Well, it’s time I share what my very FAVORITE secret of our home build is.
It’s that when we spent months (literally, months) designing and then perfecting EVERY single square foot of our floor plan…one of our TOP priorities that we focused on was functionality with our kids. As a busy family of 5 with 3 littles 7 and under, we knew what our previous homes lacked in terms of easy functioning with and for our kids- and we wanted to maximize some of those factors here. And I am so pleased to say that it has been a DREAM come true so far in each of the rooms we worked hard to do this for!
So I am going to share the main factors with you that have worked so well in this new design with you in hopes that it can give you some inspiration of what you can do with your current (or future!) space to add functionality and ease of use! The first space to share about is our drop zone/landing zone off the garage.
The Drop Zone
Our whole drop zone was designed for functionality with the kids. While we looked at lots of plans with the laundry and drop zone combined, that didn’t end up making the most sense for us. I like the idea that you can come in from the garage and put dirty/wet stuff immediately in the washer– so luckily for us, our washer is right across the hall! But I didn’t like the idea of our hang to dry clothing being visible to anyone who walked in the door, and I knew I didn’t want a door on this space for flow and I like a door on a laundry room to cut the noise of the machine sometimes.
I’m honestly nerding out a bit about sharing all of the factors that we considered when designing this room to make it so functional for us and the kids! I know all of these ideas won’t work for every other family, but maybe one or two of these could be helpful for you if you are looking at adding functionality to your space, whatever that looks like for you!
Also, a small pre-warning. What you are NOT going to see in any of the posts I share of our new home in this series is a PERFECTLY clean, organized, styled home. The purpose of these posts is to help inspire you with what you can actually LIVE with– not spaces that I meticulously style for photos for my blog! While I LOVE those photos (and rare moments!) in my home, I don’t think they are helpful for the purpose of helping give you ideas of how to LIVE well in your space! So be warned- real life included here! 🙂
Here you can see the pullback shot of the lockers (head into the house via a hallway to the right, so kids head forward into locker cubby and we can go into house with full hands as needed) and also our sorting for the kids school work! They empty their folders directly into those sorters (the bottom is being used as an extra mail sorter for us now until E3 has school papers!).
This is the entrance into the drop zone from our house, where we have keys hanging and our main mail sorting! On the right, you can see a close up of the lockers (in their own space, past the flow of traffic into the house!). I’m planning something decorative up top here but haven’t finalized my vision yet! We LOVE our 9 foot ceilings (they might be the number ONE thing we think made a huge difference in how this house feels, but we will come back to that another day!)…but were unprepared for how “empty” it would make everything above cabinets/doorways/windows seem! I kind of love the empty space at the same time though. And here are the backpack hooks- they are RIGHT immediately inside the door so that is the kids first stop!I hope this was helpful for you and maybe provides some inspiration of things you could do with YOUR space to make it function better for you and your family! More soon!
If you want to learn more about our building our #GumFarmhouse:
Click HERE for part I with big details about our build!
Click HERE to see Part II about our build about framing!
Click HERE to see Part III of our build when we got windows and a roof!
Click HERE to see Part IV where everything began to look like a home!!
Click HERE to see our floor plan tips for building!
Click HERE to see our first real sneak peek of the finished home (and Christmas decor!)!
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I'm Jill, a wedding and portrait photographer based out of Chicago and Central Illinois, and available world wide! I'm also a photography educator, wife to my favorite person on the planet, mama to 3 amazing kids and an energetic Aussie, and obsessed with statement jewelry and all desserts (especially fruit pies!).
As a past high school teacher, I have a major heart for education. After going full time in my business, I have built a business I love that gives me an almost 6 figure salary and allows me to be home part time with my kids. I dream for you to run a business that enhances your life and lights you up, and I believe I can help you learn how to do it with a little hustle and a lot of heart!
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You're in the right place! As a past high school teacher, educating others is my life's work and a HUGE part of my business! I have been teaching moms and hobbyists how to use their camera from first purchasing it all the way to coaching them into businesses of their own, and I'd love to help you as well, wherever you are (and whatever camera you have!).
I'm so glad you are here! Teaching Photographers and other small business owners how to run more joyful, successful, and profitable businesses is one of my favorite parts of my business! I specialize in working with photographers to make their goals a reality (or figure out what their goals should be in the first place!).
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