Our home is our haven.

My husband and I are raising two young boys in 714 sqft. of space (plus a 12x8 storage unit). We love it and it’s challenging!

           The background to this: When we got married we fell in love with a certain area in Boise, so we found a basement apartment to rent (450 sqft). Neither of us owned much when we met, but moving into our  apartment required further downsizing. We loved our tiny place but finally grew tired of living underground and “throwing our money away” on rent. We found a beautiful condo to buy in the area.

            In the meantime, the economy tanked and we stumbled across a Dave Ramsey book. While we were already frugal, we started incorporating more of his financial advice into our lives. Living in our condo started out as a short-term plan but has become a longer-term plan. We changed our 30-year mortgage to a 15-year and have been making it work ever since.  Side note: condo living is not typical for most Idahoans. Idaho isn’t exactly short on space. Don’t tell anyone though.

How we make it work:

·      We are brutally realistic about what we actually use and value.

·      We don’t frequent yard sales, thrift stores, store sales, or even Craigslist without a list.

·      Instead of storing unneeded items we sell them, donate them, or find a family that needs them more than we do.

·      We stay organized and uncluttered, using our space wisely (writing this post inspired me to complete our coffee making corner. Picture below).
~   We use baskets to organize toys under the boy's beds.
~   We have a queen blow-up mattress and complete bedding set stored under our bed. We can still accommodate those brave guests. =)
~    I use white wire shelf dividers in many of the cupboards in the kitchen and some of the closets to maximize use of space. 

·      We don’t own seasonal decorations other than Christmas ones, and we don’t own China dishes (or other lesser used items).

·      We get our light beige carpets professionally cleaned every year (very important to our sanity).

·      I do laundry often instead of buying lots of clothes.

·      We recently sold our TV (for many reasons) and made room for a play kitchen for the boys (the boys are playing with it/using it as a jungle gym right now.)

·     We get outside as much as possible. We visit parks, take walks, fish for crawdads in the river in the summer (with Grandpa), bike, go to Saturday Market. We have even been bundling up and going outside this winter (Ok. Fine. Maybe just yesterday. But it was therapeutic!).

·      We even shop at Costco (an ever-increasing list)! (We just stagger the bigger purchases.)

·      We purge toys before Christmas/birthdays and keep only the boy’s favorites.

·      We purchase less and purchase smarter (quality over quantity).

·      We have a “give away” bag ready. When we don’t want an item it goes in the bag. Every couple of months we distribute the items where needed: thrift store, consignment, another family . . .

·      I use books to decorate. I already own them, I love them, and they have to go somewhere.

·      We practically live on our porch in the summer (It will be literal this summer. We plan to camp on it once in a while.)   

Don’t get me wrong. We sometimes dream of an extra room, decorated in soft earth tones, where guests can stay, rest, drink the world’s best cup of coffee, and have a great conversation (ha). We dream of a backyard where we can throw the boys the boys can play; where we can raise a puppy, build a tree house, grow a garden . . . (We do plan to grow some killer tomatoes on our porch again this summer). We dream of a big dining room where we can fill our family and friend’s bellies. A pantry. An extra freezer to participate in an organic beef share (Hello Scott Family!). Maybe even a garage to park our car in (seems so extravagant!) and a desk to put our laptops (kitchen counter) and printer on (storage ottoman, not the most convenient to print something).

The benefits to small space living: It forces us to keep life simple; more family and friend time, fewer projects (all painting I did before having babies). No lawn to mow or yard to take care of. We have less space to heat, cool, clean, and decorate. It helps us value relationships and experiences more than what we do or don’t own. It keeps us closely bonded, as we have no choice but to be in each other’s space. Our home is our haven.
~I wrote this as a guest post for fellow blogger Dawn via "Whispers and Shouts"
~Related Posts: “Before” and “After” Photos.

Laundry closet in our room

David and I share a standard size closet

Our room

Our room (Harper stomping on my jewelry.)

Bathroom

Bathroom

Boy's room

Boy's room

Main living space

Another view

Kitchen

Coffee corner before.

Coffee corner after (counter stayed the same).

We make use of as much vertical space as possible with shelves like these in cupboards and closets. The coffee corner redo inspired kids dishes to be lower. Huddo loves to help unload the dishwasher now.