Adapting To Small Space Living

I had a question in my comments the other day about how I acclimated to small space living. So I'm going to address that.

In Texas, I lived in a home that had around 2300 square feet. I had a lovely outdoor space that I created while I lived there. The entire house was renovated as well.

The apartment I live in now is the smallest home I've ever lived in. But it is also my favorite place I've lived in. 

The very word "cozy" is near and dear to my heart. So dear that I used it in my blog name 8 years ago. 

And small spaces are just plain cozy! 

Especially since my ankle accident, the perils of having a large yard that has to be mowed and gardens planted in the ground has become something I definitely need to steer away from.

So having a one-bedroom patio apartment is really perfect for me. 

It isn't fancy, to say the least. If there are updates to this sixties home, I'm certainly the one making them. 

I have what I love. I have what I need. 

I don't miss having a kitchen stove at all. I was always the type of person that worried needlessly but without fail that I had left the oven on my way or after I arrived at another destination. 

Silly, I know. But I think a good number of people have this fear.

When I was a teenager and pregnant with my first child, I inadvertently blew up a gas stove that threw me across the room. Aside from scaring the devil out of me and singing off my eye brows, I was basically unharmed. 

But the fear stayed with me. In my last home, the little blue house, the kitchen stove was gas. Which I fear the most. It was the first time since my teens that I'd had a gas stove. 

I didn't cook all that much there. I kind of circled the darned thing like it was a wild animal that might, at any moment, reach out and attach me!

So I do not miss having a kitchen stove, because I've found ways to cook everything I want to eat.

The stove here was electric. But when faced with the problem of not having a home plumbed for a washer, it was a pretty easy decision to let that stove go and bring in a European washer instead.

You all know by now what all I use to cook with: the Breville Smart oven, crock pots, electric skillets, etc. So feeding myself has not been a problem. 

I always say, create a space you both need and want. Don't pay attention to what a room is supposed to be. Make it what you need or want it to be.

 

I know I could live in even less space than the 725 square feet I currently reside in. I don't think I'd want much more room than that. Because it's all I can do to clean this much space!

Having the big privacy fenced patio of course extends my living space, for I am a gardener at heart and I spend a good amount of time out there in complete bliss.

(last year)

I garden in containers primarily, but also have a raised garden space I added last year. Weeds are rarely a problem. I don't have to spend much time doing that, so I have lots of time to simply plant and enjoy my gardens.

You can control the soil much better in container gardens. There are many reasons why container gardens fit my lifestyle better.

Last year I also added the fabric-roofed gazebo. And I love it as well. I enjoy decorating outdoors just about as much as indoors. To me it is all the same really. Living space indoors or out is still living space.

 (last year)

So my answer to how I adapted to a small space is that it was really quite simple. I had to get rid of many things and purge. But I see it as less to take care of.

And I continue to purge and find new ways to store things and organize them.

That is really the name of the game: Organize and organize some more. Edit and keep editing.

Give everything in your home a place. So there is less chance of having or accumulating clutter. 
 

I'm sure there would be people who would feel that a small space is just not enough. But that is not at all how I feel. 

I say embrace your space wherever it is. No matter how large or small it is.

Downsize and find out if you miss all those "things" you've spent a lifetime acquiring. 

I did this. And I don't miss those things. I can barely remember them now.

People tend to buy and just keep buying. Adding and adding without much thought as to whether they really want it. Because much of buying is emotional. 

It is trying to fill a need that you can't possibly fill with acquisitions. But still we try. I've been there as well.

So for those of you who wish to downsize, but are somewhat reluctant, I say go for it. As we age, we really need to get our "stuff" under control so that we don't leave the job, ultimately, to someone else down the road. 

I love living in a small space. Because I have what I want and what I need and anything else would simply be surplus.