Finding contentment in tiny living, especially with an American lifestyle, often seems like an unattainable goal. Our entire world revolves around stuff. We buy stuff to enjoy. We buy stuff to make stuff. We even buy stuff to store our stuff. It’s a never ending cycle.
But it is a cycle that must be broken when facing the decision to live small. In this article, I’d like to take just a few minutes to highlight what has helped me find contentment in tiny living and what I’d recommend applying to your own life whether you live minimally or not.
Now before I get into the nitty-gritty, I’ll remind everyone why exactly we are living tiny in this phase of our life. My husband and I recently bought 35 acres of undeveloped land. The whys are for another post but we have a beautiful piece of land that we will build our home on one day. Until then, we must save save save and live in our in-law’s basement apartment for the foreseeable future.
Many folks could look at our living situation and find things to complain about, and I’m definitely not innocent in this either, but the reality is we are blessed to have a place to stay as we save for our house build! While it is not a perfect living scenario, I have learned a few tricks to making tiny living for our family of four very comfortable. Let’s get into it!
You have to have less stuff to find contentment in tiny living
Yep. If you’re going to live small, you’ve got to do without some things. As we packed our house last summer, I had to be very stern with myself with what went into storage and what came into our new space. But I knew the moment I tried to bring it all with me would be the moment I doom myself to unnecessary stress and chaos.
For myself, a clean house is a peaceful house. Nothing adds to my stress like walking into a messy space Now I’m not talking about scrubbing my floors every day, though that’s not as nuts in a tiny space as it used to be, but I need a place for things. I love storage and I love having everything in its place and there is something physically satisfying to having everything in it’s assigned location. But moving into a tiny space means there are a lot fewer places to put my things. So we had to evaluate every item and be very picky with what we brought over.
Some of the toughest decisions I had to make were to leave my mixer, my books, and my sewing machine in storage! What we do have in our space is used regularly and lives on a shelf or in a basket. It’s so important for me to have a place for everything and having less really makes cleanup a breeze. When I can toss all of the toys in a basket, cleanup is quick and my littles can help. So yes, cut the stuff out and really evaluate what you need. It’s going to be a lot less that what you think.
Another thing to remember, in a tiny space, a small mess feels really big. But its also much more manageable. So do yourself a favor and only keep what you need.
-Here’s a little side tip. My girls have lots of toys and stuffed animals. So to keep their space clean, I store a lot of stuffed toys in their closet and rotate them out from time to time. We are working on learning that if they want a toy out of the closet then we have to put one back in. It’s a work in progress but I like the results!
Ok, now lets talk about something that REALLY started changing my perspective of our space.
Treating yourself to a few nice things is helpful for finding contentment in tiny living.
Hold up what? Your telling me to splurge???!?!?!
Yes. I’m telling you to splurge. But before you hit that amazon cart, listen to me. When I say treat yourself, I’m assuming you’re already living the tiny life, or at least considering it, and to get to that point, you have to already be analyzing that budget and be experienced in discipline. I am in no way telling you to have a “Free-for-all”. Not at all. I’m telling you to maturely consider what things you need or want that will actually improve your quality of life.
Here’s my example. Sleep is very important to us. We had invested in a Wink Mattress a while before moving, and loved it, but there was already a bed where we were going. When we moved into our basement apartment, we made it one night, ONE NIGHT, before making the decision to purchase a king mattress and bed frame from Wink for our new space. It was a very expensive purchase but if we had decided to make-do in this area, we would have been miserable. So it was completely worth it. Fast forward 6 months and I was feeling very stale in my environment. The king bed was so comfortable, but all we had over it was a patchwork quilt which went wonderfully with our cream colored cinder block walls…not. So for Christmas, we invested in a Luxome duvet and comforter set and Oh my goodness, what a lift I felt.
You see, being an interior designer at heart means that I want a beautiful space to live in. Unfortunately there’s not a lot I can do with our current space, nor should I because we are funneling every spare penny into savings. But every now and then, finding the perfect set of pillows at Sams or an organizer for my bathroom essentials means I enjoy my space just a little more and that is worth the treat. On the most recent prime day, I actually invested in this floor mirror and it made our bedroom feel so much bigger!
Ok, so I’ve mentioned having less, and then said the exact opposite by suggesting you buy things, but I’ll wrap up with this.
Remember your why
Why are you living tiny? For you, a simple lifestyle may be all you need. For us, this is a short phase of life that is allowing us to be more prepared for our next steps. By living in our in-law’s basement apartment, we will be able to save enough and build our home. Being able to see the end goal, even if we can’t quite see the end of the tunnel yet, means I look at my situation and smile. It’s not permanent, but it’s also not bad. We have so many amenities, like a dishwasher and a tiny table for the kids to do school and eat their dinner at. Our simple life really is beautiful and that is all the contentment I could ask for.
I’d love to hear any little tips for living tiny, especially the ones that have made a huge difference for your family. I need all the ideas for organizing and cooking in a tiny kitchen! Share them in a comment for me!
Learn more about Krista and her family’s journey on the about page!
