Family Message Centre

What is the key to any good relationship? Communication. I believe every home should have a family message centre. This is a place where family members can communicate to one another about their busy schedules and to stay connected on those sometimes non-stop weeks.
Every family is different when it comes to the style and look of a message centre. I encourage you to look on pinterest for ideas and inspiration. I am including some of my favorite looks here as well.

1.  You need to have a calender, large enough to hold all of the family's appointments and events on it. You can always make a calendar from an old picture frame. The glass will act as a dry erase board. See pictures for ideas. You can also have a "look at the week" calendar that is larger and on a white board so it can easily be changed, added to and erased for the next week to be entered.

2.  You need a cork board, magnet board or a bulletin board (one with ribbon to hold paper) to hold messages. I also think it is a great place to display family photos from recent events to keep the message centre up to date with what the family has been up to lately.

3.  You will also need a place to hold important papers like permission slips, information on upcoming events and other documents you need to have on hand. You can have a spot for every family member if that works for you.

Every message centre will look unique for each family, use your own decorative touches to personalize it. Here are some examples of message centres, as you can see no way is the right way, do what works for your family and your space.

Share pictures of your message centre we would love to see them! Thanks for stopping by we appreciate it :)

Downsizing

I am going to be part of an expo on Downsizing this Saturday at Heatherdale Senior Living,
11 Lakeside Terrace unit #104 from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. This subject is a very popular one as so many people are at the age where they need to downsize, have parents ready to downsize. Downsize either from a family home to a smaller home, to a retirement condo, a nursing home etc. There are a few things that need to be thought about before the move:

1,  What can we declutter and purge before moving. It is best to go through all areas of the home and see what can be donated, tossed and handed down to the next generations. It is sometimes very hard to get rid of items that have special meaning to us but we really cannot keep everything we have. I have a few suggestions to still keep the memories alive; make a collage of all the special pictures so that your loved one can see those memories daily, use a shadow box to make a collection of special items that can be on display in the new space, take pictures of items that have sentimental value and use them as a screen saver slide show or purchase a large digital picture frame to showcase all these memories.

2.  When deciding on what clothing to take think about what clothes are easiest to launder, it will make your life easier and if you are downsizing to a facility where they do your laundry makes for your clothing to last longer.

3.  Get specific measurments of the new space, this will help you decide which furniture will fit and where. Think about bringing multi-functional pieces; like an ottoman that has space in it for storage, and/or a table that collapses on both sides. This will allow for more space when needed.

4.  When choosing home decor items only bring the ones that bring you the most joy, makes you smile when you look at it. This will minimize how much you bring and allow for that homey feel to be reflected in the new space.

5.  It is best to think that you will need room to grow in your new space, as we all buy new things as time goes on, so try and keep 15% of the storage empty. This will allow for a decluttered space and keep the new space open to new items.

I hope this gets you thinking about the next steps in getting ready to downsize. Let us know what tips you have or what worked for you when you downsized. Thanks for stopping by!!