As I mentioned before, I am on a quest to downsize and simplify. The idea started when I started reading about minimalism and sort of grew to encompass simplicity. The two ideas are really related.
There is also a current “tiny house” trend right now and while I think the incredibly small spaces are “cute” and a bit intriguing, I just don’t think it’s for me. But it did make me think about things.
When I was a kid, we lived in half of a duplex (we called it a twin home). It was an old house that was cheaply remodeled over the years. My parents didn’t have a lot of money, but we had a roof over our heads and a reasonably comfortable life. We did have a relatively big yard and it seems like we spent a lot of time outside.
My brother and I marveled at how small the house seemed when we were clearing it out to be sold. There were four of us in about a 900 square foot house. The more amazing part is there was a family of six in the other half. And it didn’t seem all that strange.
It hit me last night that my first house, a townhouse, was about the same square footage and it seemed oddly cramped with just me, a dog and a cat. How can that be?
When I moved to Florida, I was so proud to buy a single family home that was larger than the townhouse. It made me feel like an adult to have a “big girl house”. Isn’t that what we aspire to? Owning a bigger house? Having more stuff? Succeeding in that means working harder to get a better job, get a raise, make more money, get more stuff, buy a bigger house. It just doesn’t stop.
When my mom saw my Florida house for the first time she commented on how big it seemed. It’s not that big by suburban Orlando standards. Here people have big houses and teeny tiny yards.
But I digress.
The place I stayed at the beach a couple of weeks ago was an old condo that was converted to a hotel, much like a lot of the older beachfront properties. It had a small living room area, a bedroom, an almost full size kitchen, and a small bathroom. It made me wonder if I could live in that type of space all the time. Would all my crap fit in such a space?
Thinking – seriously thinking – about it helped me to prioritize what is important in a living space. It made me realize how important an outdoor space is – the hotel room did not have a balcony, only a sliding glass door with a railing. And I would definitely need a second bedroom for an office space. Working from home requires a space to be closed off from non work hours.
While the tiny houses and other small condos are cheaper, it just isn’t for me. And that’s ok.
The idea behind minimalism isn’t doing without, it is having just enough. It’s about having one good quality thing instead of three or four cheap things. I’d rather live in a smaller space that is fully functional with “nice” things than in a large space filled with cheap crap.
So how much space do we really need? How could families live in smaller spaces just a few decades ago and manage to live relatively good lives? How did we manage to live in a house with one bathroom? Why does success now seem to mean having more debt? Why does it seem perfectly normal for a house to have hundreds of square feet of unlived in space?
Sadly, why is there a tiny voice in my head making me feel like I am going backwards by downsizing? Oh yeah, that’s an entirely different topic. Maybe next post…..
Downsizing seems to be part of the natural progression of life as it is being presented to me. (The “phase” is almost a stereotype.) .. Of course I also recognize the ‘pattern’ in my own life, and see it in other’s as well. — Deciding what is important and what is needed.
Usually it is portrayed as the time of throwing out all the children’s crap, and then figuring out what else can be thrown out.
Empty Nest Syndrome?
I know that doesn’t apply here, so that makes it all the more interesting to me.
My apartment has many corners. (It’s a funny looking thing. lol)
..
Most of those corners haven’t been touched in years.
My apartment is cluttered and full of crap. I use very little of it.
Only some of it is junk though.
A good percentage of it is clothes I never wear. (Some of which I dream of “fitting into again someday”. lol)
…
I don’t think you’re “moving backwards” at all. 🙂
I think we go through an “acquisition phase” when we are younger and first leave home or get a first job. It’s fun to buy stuff because you can. And then you have all this crap sitting around. I have stuff that I haven’t touched since moving into this house over 14 years ago. Most of that has already been taken to Goodwill just because it has no value to me any more.
I think if you took the time to clear out some of the clutter, you would feel better. Your apartment would feel bigger. It’s amazing how much “stuff” can mentally wear a person down.
Sounds like we’re on a similar journey! Over the summer, I read the book, “The LIfe-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” Marie Kondo is Japanese organization expert and how she approaches decluttering is really quite simple yet profound. I’m in the process of doing it now!
I think I saw one of her books a while ago somewhere but I didn’t read it. I may have to check it out! Must of the initial decluttering has been done, I am on to the more difficult round of stuff from childhood. The paring down of the photographs was both difficult and easy. It was difficult to go through stacks of photos but easy to get rid of what didn’t trigger any memories. Organizing all the photos I kept was easier once I decided to not give in to my anal retentive side 😉
I need to hone my skills in de-cluttering…especially with Frank. His bird dust is a pain to keep up with! My place is 635 sq ft. and I seem to keep moving stuff around rather than getting rid of as much as I should. Now that I’ll have less income, I am putting a stop to thrift store visits! All that cheap second hand stuff adds up! :))
Getting a big house was never what I wanted…Just more to clean. And, if it’s used as an investment, then one has to downsize at some point to reap any benefit from that. But then…do they feel loss of status as well? Maybe that’s why people don’t believe in downsizing anymore. Most folks’ lives revolve around status and looking popular or like a big shot.
It doesn’t take long to accumulate stuff we don’t need or use. I have bunches! When I bought the house here in FL, I was so excited to not be “attached” to anything else. It never really occurred to me how much work it would take to maintain a larger yard (in the heat!) and the pool. Been there, done that ready to move on. There are people I can hire to do the work but I don’t want to throw money away every month paying someone else to do stuff.
But yes, the house was also an investment and I will reap some benefits from that when I sell so it’s not all bad. Not sure if it is a loss of status thing or just a vague sense of “failure”. Or maybe failure is too strong of a word. Moving backwards, maybe that is what it feels like. But meh, who cares what anyone else thinks?