EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Small Space Organizing: A Room-by-Room Guide to Maximizing Your Space by Kathryn Bechen (Revell).
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Maximum Living in Minimum Space
Which small home dweller are you?
• You’ve just turned eighteen and are now footloose and fancy free from Mom and Dad. You’re headed off to college across the country where you’ll share a miniscule dorm room with a roommate you’ve never met.
• You’re a young single working person, living out your jetset fantasy life in a tiny studio apartment in a trendy and expensive area of New York, Tokyo, Paris, or some other fascinating city.
• You’re a newlywed couple who’s just bought your first little home and are very proud of it.
• You’re in a midlife career transition due to a company downsizing, and you’ve landed in a new city and state. Housing costs are much higher than your former city, so you’ve had to squeeze your large family into a much smaller home.
• You’ve just retired and are selling your large family home to buy a condo in a warmer climate.
• You’re an elderly widow or widower who has just moved into a pint-sized assisted living space.
It really doesn’t matter what your small space circumstance is or how you came to live in your particular small home. What really matters, I firmly believe, is that you (and your family, if you have one) know how to dwell well there.
Can that really be achieved? Absolutely, because small space living isn’t just about the space; it’s a lifestyle choice that’s rich with blessings and—if you make it so—with beauty.
Big House Blues versus Small Space Grace
Consider these real-life stories:
I recall a close friend whose husband built not just one but two large homes. He had them beautifully decorated with the finest furnishings that money could buy. I remember her story many years later with a tinge of sadness, because with increasing frustration she complained to me that she couldn’t go out for a fun day of antiquing with friends, or even to a coffee shop or movie, because she always had to be at home coordinating and overseeing the gardener, the maid, and the pool man, or waiting for a handyman or delivery truck. Her executive husband expected nothing less than perfection at home at all times, and he wanted her to be there at his demanding beck and call.
One day when she was at my own home, this monetarily wealthy woman said with tears in her eyes, “I love coming to your cozy and charming home because it feels warm and welcoming. It feels like a home. I feel like I’m rambling around in a huge, cold museum; my house may be beautiful, but it has no heart.”
Contrast her story with another friend of mine. A gal of very modest financial means, she rented a 500-square-foot apartment yet served Steve and me a delicious lunch at her kitchen card table and folding chairs. A lovely tablecloth, her grandmother’s floral dishes, and a vase of fresh flowers graced the table. We held hands and prayed over her festive meal and thanked God for our blessings. Laughter and conversation flowed and wonderful aromas came from her oven.
That night we slept snugly in her little living room on her sleeper sofa which was covered with a quilt lovingly handmade by her favorite aunt. Hers was the blessing of a small space home: cozy hospitality, fond memories, caring. She indeed knew how to dwell well.
