We’ve been talking about making changes to our home for a very long time. We’ve measured, sketched, rearranged, resketched, remeasured, drawn full floor plans, talked to builders, gotten prices, talked some more. And here we are, today, still thinking and pondering and planning, but not yet ready to dive into such a very large and very permanent project of altering our home.
When I think about my dream home, apart from where we live, I imagine a very old (at least pre-Civil War) rather large home with many rooms, a large farmhouse kitchen, two staircases and a walk up attic. And I even drafted a floor plan that would add on to our home to give us most of those things I dream of. I haven’t quite let go of that dream yet.
But then I think about my dream home and pull the home we are in right now into my dreams. And do you know what happens? That really large multi-roomed house doesn’t pop into my mind. I think smaller, cozier, all of us sharing space just like we do now. I think that maybe I’d like to bump the back kitchen wall out just a little. I think that I’d really like to have a mud room, especially in winter when our winter gear takes over a very large corner of our kitchen. I think that I’d really like the laundry to be on the first floor instead of in the basement. I think that I’d really like a dining room that could fit the whole family when they come home to visit, and even the whole family that lives under the roof now, as we’re starting to knock elbows at meal times with the growing Littles. And I think that I’d like to have enough seats in the living room for all of us who live here, and a couple extras for guests. There’s a whole lot of appeal to living larger in a smaller space. Making each room of our home work a little harder.
And then I stumbled on this. This family of 5 who are living in 665 square feet. And they’re doing it beautifully. They put a whole lot of thought into the design of their home. They made sure that every thing worked and worked well (though I wonder, if they had to do it over again, what they might change).
Photo Source
There is much to be learned from the path of those who choose simplicity over bigger. Anyone can live in a large house. It takes courage, creativity and reflection to live well in a small one.
Have you ever thought about living simpler in a smaller home?