Ann Lightfoot - Love Your Home Again: Organize Your Space and Uncover the Home of Your Dreams

Copyright 2022 by Ann Lightfoot and Kate Pawlowski.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-7972-1687-4 (Hardcover)ISBN 978-1-7972-1688-1 (epub)

Photography by Julia DAgostino.

Design and typesetting by Kelley Galbreath. Typeset in Freight and Verlag.

Chronicle Prism is an imprint of Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street, San Francisco, California 94107

www.chronicleprism.com

To our clients,

For the last decade, youve trusted us with your homes and allowed us into your lives. So many of you have become friends. Without you, Done & Done Home would not exist and for that we are eternally grateful.

Get ready to love your home again

TEN YEARS AGO, WHEN WE STARTED DONE & DONE HOME, a professional organizing and move management business, we had no idea what the future held. We only knew that we were happiest working together and being in the service of others. They were long days of hard, physical work and we found that the ability to leave our clients homes better than we found them a day or two earlier was deeply satisfying. Eventually what had been an unformed thoughta feeling, maybebecame the ethos for our company. We believe when you enter the outside world from a home full of ease, beauty, laughter, and hope, the energy of the world changes for the better; and that change can be achieved through efficient systems of household management. Weve worked hard to make this a reality for thousands of people.

In a time where photo-ready homes are always front and center online and in magazines, the discrepancy between peoples expectations of their own homes and the reality of them can cause a ton of stress. They may realize that inefficiency, disorganization, and lack of household systems in their homes are part of the problem, but they have no idea how to fix that. They love how soothing and glamorous the Insta-worthy pantries and closets are and they want some of that for themselves, though they know theyd probably be just as content if they could find everybodys shoes with ease and get out the door on time.

We believe in organizing not just for organizings sake. Creating and implementing systems that keep a home running smoothly is essential for everyone, especially parents, so they have time to do things that are more fulfilling, such as spending time with families, exercising, sleeping, cooking, playing, and reading. Youll see the headers for each section include some of the goals for each space.

After nearly a decade of digging people out of domestic disasters, we have acquired a vast knowledge of how to implement systems to make our clients homes function well, and in turn, make their lives function better.

When people first move into their homes, they have clear ideas about what they want from every room. The bedrooms will be peaceful and cozy. The dining room will work well for entertaining friends and family. The kitchen will be a hub of activity, but it will also be high-functioning and easy to manage. Then time passes and clutter happens. Drawers, closets, and cabinets get loaded with stuff, making it difficult to put things away. Everyday tasks take over free time, and the joy of spending time at home diminishes.

In Love Your Home Again , well teach you how to manage your home in a way that is modern, kind, effective, and fair. Though some peoples problems are decades in the making, well show you that no home is beyond help. No one wants to spend all their free time doing choresand through our systems of decluttering, organizing, and maintaining, you wont have to.

Well guide you through the steps needed to resolve the issues behind the excess, teach you how to clear the unneeded objects out of your home, and set you up to go forward with a plan to acquire any new belongings you may want or need in a thoughtful, eco-friendly way. We will show you how to revise the dreams you had for your home before you moved in to include the knowledge of who you are today and how you and your family actually live in your home. For example, the dining room is great for entertaining but, with enough storage and a system for tidying up, it can be modified to use as a homework room or a home office as well.

Well make it fun. Well make it clear. We cant wait for you to rediscover the home of your dreams.

Key concepts and tips for getting started

• OWNING WELL Everything we will teach you supports our philosophy of Owning Well. When we use this term, we mean buying the best quality you can afford, which we call an Intentional Investment, and learning to take care of your things so that they last, which we call Mindful Maintenance. Yes, you may spend more on individual itemsbut ultimately you will have less of everything, and what you do have will work better and last longer. Its not only for the sake of your home but for the sake of the planet as well.
• IT GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER This is always true when youre decluttering properly, because you will need to pull everything out of its home for proper sorting. Your house will look like a bomb went off in whatever room youre working in that day. Thats OK! Just stay with it, and never move on to another room until the first one is finished, with all items put away and the room returned to working order.
• SUNK COST This refers to money that has already been spent and cannot be recovered. The money was spent when you purchased the item, and holding on to it doesnt make it more valuable to you. All of the extra items in our homes are there because we purchased items we dont necessarily need, and then later we fear getting rid of them in case well need them in the future. The truth is, people tend to err on the side of caution and hold on to too much. Push yourself hard to be realistic. In the kitchen, for example, people rarely get rid of things they later want. If youre nervous about this, realize that a cake pan can be borrowed for a single use, or you could improvise with a pan you already own.