When someone signs up for a small space consult with me they get a short questionnaire to fill out and the option to send along photos, videos or floorplans of their space. Sometimes it’s easy to understand what someone needs/wants from their consult from their answers and sometimes I feel less clear. For example if they say they are adding a first baby to a one bedroom condo and they need help making that work, I am ready to go! I can meet them where they are at and provide many ideas and options for their unique space. But sometimes it is less simple and we spend some of the call getting to the bottom of their real priorities for their space and maybe even mourning what the space isn’t or can’t be. There are trade-offs in small spaces. Really aren’t their trade-offs in any decision we make in life? But with a small space you can be confronted with what you don’t have regularly and if you don’t make space for what really matters, daily life can feel like a struggle.

So I’ve been talking to friends about this internal struggle that we can all have with our spaces and they had a smart idea about adding a question about priorities to the questionnaire. Below are the questions I usually ask in the Small Space Consult Questionnaire:

Where do you live? And who (if anyone) lives with you?

How would you describe your home style (modern, mid-century, eclectic?)

What isn't working for you in your space? Main frustrations?

Are there some furniture or storage solutions you would be specifically looking for?

Do you have a budget for home improvements you can share?

And below is the question I want to add about priorities in your small space. I’m including a lot of examples at the moment as these are the ones I have seen come up in consults. And really 3 isn’t enough! But I think 3 is a good start to help make decisions about a space and ensure the most important parts of your life are front and centre.

There are often trade-offs in a small space. What are the main priorities in your space? Please choose your top 3.

Work From Home, Lounging, Entertaining, Peace and Calm, Sleeping Sanctuary, Play, Gaming, TV/Movies, Homeschool, Cooking, Reading/Books, Homesteading, Hobbies, Crafts, Art, Work out… or anything else that really matters to you.

What I’m really trying to understand is how you move and exist in your space right now and also how you want to in the future. I also hope by having people consider these priorities before the call we can really get to the heart of what they need and use our time most effectively. But in the end maybe talking it out together over a call is valuable. Honestly I go back and forth on this one. But I figure it can’t hurt to have the question considered before the call.

For fun I thought I would answer the question myself and asked Trevor too!

Alison:

1. Comfort

2. Aesthetics

3. Entertaining/Play

Trevor:

1. Function

2. Entertaining

3. Work out (but I don’t have as much gear as i want) (ed. note. he is trying to get me to hang a punching bag in the kids room currently…)

So looking at our priorities you can see how our space is the way it is. Sleeping and working from home happen in our space but aren’t a priority. Hence, we slept in our living room beside the dishwasher for 7 years and still choose a wall bed and have a room without a door etc. I work from the dining table a couple days a week un-ergonomically so we don’t have to make room for a desk and have more space for dining and lounging. But having cozy functional seating for us and guests is a top priority! We may not have the workout room Trevor would love but we do have a lot of smaller work out gear stashed all over the house for him and the kids. He respects my need for an aesthetically pleasing home as long as it functions properly… so I did not buy the hanging column light I was eyeing the other day because I knew he would say, “why did you buy that?” and my only answer would be “because it’s pretty” not because it is also functional and solves a problem in our space.

Would love for you to think of your top priorities for your space and if you feel so inclined please share below!!! I would also like to add that I think these small space priorities are often for a season. There was a time when the kids were younger when my top priority for our space was play. I could see hobbies later becoming a larger priority. I often re-prioritize our space every year or two as so much changes in a year with young kids.