January 17, 2011
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“Living Small” and pictures of our new cottage!
I’m entering my second year of LIVING SMALL and frankly I really like it. If someone had told me 5 years ago that I would someday live in a home that was 10 times less in size.. I would have thought it unbearable. But, here I am and we’re as content as can be! God has given abundant grace and we have found great peace in not only living with less but also with LIVING SMALL.
Here are a few things I like about LIVING SMALL:
- LIVING SMALL demands less of my time to clean which allows more time to invest in eternal priorities.
- LIVING SMALL forces me to make the most of the space that I do have. Our new little cottage has less storage than we previously had so it forced me to consider and evaluate each item I own (literally). That is a good thing because it helps me to narrow my priorities in what I own! Less stuff equals less to take care of.
- LIVING SMALL helps to harness the shopping bug (a.k.a. GREED). I used to enjoy browsing the stores which generally ended up in another purchase. But no longer! I just don’t have the room for anything else unless I get rid of something. I honestly have lost all desire to window shop which in the long run is saving me money and helping me to live more comfortably on a very limited budget.
- LIVING SMALL has helped me to focus more on my important relationships than on STUFF>
It’s possible that someday we may LIVE LARGE(r) than we are living now but I believe that our lives will be forever effected by the drastic challenge of LIVING SMALL. At least I hope so!
So here is a tour of our new little cottage….
This is our main living space. Our kitchen is on the left.
I’ve stored our canned food out in the garage in cabinets.
My ‘office’ is to the right of this picture in the lower left hand corner.
Same room just from a different view.
The door straight back is the laundry room
which we share with our little lady plus a bathroom.
The hall leads to her home.
My ‘office’. The closet holds half of our clothes. Our little lady
(Mrs. A.) has been gracious to allow us the use of an extra closet in
her home. I really think we could get by with this one closet if
we had to. Maybe I’ll downsize our clothes this year.
Our bedroom. Our bed just barely fit. We had less than a foot
at the end but lots of space on the sides. Our BB (beloved pet)
sleeps on the pillow next to the bed.
We are also blessed with a 2 car garage which has helped tremendously. I’ve stored extra cleaning products along with canned foods, an extra fridge, large cooking pots and appliances and extra toiletries. I’m determined that we COULD live in just the space given minus the garage and extra closet. We would just not be allowed the luxury of a stocked pantry.
We have everything necessary to maintain our household.. plus a little more. Isn’t that amazing?
Comments (14)
Veyr inspiring, and encouraging, especially beings we will be moving again very soon and most likely to a much smaller place…I have been downsizing as much as I can throughout these past coupel of difficult years and I too find it freeing and it is indeed bring such a sense of contentment that I would have never imagined.
<3 you Georgene and I continue to pray for you and your beloved husband!
In Christ,
Kel
You have done very well with your space and have an examplary attitude.
It is amazing! Thanks for the peek into your new home.
Wow, great job! I too love your attitude about downsizing. It seems since we were married and bought a 13 rm. victorian we have downsized every time we moved since then. This house is the smallest with only 980 sq ft. I thought it was perfect till I moved our uncle (86) in and he took 2 of our rooms.
I am certain that we can all live in the amount of space we have, it seems a real luxury (and a waste) to have a huge house anymore.
It’s beautiful Georgene!!!
Bless you!! It looks so cozy and liveable. No, not a lot of room, but doable, esp. for just two people. We have 5 living in our home and it would be squeezed.
you amaze me,you have made me be thankful for my little small house,.,,,thank you for the beautiful blessing,an the eye opening for being thankful for what I have..,so again thank you so very much,love you your friend linda
It does look very cozy and nice. You can agree with Paul that you’re learning to be content.
You’ve laid out your furniture very well. As a result, it does not feel cluttered, only cozy and inviting. I love it!
Wow, I think it is just adorable! How nice to have the kitchen so close then it was before!
Hugs, Sharon
Pespective is everything huh? Looks like you have all you need and then some!
Well you have a bedroom this time around. It sounds like it’s working out better than you expected. Do you have any outdoor living space? It’s interesting to see what God is doing. I pray it work out and that you are happy there. Linda (granny)
Your lil’ place is so cute and cozy and very clean. Love it!
You are amazing! I love your downsized home, and how pretty it is. Thanks for sharing the wonderful moving / organizing tips, too! Happy New Year! Hard to believe we are into February already!