By Naida Marin | December 17, 2020

For a long time, large homes have been widely sought after both as a status symbol, and because of their perceived luxury.

Not only do mansions and large homes feature prominently in the public consciousness, but this image is frequently refreshed by the media, including TV programmes showing the insides of the homes of the rich and famous.

One problem with this, of course, is that most people don’t live in very large homes.

In addition to the practical limitations of the dream of living in a mansion, there’s been a recent rise in popularity of a countertrend – namely, minimalist and “small home” living, whether in a converted storage unit, a cottage, or a small purpose built house.

Smaller homes can be immensely cosy, comfortable, and can reduce the complexity and stress associated with homeownership in all sorts of different ways. What’s more, good small house plans can be works of art in and of themselves, often featuring very carefully thought out designs that serve to emphasize the key elements in all the right ways.

At the same time, though, there are certain challenges that come with living in a smaller home.

If you’re one of the majority of people who live in a smaller home by default, or if you are planning to move into a small home in the near future, here are a few tips for being comfortable in a small home.

Emphasize quality over quantity with regards to your belongings

The less storage space you have in your home, the fewer assorted belongings you can afford to squeeze into it in general.

This is an obvious point – but it should also be emphasized that even if you can technically “squeeze” a bunch of stuff into your home, the threshold at which the comfort of your home takes a negative hit, and the place begins to feel cluttered, will be much lower than it would be if the home itself was larger.

The best approach here in order to optimize your space without having to live an incredibly spartan lifestyle, is to emphases quality over quantity with regards to your belongings.

Where possible, go for appliances and devices that can serve multiple purposes. And make sure that the ornaments you choose to fill your home with are things that you really value, and that really help to shape the atmosphere of the place for you in a powerful way.

This is a point made by some influential minimalists, as well. If you’re going to have a smaller wardrobe, you should do what you can to make sure that the clothes in that wardrobe are high quality items that you really enjoy wearing.

Be willing to commit to doing more things outside of the home

If you have a large home, you can get away with staying indoors a lot more, as a general rule.

If you live in a smaller home, however, the situation changes. If you want to follow a regular workout plan, it will likely either be impractical or unpleasant to try and set up a home gym area.

If your home doesn’t have a garden, as well, you will need to get down to a local park or green area in order to enjoy those sunny days in the great outdoors.

Often, when people become frustrated with living in small homes, it’s because they are simply relying on their homes to serve too many different purposes. When your home is smaller, you typically need to be willing to commit to doing more things outside of your own living space.

Keep things as tidy and organized as possible

While it’s always a good general principle to try and keep your home as neat, tidy, and well-organized as you can, this really becomes vitally important if you are living in a small home and want to keep feeling comfortable.

If you already have limited space at your disposal, any amount of mess or disorder is going to make things seem dramatically more haphazard and chaotic.

Make sure to keep a regular cleaning rota, and to set things up so that the dishes are dealt with quickly, dirty clothes go into a basket or hamper a set of piling up the floor, and so on.

Part of the mission to keep things tidy and organized in a smaller home will likely tend to include ensuring that you have enough storage units available, whether in the form of shelves, stylish boxes, beds and sofas with built in storage, or a variety of other things.

Generally, you’ll want to have systems and habits in place that streamline the process of cleaning and organizing. On the one hand, there will generally be less to clean and organize in a small home. On the other hand, you have to be very on-the-ball when it comes to handling that cleaning.

Be honest with yourself about which appliances and luxuries are must-haves for you

While there are many benefits to adopting aspects of the minimalist ethos – and while you certainly need to be thoughtful about not over-cluttering your home if you live in a small house or apartment – it is also easy to end up going too far in the opposite direction.

The simple reality is that if you take the idea of “minimalism” too far when living in, or moving into a smaller home, you will likely find yourself feeling uncomfortable and frustrated.

You need to be honest with yourself about which appliances and luxuries are must-haves for you. The things that really improve your quality of life, make you happier, and reduce stress and frustration.

It might be that you feel that your coffee machine is “wasteful,” but that it nonetheless really helps to lift you up and make you feel positive about things on an everyday basis. If so, keep the coffee machine.

Be sure that you’re adding enough comforts, utilities, and luxuries to your home so that you don’t end up Making things miserable for yourself. The point of a small home is that it should be cosy, not barren.