10 Reasons Why Minimalism In A Small Home Works
Small house living always poses challenges so adopting the “minimalism in a small home” approach works.
As a general rule, when you don’t have space for everything, adopting a minimalist lifestyle and having less stuff will force you into creating a less cluttered space and choosing a simpler whole life approach to your home.
When many think of a minimalist home, they often think of the interior design of a modern minimalist decor with white walls, lots of stainless steel, and contemporary furniture. You can adopt a cozy minimalist cabin in the woods decor if that’s where your tastes lean to. It doesn’t need to be modern and contemporary. It can be whatever house design you like best.
1. Less Expenses
Let’s face it, a smaller space takes less heat to make it warm and less cooling to make it cool. So in return, less money to make those things happen.
Making sure your small space has good insulation and a lot of natural light will create a warmer and cooler home as well as less lighting fixtures – therefore less electricity.
Choosing white painted walls or a light and bright color palette will also brighten up a room. Another way to minimize lighting fixtures and use less electricity.
The benefits to minimalism in a small home – less money going out and more money coming in.
2. Everything Has A Home
Living in a smaller house means everything needs to be neater and tidier. Everything has a home and everything has a place. So if you have a junk drawer it has to be nice and neat because it’s small (if you even have enough room for a junk drawer).
If your closet is small, then you only have enough space for a certain amount of clothing or a certain number of shoes. This will force you to have more of a capsule wardrobe than a full wardrobe.
This will also force you to only have a limited amount of shoes in order to make sure they all fit.
If you only have four cupboards in your small kitchen, then you’re going to need to make sure that the amount of dishes that you have equals the amount of space to use.
If you have four people in your home you might only have room for four plates, four glasses, or four coffee cups.
3. Less Time Cleaning
A smaller space means fewer surface areas. A minimalist approach may mean less furniture like coffee tables and side tables in your living room. That means less time cleaning. There are a lot fewer surfaces to dust, vacuum, and mop.
If you live a minimalist lifestyle you have less clutter to pick up because it just doesn’t exist. Understanding that if it comes into the house, something needs to also leave the house.
Also, if they have been brought in, there are systems put in place to deal with them right away.
There’s no such thing as having stacks of magazines and mail on your counters because you deal with them right away. This may mean tossing things in the trash immediately or filing them in the system you’ve created.
4. More Time With Family
If you’re not worried about cleaning and if you live in a smaller house, there’s a possibility that you have spent less on a mortgage. This means you spend less time working in order to pay that mortgage which gives you more time with friends and family.
Creating your home design and choosing a minimalist design will allow you to spend more time doing other things and focusing on the ones you love. Even in your tiny space.
5. No Clutter
Having a small house means you have no room for clutter. Adopting the minimalist lifestyle gives you have an understanding that clutter is not an option. There’s just no place to put it.
Adopting a minimalist lifestyle means a clean area because simple living and clutter-free go hand-in-hand.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t have stuff but the stuff that you do have means a lot to you. It’s special and it holds a special place in your heart. You know the saying if it doesn’t bring you joy, get rid of it.
6. Buying With Intention
When you go shopping for something, you’re buying it with intention.
If your couch needs to be replaced you know that you’re going out specifically for a couch and it has to fit your specific needs. This may mean that it needs to be a specific size, a specific style, or a specific fabric. It might also mean that it needs to be to have more than one function.
Living in a small house means you may not have a guest room so this couch may have to double as your spare room.
Our buying with intention theory could also be used when shopping for shoes, a blouse, or a dress because you know that you’re closet is small and you cannot fit any more items.
Do you need a new pair of brown shoes because the souls of yours are gone or for some reason, your feet got smaller and they don’t fit anymore? Maybe they started to hurt your feet and it’s time for a new pair.
You know you’re going to get rid of those old shoes and going out to replace them so you’re buying with an intention in mind. This means one pair of brown shoes no matter how many great pairs of shoes you see.
You know you’re out getting intentional with your shopping because you know those brown shoes need to fit specific criteria.
7. A Lesson In Understanding
For children living in a small house, they are going to have to understand what sharing spaces mean.
Living a minimalist lifestyle will also teach children to understand patience and the sharing of spaces.
My boys shared a bedroom for 19 years. They turned out just fine and have learned some valuable lessons.
They have learned to get along and make sacrifices and that’s okay.
We, as a family of four, have shared one bathroom for 19 years. This just means patience and it just also means being considerate of others. So showers can’t last too long because somebody else might have to use the bathroom.
We’re not living in a tiny house or a house on wheels but it is smaller than the standard home.
8. Learning Wants Versus Needs
In today’s society, it’s very easy to say to I want that or I need this when you really don’t need it.
In reality, it’s something that you WANT using the word NEED to mean the same.
Want has become The New Normal. I need a new pair of jeans or I need a new car or I need to go out to eat. You don’t need any of that. You want to.
When you live in a small space and you’re practicing minimalism, wants versus needs is a hard lesson to learn.
9. Release Of Mind Clutter
Living in a small space and practicing minimalism is a lesson in mind clutter.
Yes, it’s mentally freeing to get rid of stuff. There’s something pretty fantastic about decluttering and living in a space where your counters are clear.
For me, I strongly dislike clutter whether it’s physical clutter or mental clutter. My bedroom is free of stuff. My closet is free of anything I don’t love and use. Clutter makes me anxious.
There’s something fantastic and calming about living in a home free of things that just collect dust.
It frees your mind. It decreases anxiety. It gives you clarity.
For example, if you have a pile of stuff that sits on the dining room table and every time you walk into that room, you’re not thinking “this is a nice space to eat dinner” instead you’re thinking, “I need to put that stuff away”.
That is not having mental freedom. That’s mental clutter.
Having to think about things over and over creates mental clutter. Specifically worries. If you are worrying consistantly about not having enough money or hating your job, you create mental cluttr.
Taking steps to solve those problems will give you opportunities to clear out the all that stuff so you can spend less energy thinking about things that bring you anxiety rather than joy and fun.
Creating a space in your mind free of those thoughts over and over again that are hanging on over your head will free up the brainpower to do something a little bit more fun and a little bit more productive.
10. Simple Living Is Better For Your Health
Less stuff, less stress, less anxiety, and less worry will all contribute to better health.
Funny fact, less cupboard space might also contribute to less space for processed foods – also contributing to better health.
Our mental health has so much to do with the way we compare ourselves to others around us. Social medial is no help.
So if you have decided to go against the norms by purchasing a small or tiny house and living a minimalist lifestyle, then your worries about what others might think have already drastically faded.
Final thoughts on why minimalism in a small home works
Keeping life simple has so many benefits: financial benefits, emotional benefits, mental benefits, and physical benefits.
Keeping things simple means deciding what you value most in life and focusing on that above all else. Most people do not find true value in stuff. They find value in the emotions that the stuff brings them.
Focus on the emotions themselves. For example, happiness. If going out shopping brings a surge of happiness to you yet once you get home, the amount of clutter that you’ve accumulated by shopping doesn’t bring you happiness, then finding the source of the happiness is what you should be going after
Stuff does not equal happiness. Bigger houses may not equal happiness. The people that you share the house with might be where the happiness needs to come from.
For us, our family decided on a small house almost 20 years ago for the specific reason that we knew we could pay it off quickly and create a space that we love.
It has almost 2 acres of property so we knew that we could expand over time. Right away, it felt like home.
Finding a place that feels like home was our why and it’s the reason why our small house works. It’s why the minimalist home and lifestyle are the best fit for small house living.