Small House Love

The baby naps in our closet. There's no formal living room. Our guests use the same bathroom that our little boy uses, which means...well you know what that means if you've ever seen a 3 year old pee all by his self. We live in a small house. There are five of us and a dog.

And we love it.

The neighbors thought we'd erect the For Sale sign shortly after we brought Sweet B home. When I started my pregnant plodding around the block a mere 7 months later, everyone asked - no really WHEN are you planning to move?

Yet here we are, crashing into each other in this house where everyone squishes and everyone shares. There's only one couch and one TV and one toilet that a toddler hasn't peed all over. 

In 2009, the average American home was 2,700 square feet. Ours is about a thousand square feet smaller than that. The size of the average American family is 2.6 people; so we're roughly twice the size in 2/3rds the space.  I know we’re not the only ones living small these days. Maybe you think you’ve outgrown your space. You don’t need a realtor to sell you on the virtues of a bigger place. One with a playroom. A jacuzzi tub. A walk-in closet. A real pantry.

I, however, feel the need to tell you how AWESOME small houses are. Yup, I’m going on the record to say that small houses are freaking awesome.  If we ever sell, the flyer in the front yard will proudly declare:

·     Only two bathrooms to clean!

·     Never haul laundry (or children!) up or down a flight of stairs again

·     Only 10 steps from your car to the kitchen. Unloading groceries is quick and easy!

·      No need for baby gates or baby monitors

·      Fewer rooms to decorate!

·      Each room serves a multitude of purposes

·      Children will share out of necessity – they might start enjoying it. Or at least tolerating it.

·      Low low utility bills!

·      One closet for two kids means less time spent putting clean clothes away.

·      No room for extra stuff means you’ll spend less money on stuff you don’t need anyway!

·      Kids can hear you from any room in the house. If you can't hear them, they're up to no good.

·      Less space inside means you’ll enjoy that beautiful front yard every day!

I’m rooting for the little house. The one that the House Hunters always seem to be leaving. We're not moving til the HOA tells us we've outgrown their household capacity limitations.