7 Essential Rules for Living in a Small Space
Living with my partner and 2 cats in 400 square feet has been a learning experience. Moving to a smaller space has actually improved my marriage, health and overall quality of life. I’ve learned a lot by downscaling and wanted to share 7 essential rules for happy small space living.
1. Listen and communicate.
Living in a big or a small house requires communicating and listening to your partner and family. Don’t make assumptions. If problems arise ask open and non-accusatory questions. I’ve found this approach to be very helpful, especially when it comes to discussing finances and cleaning.
2. Make your home a clutter free zone.
One of my favorite bloggers, Leo Babauta from Zen Habits, recently wrote a great post on clutter-free counter space. I think the tips Leo offered in this article can be applied to all areas of the home. For instance, Leo talks about finding “a home” for each object in your house.
If you want to declutter and aren’t sure where to begin read: Zen Mind – How to Declutter. Some tips offered in this article include, decluttering in small chunks, setting aside the time to get it done, tackling one drawer at a time, being merciless, and creating a “maybe” box.
For more information on Decluttering, check out these posts:
- How to Eliminate Clutter, from Basic Instructions
- FlyLady: How to Declutter
- FlyLady: Declutter 15 Minutes a Day – 5 Great Tools That Make it Easy!
- What Is Clutter?
3. 100 Thing Challenge
If you want to try extreme decluttering, you can read more about The 100 Thing Challenge. I stumbled across Dave’s blog a months ago and learned that he is living with 100 personal possessions. Why?
Dave is trying to remove himself from consumerism. Reading about this project inspired me to do the same! I’ve found that scaling down to under 100 personal things has enabled me to question what I need and has removed a tremendous amount of clutter from my life.
4. A clean home makes for happy people.
There is nothing worse that walking into a grimy home. Living with others requires cooperation and sharing chores. Always having one person clean the house isn’t fair. I’ve found that it’s important to split up cleaning responsibilities and share the load. All of us lead busy lives and it’s important to help out around the house.
5. Minimal furniture.
Get the big bulky furniture out of the house or minimize the amount of stuff you own. Keeping light and easy to move furniture makes cleaning and moving very easy. One strategy that has worked well for us is using big pillows as chairs.
6. Beautiful art and pictures.
Rather than displaying decorations on the counters, hanging beautiful photos of family, friends and art on the walls is perfect. Pictures give a small living space character and hanging art/photos is minimal and beautiful. Plus, photos are a portal to past memories and remind me of what is important in life. Not stuff, but people.
7. Keep the good stuff.
Stick with quality items. Keep stuff that you use everyday and love. For instance, we donated all of our big and heavy furniture and kept our favorite Ikea chair. We purchased it used and absolutely love it!
Questions…
I’m curious to hear from you. What strategies have you used to make living in a small space with others fun and easy? Would you add anything to the list?
You can learn more about small living by reading my blog, RowdyKittens or following me on Twitter.
I really like the “keep the good stuff”. I find the idea of trying to live with only 100 things artificial. Keep and use only your favourite things. It will make you happy and you will be more comfortable in you own home.
I’m not sure about the big pillows a chairs at the point I am in my life. I have arthritis and I need a real chair. And that’s something else to keep in mind. As you age or your life changes you will need different things. Don’t feel bad for acquiring something new to meet your needs, just remember to get rid of the things that don’t meet them anymore.
Hi Winnie – Thanks for leaving a comment. In some ways the 100 Thing Challenge is arbitrary, but in the end I think it’s a good exercise. The challenge has forced me to inventory my possessions and really examine my buying patterns. I’ve been able to keep the good stuff and donate items I no longer need.
In the end, you have to do what is best for your own life circumstance.
Thanks for reading the journal.
tammy,
first off, i love the cat photo!!
i swear every time i read one of your articles on here it makes me realize i still have stuff that i want to get rid of. after i write this i am heading for the closet where i just realized i don’t use anything on the top shelf anymore – so it’s outta here! and i just gave my niece a brand new couch for her new apartment. it was less than a year old and i had been thinking it was just too big for me…living alone i didn’t NEED it any more. i have the matching cushy chair & ottoman and that is perfect for one. of course, i had to go out and buy my cat a new kitty bed because this was HIS chair
but he loves his new bed and its the same height as the arm of the chair so i can reach over and pet him often which he also loves! anyways, at first i thought i would miss the couch, but as soon as it was gone i was relieved! i love having the space instead. after all, if i want one of my famous NAPS, i can use my bed 
I need some advice on how to fit 2 children into a 9 ft by 5 foot bedroom.The home Im buying is 532 sq ft with only 1 bedroom.I will use the 10ft by 12 ft living room as my room and keep my sleeper sofa.The challenge is if I get twin over twin bunk beds for the kids there is only 17 inches space in width to walk.How do I store clothes or get a dresser in there.I would love any ideas PLEASE
Try using underbed storage boxes ($4.00 at Wal-Mart). Also, at the foot of the bunkbeds you should have room for a tall dresser or small wardrobe. Think vertical! You probably have a lot more space than you realize.
Good Luck!
@EH: I agree with Amy. Have you asked the kids if they may like the idea of bunk beds? I know when I was younger I loved the idea of being able to be in my own mini-loft space up above. I was an only child but I loved it and for awhile my parents took the bottom bed off and made a “stage” area where I kept my toys. Definately utilize the under-bed space and always think shelves. If you don’t have room for the dresser try a couple of shelves at the end of each bed for storing their clothes and toys. Remember to use the wall space!!! Good luck!