Into the Homes of Readers

Do you live in a smaller home? Have you downsized or are you considering downsizing? Have you ever grappled with big house envy? Would you rather have a bigger house with fewer conveniences, or a smaller house with more high-end amenities? Are you raising children in a smaller home? What are your reasons for choosing small home living? Here are some stories from readers...

Imelda from Pismo Beach, California writes about her "Smaller with Bigger Soul" Home

"Not everything that can be counted counts,  and not everything that counts can be counted."  -Albert Einstein-

 I used to think bigger is always better...until we found our  home by the sea (almost 2 years ago now). I never thought I  would prefer a smaller house. But it was love at first sight. I  remember previewing over 20 properties in one weekend. I also  remember 2 homes that stood out from the rest. They were  completely opposite homes...one was big and exquisite while the  other, now our home, is a smaller single level home that  nurtures the soul. I am so glad I followed my heart (or should I  say led my heart...since my then "bigger is better" mentality  was trying to confuse my disposition). By the grace of God I was  guided in choosing a home that feeds my spirit. My used to be  "bigger is better" perspective is now superseded by a more  refreshing and inspiring outlook on our not so big home I now  call..."smaller with bigger soul".

3 Benefits of a "Smaller with Bigger Soul" Home:

1. Favors the quality of its spaces over the quantity.
   We used to have a 3,642 square foot home that had a lot of  wasted and unused spaces. Of the 5 bedrooms, not including the  retreat off the masters nor the office loft, we only used 3. Our  family love staying together in one room. We also only used 2  1/2 of the 4 1/2 bathrooms. Our formal spaces were only used  pretty much when we have company. Then there was the separate  third car garage I converted into a craft room because of its  arched windows only to find out I felt so detached from the rest  of the family.
   
   Our present just-a-little-over 2000 square foot "smaller with  bigger soul" home has each space in use every day. It feels so  nourshing to the soul to see the whole family at work in every  space. Our formal dining room is a conducive study area. The  boys room doubles as a play room while our 9-yr old, Isabella's,  room doubles as her dance practice room. Both rooms even work  overtime as a guest room when company comes. Our master's  bedroom has an area for home office and an area for "retreat".
   
   
2. Nurturing and welcoming over impressing and overwhelming
   The grand entrance of our then bigger home, with its curved  staircase and soaring ceilings spanning 2 levels plus more, is  designed to impress and overwhelm.
   
   Our now open and inviting home is designed to nurture and  welcome. Though the ceilings do not boast of soaring height, its  11 foot ceilings and open floor plan invites a lot of natural  light in, bringing warmth to its gleaming hardwood floors that  say "come on in". Comfort is born of smaller scale. Whenever I  pause and sit down to savour the warmth and beauty of our  "smaller with bigger soul" home, I feel its warm embrace  anywhere I am in the house.
   
   
3. Efficiency
   One of the biggest benefit I found in downsizing from a big  house is efficiency. There s less square footage to heat and  cool, fewer rooms to declutter and clean. A big house becomes  just one more chore to maintain. A smaller home inspires me  daily with feelings of appreciation for the richness that  abound. A great example of "Less is More". Less time cleaning,  more time to enjoy the fruits of my labour.
   
   Looking back now I can't believe I thought I would not prefer a  smaller home. And I can't believe I even thought I would grieve  downsizing from our big home for a long time (confession time).  Thank God for turning what I thought would be grief to joy  beyond words. Our "smaller with bigger soul" home invited me  into more personal quiet time (see my post on solitude) bringing  out a whole new joyful me:)  
   
   (this has been inspired by Melissa of The Inspired Room)

Chi-Girl from Los Angeles writes —
After growing up in a 4 bedroom (1 bath!) beautiful but modest Victorian home(turn of the other century) outside of Chicago, I fell in love with homes with character, interesting molding, double staircases, built-in's, enclosed porches, beautiful lighting, large kitchens, etc.  So once married, when it came time to purchase a home, I was living in Calf. -- there's a huge diff. in the sizes of homes and the budget.  What we could afford and what I had imagined were on polar ends of the spectrum.  We have a small (1600 sq. ft) ranch home that was built in the 50's....about as plain and far from a Victorian than you can imagine.  No basement, porch, stairs, interesting molding, walk-in pantry, attic, etc. No nooks or crannies.  But one thing in common:  they both had small closets.

We have worked hard to make it a beautiful home we can be proud of -- it's still far from what I would like or imagined, but it's got its pros as well.  The biggest ones are that it's much easier to clean and maintain, and it's in Calf. where my dh has his work and where we avoid the long, long, cold winters of "home".

I've found in order to keep the house neat and organized (a must have for me), I need to keep bins organized for the "extras" in the kitchen and bathrooms.  I also keep products to a min. for storage issues, or utilize a section of our not-so-organized and now crammed garage.  I also have a sofa bed for guests (I'd love to have a guest room), and use my large family room for scrapbooking and crafting, exercising, tv, and relaxing.  It would be heaven to have a room for each, but not to be.

I also bought a huge china hutch that houses things for both decorative and multi-purposes behind closed or glass doors.  And I declutter as often as possible so the small house feel isn't claustraphobic (sp?).  I also bought 2 armoires and a lot of storage devices to keep things out of site.  Spaces are still tight in my mind, but it works for us.

My dream is to buy a new washer/dryer as our's is over 20 years old, and to have them stack (front loading) so they're energy efficient and space efficient.  That'll open up the world's smallest laundry room too.

My last tip is light furniture, and furniture with glass, as well as lighter color paints on the wall, helps keep small rooms from seeming too dark.  Another dream is to have recessed lighting put in the living room (center of house) to lighten it up.  I'd love to raise the short ceilings, but that's a HUGE fantasy.
All for now....thanks very much for this chance.  The aprons are adorable. Your final date to announce the winner is my actual birthdate so I'm crossing my fingers!  LOL

Audrey from Boone, Iowa writes —
Greetings! Our home is on the smaller side according to American standards (under 1000 sq. ft.), but I am reminded that we live like royalty when compared to many other families worldwide today and throughout the past. King David and King Solomon did not live with the amenities that we have.

With a family of seven, occasionally it does seem like we are bursting at the seams, but we are reminded of the blessings of a smaller home. Since we don't have a separate family room or craft room or master suite, etc., most of our time is spent together in the kitchen/dining room and the living room. We do things together and share our lives together. We must learn how to get along better because there is no place to hide. As St. Paul says in Philippians 4:11, "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content..."

Katie from Berlin, Germany writes —
Our apartment is 480 square feet. The kitchen is only 36. I thought it might be tight. I thought it might be difficult to manage, but we're doing it.

The kitchen wasn't strategically located. It completely cut out a quarter of our already-cramped living room. So we tore down the kitchen walls and set up a table saw. Step by step, we're creating our dream kitchen in a space smaller than most people's bathrooms. This small space comes with sacrifices: Our fridge is dorm-sized. The freezer is right below it. And our newest
addition is our microwave... er grill... er oven. Actually it's all three. It's also about five other things that I haven't translated yet. We're tackling this project in Berlin, Germany where I can't even speak the language let alone keep track of centimeters when I'm so used to inches.

Because pictures speak so much louder than words in my story, I think you'll find these blog entries useful: our oven and the latest progress report.

Suzanne from Massachusettes writes —
Our first married home was by no means a looker.  It sat empty  and overpriced for six months and I'd looked at (and passed on)  it twice before dragging my husband to see it.  An ugly raised  ranch, it sat on the perfect little cul de sac and was in the  section of town we wanted.  Plus I was almost 7 months pregnant  and desperate for a home of our own.  We made an offer and it  was accepted.

We hurriedly moved in, making plans to remodel and improve  whatever we could, but the boxes and dust hadn't a chance to  settle before my water suddenly broke five days later.  The bab  was six weeks early and not a thing was ready, not even a diaper let alone a crib.

I cried the entire way to the hospital, fearful for the baby and  upset that we'd be bringing him home to an ugly little room with  pink heart-shaped wallpaper and dirty carpet.  To distract me as  I carried on, my husband asked "When we do get to paint the  baby's room, what color do you want?"  "Yellow," I said.  "A  buttery yellow."

A short while later our son was born healthy but with premature  lungs, so we tearfully returned home a few days later with empty arms to settle into our new home.

My husband led [the still tearful] me to the nursery saying it  was good, at least, that we had a little time to pull things  together before we brought the baby home.  He then threw open  the nursery door revealing his little surprise. While I was  still in the hospital, he'd arranged to have the ugly wallpaper stripped and the walls painted yellow.  Gone, too, was the ugly  stained carpet and in it's place, beatiful little baby items ready for me to place about.

We brought two other babies home to that little house, filling  every bit of it with baby gear and toys and love.  Lots of love.

And though we traded up to a 8,000 SF house that has more floor space than furniture, there is a tender spot for our little old  house.  We pass it every day, shouting out our greetings as we  pass.  It still holds our memories as well as a newly married couple ready to make their own.

Chrissie from Harborcreek,
Pennsylvania writes —
With the exception of the first 3 years of my marriage, I have  lived in the same "small" house for 35 years.  My husband and I  purchased my old homestead (a 1950's ranch) 9 years ago, and  while I do get big house envy, there are some advantages to  small spaces -- particularly a small (and the only one in the  house!) bathroom.

We do our best talking in the bathroom.

Most couples have their morning chat while reading the  newspaper, watching the morning news, or driving to work.  We  have our morning talks in the bathroom -- husband at sink  shaving, me dodging his head battling for mirror space -- 2 cups  of coffee on either side the bathroom sink.   

In the evenings, we talk about the day's events in the bathroom  while giving our daughter a bath.  Husband kneeling beside the  tub, daughter in tub, me leaning up against the bathroom  counter.  Who would guess quality "family time" would take place  in a small, but cozy, bathroom?

So while a big house (and do I dare dream of having 2+  bathrooms!?) is appealing, there are advantages to small spaces. And in our case, that small space is our bathroom.  

Leslie from Austin Texas writes
her story "Simply Living" —
Why does it take hardship to make us realize that simple is  always better! After years of debt and with college looming for  two daughters, it was absolutely necessary that we downsize and  economize.

To wit, we sold our 1980s two-story contemporary for a simple 1950's ranch.

While this sounds like a simple solution, it was  not without hardship.  The master bedroom closet at the former  house was bigger than both of my "new" bathrooms combined!  One  toilet didn't work and the other one rocked!  There were only  three drawers in the kitchen and no shortage of wildlife either:  rats and possums had homes in our attic!  Ah!  Simplicity had  its own set of challenges!   

Nevertheless, the house had excellent bones:  an enormous front  porch to which we added a porch swing and about 500 square feet  of back porch.  Additionally, there was a cedar arbor surrounded  by trees in the backyard.  What we lacked in living space inside  was easily made up outside with one slight variation:  no  distractions – just family!

To the outside world it seemed that we had moved backwards.  Those who knew us never grasped the fact that our family had  actually found rest and peace.  We were able to eliminate debt,  pay cash for our kid s college and eventual weddings.  My  husband was now five minutes from work and our girls were close  to the university.  While things were far from perfect, our  lives were moving in a better direction.

Simplicity is contagious!  Instead of grasping for the next best  thing, I now see my two daughters embracing lives of simple  pleasure.  Both married and one with a baby, individually they  have created their own unique, but simple lifestyle.  This is  best gift we could ever give our girls AND it didn t cost a  thing!

Alas, the world is always changing and so did our lives about 18  months ago. A new job in a new city near a daughter and her  family was too hard to turn down.  Of course, we were not able  to find anything like our 50 s ranch but instead are now settled  in a ten year-old mass-produced tract home.  While the charm of  our former home will never grace our current home, the lessons  in simplicity are evident in every corner.

Amy from Evanston, Illinois writes —
I grew up in a small house. Intended as a "starter" home, the 1914 bungalow styled after the Louisiana Raised Cottage, became our family home for 41 years. I felt my mother's anguish at not being able to spread her decorating wings in a large home like the 19th century 4-story graystone where she was raised. There are many reasons why people stay in one residence for long periods. Ours was not financial. Or a "green" one. We, particularly my dad, were emotionally attached to the memories created in our home. As the years went by, my mom sometimes fretted about the small space and my sister and I howled and moaned that the cramped spaces cramped our style. To no avail. Over and over my dad dragged his feet when it came to moving.

I have many a childhood memory of my mom arranging and rearranging, decorating and redecorating, the house. With the various remodels and her decorating sleight of hand the cottage appeared spacious and gracious. It was always a beautiful backdrop for entertaining and still conjures up many happy memories. Afer all, shouldn't a home do just that?

So yes, a petite home can be something magnificent. My mom often said, your home can be as wonderful as your heart can make it. Thanks for the memories.

Maureen from Skokie, Illinois writes —
I live in a three bedroom home that at most is 1900 square feet. There is no master bedroom, mudroom or double car garage. With two teenage children, a foreign exchange student living with us and a husband, I wish I had another bedroom and a large kitchen that holds big bodies. Sure I am envious of houses bigger than mine. But I also treasure the "forced" intimacy of a smaller home. And its much more practical financially. Even with a sophmore in college, we were able to take everyone skiing over spring break.