Where do you see yourself in five years?

Many of us have been asked this question by employers during interviews or performance reviews and I’m sure we have had some creative answers! If you were to ask this of your home, what do you think the answer would be? Where do you see yourself living in five years?

Often we get caught up emotionally in renovations or the construction process and we lose sight of why we are working on our homes.

Sometimes we are motivated to sell and sometimes we are trying to impress relatives or to keep up with our neighbours. Wants mask themselves as need and practicality flies out the window when we start looking at renovations or buildings on an emotional level.

Put yourself in this home in five years, 10 years or even longer – are the things you think you absolutely have to buy being put into this house because they are wants or needs?

In 10 years will you be replacing said item because it was an impulsive emotional purchase?

Are you making this decision under a time crunch or because you just want to get the stupid thing FINISHED?

I find that we spend the least amount of time on the largest investment in our lives.

People spend more time shopping for groceries than they spend looking at a home. Our homes are such an emotional purchase we usually make a very expensive decision inside of a few minutes! I am always amazed at the depth of emotional connection people display – often they are moved or impressed by a home I have done yet when those elements are repeated in their home they are let down.

I’ve even had clients claim that the same tile or paint colour or hardwood was not used in their house!

Try not to lose sight of your home down the road.

Can you envision your children playing in the yard today? Excellent! Can you see them in five years as teenagers having large groups of friends over to hang out inside? Try to take some of the current emotion out of your decisions and look down the road a bit.

We bought a house once with the most fabulous backyard – it was a vision with a huge swing set and all the room a kid could need. Fast forward a few years and her and her friends didn’t play in the yard as much and we quickly found out that we had no indoor space to speak of!

The house I am currently in is a great little place, perfect for me but room to grow in the future should I want to get a renter or have my adult children move back home after university.

As a designer I was able to see the house as a whole and see the potential of the space and the future development options but to tell you the honest truth? It was sold in my heart as soon as I saw the perfect picture window for my Christmas tree.

I could have convinced myself of almost anything and could have overlooked many flaws!

That is how strong the emotional tie is but I got tough with myself and still looked ahead a few years to see if this was the most practical choice for me – and it was. And my Christmas tree looked stunning in that window!

Kim Meckler is an interior designer with Carpet Colour Centre in Red Deer.