do list. Decluttering. Organizing. Rearranging. Deep cleaning. Repairing. Decorating. Renovating.

Spending time on Pinterest wasn’t going to help me with that list.

chips and salsa
maybe chips and salsa will help?

Are you procrastinating on home projects?

Living from day to day, you don’t always notice the tasks piling up. Or, you’re in a season of life where you’re stretched. You put taking care of people first.

Suddenly you have a home project list as long as your arm. You realize taking care of your home is part of taking care of yourself and your family.

You’re determined to take action.

Gah! Where do I even start?

I’ve been there…not knowing where to even start. Every project takes planning, time, energy, and—usually—money.

The tricky part is prioritizing. Do you install an organizer in the family coat closet? Replace the kitchen faucet with the fiddly handle? Buy new throw pillows to cheer up the living room?

Maybe you’ve read the advice about what projects to work on first:

  • focus on resale value
  • do free and low-cost projects first
  • fix whatever is bugging you most
  • go for visual impact
  • address functionality issues
  • work on the basic infrastructure first (plumbing, electrical, etc.)

None of these are wrong. But there’s a more powerful way.

illustration of Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow 1908-1970

Psychology to the rescue!

Our homes meet our needs. It’s a simple yet profound paradigm. We need shelter. A place to nourish our bodies with food. The perfect off-white paint colour. Wait…is that a need?

Abraham Maslow would say yes!

Born in Brooklyn over a century ago, Maslow had a rough childhood. As a son of Russian Jewish immigrant parents, he was bullied and suffered from psychological issues.

His troubled beginnings shaped his life. As a psychologist, Maslow devoted his career to studying how we can realize our potential. This led him to focus on the human needs we all share.

Our Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s insight is that not all needs are equal. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs recognizes that we have different levels of motivation to meet different kinds of needs.

At the most basic level, we need to survive. Once we have survival taken care of, we move up to the next level. Those needs then become our main motivation.

diagram of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Here are the categories of needs, from most immediate to least:

  1. basic physical needs
  2. safety
  3. love & belonging
  4. esteem
  5. self-actualization

A hierarchy of needs for your home

Maslow’s insights provide a profound way of looking at your life. Even your home.

Cleaning, organizing, decluttering, fixing, or renovating can meet your needs (or those of your family). Needs help with prioritizing that long list of task and projects.

Physical needs

Our homes support the basic needs of our bodies: air, food, water, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep. Yep, Maslow put sex in there as part of basic survival. I’ll let you be the judge of what category it belongs in!

Some examples of how our homes might not meet these needs:

  • the air in the home feels stale in the winter (air)
  • a child wakes up ridiculously early because the curtains in her room don’t block the morning light (sleep)
  • the kitchen is so badly set up it’s hard to cook meals from scratch (food)

Some examples of projects to better meet these needs:

  • clean and maintain ducts and filters
  • install blackout blinds
  • renovate the kitchen to improve functionality

Safety needs

Once we have survival covered, we need to be safe. This is a biggie. Safety includes covers physical safety, health and wellness (including psychological and emotional), and financial security.

Our home plays in a huge role in this broad category of needs.

Some examples of how our homes might not meet these needs:

  • an upper story window is not secured and a toddler could fall out (physical safety)
  • dark walls are contributing to gloomy feelings (emotional wellness)
  • that pink gunge in the shower turns out to be a bacterium that can cause infections in humans (health)
  • if that leak isn’t fixed right away, it’s going to cause costly damage (financial security)

Some examples of projects to better meet these needs:

  • install window bars to prevent accidents
  • paint walls a lighter colour
  • open the windows, break out the bleach and go to town on those tiles
  • call the plumber and get that leak fixed

Love & belonging needs

Most of our family life takes place in the home. And we welcome our closest friends there too. Our homes are the containers for our most intimate experiences of love and connection.

Some examples of how our homes might not meet these needs:

  • the dining room table got taken over by a project and everyone eats in front of the TV now (family traditions)
  • there’s nowhere comfortable to hang out (casual togetherness)
  • the master bedroom became a dumping zone and the romance is gone (connection in marriage)

Some examples of projects to better meet these needs:

  • banish projects from the dining room table and move them elsewhere
  • upgrade seating and lighting to feel comfy
  • do a full declutter and deep-cleaning of the bedroom

Esteem needs

Let’s face it. We want to feel good about ourselves. And we want others to accept and value us.

We want our homes to reflect our best selves. We don’t want to feel embarrassed or ashamed when we welcome people into our homes. We might even want to keep up with the Joneses.

Now the ego’s involved, and this category can be a bottomless pit. But there’s nothing wrong with meeting these needs.

Some examples of how our homes might not meet these needs:

  • the front door is looking shabby (taking pride in home)
  • can’t have anyone over because there’s too much clutter everywhere (entertaining guests without embarrassment)
  • the living room looks like a hodge-podge with no style (feeling good about one’s style)

Some examples of projects to better meet these needs:

  • sand and paint the front door
  • declutter the most public areas of the home
  • create a plan to redecorate the living room

Self-actualization needs

This pinnacle of the triangle is about meeting our full potential.

Self-actualization is

to become everything one is capable of becoming — Maslow

At this highest level, our homes can support us in many different ways.

When our more basic needs are taken care of, we can focus on our goals, talents, desires, happiness, and purpose. Self-actualization is very personal.

Some examples of how our homes might not meet these needs:

  • no spot for a sewing hobby (enjoying one’s passions)
  • creative personality of the owner not reflected in the decor (creative self-expression)
  • too much noise and distraction for meditation (achieving inner peace)

Some examples of projects to better meet these needs:

  • carve out a corner for a compact sewing station
  • explore personal style as it relates to decor
  • soundproof a room to support a meditation practice

Triage your home project list

By now, I hope I’ve convinced you how important needs are in the home. And some of those needs are more immediate than others.

Here’s how to tackle home projects:

  1. Start with creating a meta-list of projects that need to be done in your home
  2. Categorize each project according to which level of needs the project meets. If there is more than one level, pick the most immediate one (lowest in the hierarchy).
  3. For each project, rate the cost (low, medium, high)
  4. For each project, rate the time and energy required (low, medium, high)
  5. Start with the projects that involve the most immediate needs. For some, this will be “Physical Needs”.
  6. Plan to complete these highest priority projects as soon as possible. If not possible due to budget or time and energy constraints, write down a completion plan.
  7. Focus 90% of home improvement efforts on projects in the most immediate needs category, until all projects are complete.
  8. Proceed to the next most important needs category. For some, this will be “Safety Needs”.

To make this process simple, I created a home project planner with worksheets to walk you through each step. It includes an incompletion trigger list to help with thinking of projects that need to be done. It also includes a separate planner worksheet for each needs category, with simple-to-complete ratings to help with prioritizing.

Download your free Home Project Planner

Do you have a list of home projects to triage? Get the password to access exclusive content (including the planner) by filling out this form:

Finally…

I still have a lot of projects to do in my home. But I have a lot more clarity around what is most important.

Eventually, I did find the perfect off-white paint colour (if you must know, it’s Pointing by Farrow and Ball). But I’m pretty sure I should have been sealing the grout in the shower first.

What do you think?

Are needs a good way to prioritize home projects? Do you agree with Maslow’s hierarchy? Let me know in the comments.

November 22, 2018 / Leave a Comment

furniture+ kitchen+ printables

How to Pick Kitchen Counter Stools (You Need to Avoid These 6 Mistakes)

counter stools at Fayucaville Restaurant | Scott Cohen Design

Inside: absolutely everything you need to know about choosing kitchen counter stools…plus a free guide!

Live jazz, soft lighting, and my husband. As I sat down at the bar, I was contemplating indulging in a Manhattan.

Suddenly, the mood shifted from romantic to absurd. Sitting at the too-low bar stool, I felt like a child. Even my tall husband looked a bit silly with the bar hitting high on his chest.

There’s a lot to consider when picking counter or bar stools. Homeowners agonize about it in kitchen forums. Even professional designers sometimes get it wrong—as my husband and I experienced at that posh hotel bar. The truth is that counters and stools aren’t as standardized as dining room tables and chairs.

In this post, I’ll go over six mistakes to avoid when you pick your kitchen counter stools:

  1. too high or too low;
  2. uncomfortable;
  3. not child-friendly;
  4. swivel stool back smashes against counter edge;
  5. buying too many or too few; and
  6. stools don’t work with room decor.

Oh, and be sure to grab the No Regrets Guide to Picking Counter Stools at the bottom of this post. It includes worksheets that help with measuring and planning your counter seating.

black kitchen counter stools in a kitchen
Restoration Hardware Vintage Toledo Bar Chairs in my kitchen

Mistake #1: counter stools are too high or too low

This is one of the most common mistakes people make when picking stools. Either the stool is too low and you end up feeling like Goldilocks sitting at a counter that is too high. Or, the stool is too high and there’s no room to cross your legs under the counter.

Why does this happen?

  • a bar stool is mismatched with a standard counter (36 inches);
  • a counter stool is mismatched with a bar height counter (42 inches);
  • the stool is a non-standard height; or
  • the counter height is non-standard.

This mismatch is easy to prevent. When selecting a counter stool, measure the height of the counter. A good rule of thumb is that the seat of the stool should be 12 inches below the underside of the counter.

Product names can be misleading. Don’t assume that a “counter stool” or “bar stool” will match your standard counter or home bar. Check the seat height before purchasing, by measuring or checking product measurements online.

Also, be aware that seat height will be lower than expected if the seat has soft cushioning.

Matching a non-standard counter height to a stool is a common challenge. Our kitchen has a 39-inch island to accommodate my husband.

The simplest solutions are to:

  1. pick an adjustable stool that falls within the right seat height range or
  2. buy a taller-than-needed stool and cut the legs to measure.

We picked adjustable counter stools inspired by 1940s draftsman’s chairs. See the photo showing the Restoration Hardware Vintage Toledo Bar Chairs in our kitchen. They adjust perfectly to match our taller-than-standard island.

diagram of adjustable stool
counter stools are trickier to pick than dining chairs

Mistake #2: counter stools are uncomfortable

You’d be surprised to know how often people regret buying uncomfortable stools.

Do you see yourself sitting at your counter for a quick five-minute coffee? Perhaps you’ll be perching there while you open mail? If so, comfort may not be a big deal.

But maybe you imagine your kids doing homework at the kitchen island? Or guests lingering over cocktails and appetizers while you finish up dinner? For longer and more relaxed seating, you’ll want to make comfort a priority.

Padding and upholstery

For comfort, pick stools with a bit of cushion in the seat and back. Especially if some family members or guests have less “built-in padding”. Some options:

  • pick stools that are padded and upholstered: if spills will be an issue, consider wipe-able materials like Crypton fabric, leather, or vinyl (also known as “vegan leather”);
  • add detachable seat pads: many can be washed, and they can be replaced if necessary.

Also, keep in mind that fabric will be more comfortable in rooms that are hot and sticky, or chilly.

Footrest

Unless your counter has a built-in footrest, you’ll want to pick a stool with a footrest. See the Fayucaville photo for an example of a built-in (copper!) footrest. Unlike a dining room chair, most people will not be able to rest their feet on the ground when sitting on a counter stool. People tend to feel uneasy when their feet dangle, so a footrest is a must for comfort.

Stool back

Backless stools do have their merits. They’re perfect for the minimalist look, and they tuck nicely under the counter too. But if comfort is a priority, you’ll want a stool with a back. For relaxed lounging, a backless stool won’t cut it.

counter stool with black and white patterned seat
Backless stools are best for quick perching. The Triangulation Counter Stool designed by Ksenia at Society6.

Seat size

There is no tactful way to put this. Seats should match bums. For most adults, wider and deeper seats are more comfortable. But there are constraints to this:

  • if your countertop overhang is shallow, a deep seat will cause knees to bump the underside;
  • a too-deep seat may also cause the stool to extend too far back from the countertop edge—especially if there’s a passageway; and
  • if your countertop width is narrow, fewer wide stools will fit along that space.

Swivel

Swiveling is a feature that can add to comfort, allowing people to move around a bit while they sit casually.

Some disadvantages:

  • swiveling stools take up more width along a small countertop and
  • see mistake #4 below.

Mistake #3: counter stools are not child-friendly

You’re unloading the dishwasher or chopping veggies. Your kids are eating breakfast or doing homework at the kitchen island. For a family-friendly kitchen, the key is picking seating that works for kids.

Seat with back

Kids generally do better with stools that have a back. Having a seat back seems to provide some grounding, especially for wiggly little ones. But, see mistake #4 below.

Padding/upholstery

In my experience, kids tend to sit longer when seats are comfortably padded. As adults, we tend to forget that kids often have less padding on their behinds. If the goal is to have kids doing homework or eating full meals, some cushioning may be a good idea.

Of course, kids often mean messes and spills. More child-friendly options for upholstery include:

  • Crypton fabric: I’ve seen this stain-proof fabric hold up very well on 16-year-old dining chairs used by all ages in a common space;
  • dark and/or patterned fabrics;
  • leather with wipe-able finish;
  • vinyl (also known as “vegan leather”); or
  • add a detachable seat pad.

Swivel

Most kids love to sit on stools with a swivel. But, watch for mistake #4 below.

Mistake #4: swivel stool back smashes against counter edge

diagram of swivel stool back vs. stone counter edge
swivel stool back vs. stone counter edge

Do you have restless folks sitting at your counter? We do. In that case, you might want to rethink pairing a stone counter with a swivel stool that has a hard back. Over time, a hard stool back that bumps against the counter edge will weather some damage. We’ve definitely seen some wear on our stools as a result of this.

Solutions include:

  • pick a stool that doesn’t swivel;
  • pick a stool with no back—best for stools that will be used briefly; or
  • pick a stool with a cushioned/upholstered back.

They weren’t available at the time that we purchased our stools (and they definitely are spendy), but the leather version of the Toledo Bar Chair may have been a better choice for us.

Mistake #5: buying too many or too few counter stools

Too many

Kitchen space constraints typically determine the number of seats that will fit. In addition to the width of the actual stool, you’ll need enough space between stools to sit down or stand up. You’ll need more space if the stool swivels: to make room for knees as the seat rotates sideways. Grab the No Regrets Guide to Picking Counter Stools below to figure out how many stools you have space for.

Too few

If you’re on the fence about how many stools to buy, err on the side of buying more. You might find the perfect stool and buy three of them. If you later decide that you want to add a fourth, you risk disappointment. Many open stock counter or bar stools go out of stock when you least expect it.

Mistake #6: counter stools don’t work with room decor

Counter stools should complement and add to the room’s decor. In this section, I’ll go over some design principles that can help.

Sightlines

Does it really matter what the counter stools look like? Yes and no.

Go for visual impact if your counter stools will be seen along important sightlines. Focus on what you see when you enter a room or sit down, rather than what you see as you walk through a room.

If counter stools are less visible, focus on comfort and practicality.

Overall style

In general, you’ll want a counter stool that fits the overall style of the room. Some interior decor styles include:

  • modern
  • traditional
  • transitional
  • boho
  • Scandinavian
  • industrial
  • country
  • coastal
  • rustic
  • shabby chic

Many spaces are a blend of styles. Avoid picking counter stools that clash with the room style—unless you’re doing it as a statement.

Open concept rooms

Picking counter stools for an open concept room can be more complicated. The counter stool style, colour, and material should complement:

  • flooring;
  • kitchen finishes;
  • dining area furniture and finishes (if applicable); and
  • living area furniture and finishes (if applicable).

Contrast

Contrast is one of the most important design principles. Some positive contrast is great when counter stools are highly visible. Here are some suggestions for how to add contrast:

  • your island or peninsula is patterned or highly textured or visually busy: consider simple stools with clean lines;
  • the island or peninsula is neutral: consider stools that add a pop of colour or have a complicated shape (we did the latter in our kitchen—see the photo);
  • for a dark peninsula: consider stools that are light in colour/tone;
  • if your island or peninsula is light; consider stools that are dark in colour/tone;
  • for a space with lots of wood: consider stools that have metal, fabric, leather, or plexiglas; and
  • when there are lots of hard surfaces in the space: pick stools that bring in some softness with fabric, leather, or cushioning.

Notice how often contrast is used in the photos of kitchen counter stools that inspire you.

Inspiration

I created a Pinterest board with some counter stool inspiration. Click on the board below to see what I’ve been pinning. You’ll see great examples of some of the design principles that I’ve discussed here.

pinterest board

Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest!

Free! No regrets guide to picking kitchen counter stools

Are you choosing kitchen counter stools? Get the password to access exclusive content (including the guide) by filling out this form:

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS? SAVE THE NO REGRETS GUIDE TO PICKING COUNTER STOOLS TO YOUR FAVOURITE PINTEREST BOARD

printable on counter

Do you already have kitchen counter stools? If so, do you love or hate yours? Let me know in the comments below.

October 3, 2018 / 2 Comments

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