Perhaps you read my post on Living with In-Laws, and know that my husband and I were excited to eventually have our own space. Well folks, now we have it. We along with our dog live in a 1 bedroom apartment on the South-East side of Austin. The place is pretty close to everything hip and downtownish, but we're now dealing with less than 700 square feet for all our daily living and storage for our hobbies and gear. It's tough. Sometimes it's really hard and I get emotional about it. The balcony (smallest I've ever had or seen) also houses the AC unit, which I think is ridiculous. But along with that are all of my husband's tools and equipment - stuff that would normally be in a garage.
This means there is no room for the tiny space garden I had hoped to install, although I have managed to get one pot out there. Even so, the gorgeous oak tree giving us the much appreciated shade and bursts of green, doesn't let enough sunlight in to grow the things I love about warm climates: tomatoes, melons, Mediterranean herbs, squash, peppers. You know, all that fun summer food. I can however, manage to hang a load of clothes on the drying rack out there when things are somewhat organized. And we opted to participate in a CSA and go to the Farmer's Market more often, since we can't grow our own.
So all of this limited space sometimes makes me really stressed out. My hubby feels like he gave up the possibility of a house with a yard and a garage so he could 'live downtown' (for me, because I don't like the suburbs)...and I just feel cramped. We're both questioning our motives for living in this absurdly tiny place, but it is what it is, and it is what we've got, so I sure as hell had to find a way to make limonade out of it!
How did I do that? Get rid of stuff! Even though all of our belongings fit into a 6x10 trailer which we pulled from Arizona to Texas, it still seems like we have too much! But the getting rid of things process feels AMAZING! I'm not really a big shopper and I don't like to acquire things I don't need...but it's interesting to see how much of what I had, I had convinced myself I needed, and really did not/do not.
Every week I get rid of 5 things. I post some on Craigslist (just got $50 woohoo!), I post some on GearTrade, and some goes to a Goodwill pile. It's sad that we can't have yardsales, because we sure used to love having those yardsale parties. I've had to be extremely discerning. I held onto some things that I thought I could use for some project, and I faced the fact that it was likely a project I would never finish, if I ever began it. So some of the materials I'd been carrying around, they got tossed. Or donated. Or sold.
Busting clutter is good for the soul. It's good for everything. Now the hard thing is figuring out how to tell the people who love me not to buy me things...for birthdays and holidays, I'd much rather have something consumable, like food, or something doable, like go for a hike or festival or something...I usually LOVE the things that people gift to me, but it's difficult to keep it when the things I do have are so intentional and deliberate...
I've created a fun box where I'm saving all the money from what I sell, so that I can have some genuine EXPERIENCES. It could be as simple as going on a day trip, or seeing music (this is Austin, afterall!), or checking out a new coffee house or restaurant. AND, it gets us out of feeling so stuck in tiny space land, into the world, and then feeling better about going home when it's time to settle in for the evening.
I highly recommend you try it. Even if you live in a huge house, get rid of some unnecessary baggage. Don't let the things you own end up owning you! I'm not talking about parting with the things you love and that are dear, just those that make you feel guilty, or annoyed, or just that "I have too much!" feeling. Be honest about it too - ask yourself why you have some thing and be brutally honest about not only your intentions with it, but your reality. Practice the art of not indulging in 'stuff' just because it's on sale, or cute, or you're in one of those moods =) You'll be better for the fun of not buying in long run.
