For the last 10 years my family has lived in what most would consider a small house. Our 900 sq foot ranch house has 3 bedrooms and 1 (gasp!) bathroom. We do not have a garage or a full basement. We love our darling house. We brought our first baby home to this space, and we now enjoy life as a family of 5 inside these walls. There are moments when I want to knock down some walls and gain a little more breathing room, but overall, we are quite content in our home. I have also come to realize that there are some wonderful benefits to living in a small house.
1) It’s easy to clean. I love the fact that my home can be ready for drop-in guests in 20 minutes. If we are hosting a dinner or party it might take an hour or so to clean. I don’t have to go up and down stairs. I only have one toilet to scrub. Toys and clothes can be put away in a matter of minutes. Counters can be wiped down without much hassle.
2) We have less stuff. If you have less room to store things then you have less stuff. Every inch of our house has to be used appropriately, so we can’t be holding onto things unnecessarily. For example, we don’t have a garage or a full basement, so our outdoor toys and gear must be limited. We don’t have lots of extra closets so we can’t buy numerous amounts of bedding or towels. We do have an attic that stores items that we feel are worth keeping (but not keeping in our main space), but we have tried to become more careful about evaluating an item before we put it upstairs.
3) It’s easy to heat. We only need to heat one floor, and we are able to do it for almost no money because of our wood stove. When we first bought our home we received a free wood stove from a friend. My husband spends the spring and summer collecting firewood from family and friends who lose trees in storms or want them removed from their yard. He chops and stacks, too. Free wood=free heat. We love our wood stove. We are always toasty warm, and the stove creates such a lovely ambience.
4) You have to learn to share and put others first. Two of my children have to share a room. That’s not always easy, but they have learned how to share a space. We only have one bathroom, so we often have to “wait our turn”. Yes, it would be nice if my children could each have their own space; yes, sometimes I wish my husband and I had our own bathroom, but we can appreciate the character-building that occurs in a small space.
5) It brings you together. There really is no hiding in our home. Our lives have to be lived in front of one another, so this makes for a lot of togetherness. Yes, we can shut a door (and maybe even lock it), but when it comes down to it, someone is always right there. We have learned how to do life together and have bonded in ways that might not happen if we had more square footage and two (or 3 floors).
We might not always live in this home, but it truly is a gift that we love and appreciate. We are thankful for the years we have had here, and we do acknowledge the sweet benefits of living in a small house.
What about you? Do you live in a small space? What benefits do you find from living in a smaller home?
Until next time,
Charissa
