How to Prepare Your Nest Before Redesigning a Small Space

Designing a small space doesn’t start with furniture, finishes, or shopping lists. It starts earlier: in the moment when you realize your space no longer fits the way you live, but changing it feels intimidating.

At Bohío, we often talk about the nest. Not as a concept to analyze or a method to follow, but as a simple reality: the way your home currently supports your routines, objects, and daily life. Your nest exists whether you name it or not, and it’s the reason redesigning a small space can feel harder than expected.

Before anything changes visually, it helps to understand what you’re actually changing.

What We Mean by “the Nest”

Your nest is the lived relationship between you and your space.

It’s the habits that happen automatically. The items you reach for without thinking. The corners that feel familiar, even if they’re cluttered. The setup that may not be ideal anymore, but still works well enough to feel safe.

In small spaces, the nest becomes especially strong. There’s less room for excess, so everything earns its place through use, convenience, or familiarity. That’s why even when a space feels outdated, crowded, or unfinished, it can still feel difficult to touch.

Redesigning a small space means adjusting that relationship, not starting from zero.

Why Change Feels Risky in Small Spaces

Many people come to Bohío knowing they want their space to feel different, but hesitating to move forward. Not because they lack ideas, but because small spaces hold routines very tightly.

Common concerns show up again and again:

• Fear of misplacing things used every day

• Worry about getting rid of something that still feels important

• Anxiety about disrupting a routine that “kind of works”

• Uncertainty about what can change without creating chaos

  
  

These reactions are normal. In a small home, even small changes can feel like they affect everything.

What It Actually Means to Prepare Your Nest

Preparing your nest does not mean decluttering everything or redesigning on your own. It’s not about making big decisions before you’re ready. Preparation is quieter than that.

It looks like noticing:

• Which parts of your routine feel essential

• Which objects you rely on daily

• Which areas feel heavy, crowded, or unresolved

• Which things no longer fit your life, but still take up space

  
  

This kind of awareness doesn’t require action yet. It simply creates room for design to happen thoughtfully, instead of reactively.

Letting Go Without Losing What Matters

One of the biggest fears around redesigning a small space is the idea of “throwing things away.” But change doesn’t always mean removal. Sometimes it means:

• Giving an object less visual weight

• Moving something out of the way instead of out of the home

• Adjusting placement so routines feel easier

• Allowing a space to evolve rather than stay frozen

  
  

A well-designed small space protects what matters by organizing it better, not by erasing it.

Where Bohío Comes In

Bohío doesn’t ask clients to arrive with everything figured out. You don’t need to know what to keep, what to remove, or how your space should work.

Our role is to design in a way that respects what already exists, while making room for what’s next. We focus on shaping the space so routines feel supported, objects feel intentional, and daily life flows more naturally. Change doesn’t have to disrupt your nest. It can strengthen it. So, redesigning a small space isn’t about starting from scratch. It’s about adjusting what’s already there so it works more clearly, comfortably, and intentionally.

Preparing your nest simply means being open to that adjustment.

The rest is design.