They say love grows best in little houses. But when you’re sharing a small space with other people or trying to fit all your things in a limited area, it’s hard to remember the advantages.
If you ask people who have had both large homes and tiny 222-230 babcock st brookline ma apartments, many of them will say they prefer the latter. Unless you have a big family, having a lot of square feet is extra work.
Are you considering downsizing or moving into a larger space? These significant benefits to living in a small house can help you decide.
1. Minimalism is Restful
When you have a big home, you’re more likely to fill it with clutter. We have a tendency to see open spaces as places that need to be filled. However, if you can live with a minimalistic style, you’ll find your home more relaxing and restful.
Scandinavian designers, for example, focus on making everything in the home functional. If it doesn’t flow well and have a use, it’s not necessary.
It’s perfectly fine to have decors that you enjoy, such as artwork and sentimental pieces. Each thing in your home should serve a purpose, whether it’s to make you happy or to do a job.
In compact homes, you notice clutter faster than you would in larger spaces. Because of this, adopting a minimalistic interior design style is simpler with less square footage.
2. Small Homes Mean Cheaper Living
A big home is going to take up a lot of your income. Larger houses usually mean higher mortgages, utility bills, and maintenance expenses. Decorating and furnishing bigger rooms is costly, too.
If you’re living on a budget, an undersized home is the solution. Downsizing will save you thousands of dollars each year on electric and water bills. Rent or mortgage payments are cheaper, and so is your renters or homeowners insurance.
One more important thing to keep in mind is that a smaller home is easier to keep if you have a financial setback. When you’re trying to pay the expenses that come with a big home, it’s harder to save an emergency fund.
Losing your job or getting seriously sick to the degree you can’t work can be stressful enough. With a modest home, the expenses that pile up are easier to manage.
3. Cleaning is Easier
Unless cleaning is your favorite activity, you’re going to love the free time you have in a littler home. It can take days to go top-to-bottom and surface clean a big house. Doing the same jobs with fewer square feet cuts the time substantially.
Bigger rooms tend to be full of furniture and knick knacks that need to be dusted, vacuumed, and washed regularly. More bathrooms mean double or triple the bleaching, mopping, and toilet scrubbing.
Think of the cumulative time you’re saving with less room. What took you five hours to clean would take two hours if you had a smaller place. In a month, you’re saving 12 hours. In a year, that’s 144 hours that you could have used in endless ways.
What could you do if you had more free time? Those wishful dreams are closer to reality in compact home living.
4. You’re Choosier About Your Things
Since you have less room to store your stuff, you’re a lot pickier about what you bring home.
For example, your friend is giving away a like-new blender, but you already have one that works just fine? Saying no is easier when you don’t have a place to store extra stuff.
Impulse buys are another area where you’ll be choosier. When you’re shopping and see something cool that you “have” to have, knowing you’ll have to make room for it lets you put the brakes on the buy.
Go home, think about it, look around to see where you have room. By the time you’ve done that, you’ll usually decide it’s not worth it. The result is less clutter and more money in your pocket.
5. You Become a Master at Creative Thinking
As you try to squeeze the things you absolutely don’t want to get rid of into your limited home, you learn to think creatively.
Your mind automatically starts to look for ways to find more space. Your walls become blank canvases where you can hang shelves or decorate with pictures. You search for multitasking furniture, like ottomans with hidden storage.
Over time, this creative thinking leaks into other areas of your life. At work and in the home, you begin to look for smarter ways to complete tasks. You get to know what’s essential and what you’re happy living without.
When you don’t need to keep up with the Joneses because you don’t have the space to worry about it, life becomes less hectic and more peaceful.
Conclusion
Living the American dream used to mean owning a two-story house with a fenced-in yard. Today, that goal has shifted.
Now, we want a home that doesn’t take a lot of upkeep so we can focus on doing what we love rather than maintaining our property. It’s a benefit that only a small house can give you.