Facility Layout and Design

Get Your Home in Order

Once family roles are allocated, the next step is to work on what they call in business your facility layout and design.

Each manager should have ultimate say over where things are put away and how things are organised in the area they manage. Having the group decide on the layout of shared spaces in your home might help get your family’s new Decision Making Process rolling.

Things that should be considered are:

1. Safety: Do you have the correct safety equipment for chores? For instance, gloves and eye protection should be worn when using most harsh chemical cleaning agents.
2. Flow of movement: What moves in and out of the area? Is there clear foot traffic pathways and work spaces to manage the people/work flow? For instance; my kitchen was once tiny, with room for only one person to use the sink, stove and chopping bench at a time. However, it was set up so that the refrigerator could be accessed and rubbish taken out without creating bottlenecks or disrupting the person working there. All utensils were also in reach.
3. Output: What is each area producing? A kitchen produces meals but your kitchen table may also be a space for family together-time, meetings, agreements, emotional coaching, and just plain fun. So in the kitchen we are not just producing meals.
4. Efficient use of space: Ollie’s bedroom in our last apartment was a sun-porch we curtained off. This allowed our family to stay in a neighbourhood that we all loved for many years longer than we would have been able to afford otherwise.
5. Impact on morale: Your home should not only be practical but also uplifting and fun. Are there ways you could improve your family’s environment?

Label it

Once you have decided where things should be kept, if changes have been made or some family members are not putting things away in their proper place, it is a very good idea to label cupboards, drawers, and even sections of drawers with stickers. This may look a little ugly until people get used to the new places for everything, but it will be well worth it. It won’t be long until everyone is trained and the labels can be removed.

The labels will save you the hard work of training everyone—and will probably do a better job of it.

It is difficult to argue with a sticker!

I cannot over-emphasise the importance of getting your facility layout and design in order, and deciding on as much of it as you can together. This is an ongoing process in our family that has had amazing results.

Poor mental health is often classified these days as a disordered personality. An ordered and uplifting environment is a sure pathway to a healthy mind.