We don't need more space. We simply need more creativity.

A Staying Rightsized Post

It is my job and my joy to help folks discover ways in which to live comfortably, confidently and contentedly in their smaller homes. For me, the key to living in a compact space is not figuring out how to puzzle together a life’s worth of stuff into limited square footage. It’s about understanding what we truly need — and don’t need — within our residences, and how we can go about crafting interiors with care. It is also an exploration of how we can better adapt to our household’s evolving needs in ways that don’t involve expanding, and instead employ solutions that are lighter on our wallets and on the planet.

Here are some moments that reflect minor adjustments we recently made within our home to keep it working well for our daily lives and budget, without the acquisition of newly manufactured goods. I share these visuals as a gentle reminder to myself and to others that we typically don’t need a bigger space— we simply need more creativity.

Above: Our 900 sqft home has one bathroom, which is also the laundry room. On a small stretch of wall between a stacked washer and dryer (concealed by a modified flat sheet upcycled as a curtain), we created a vertical zone for sewing and mending supplies. On the left, a repurposed, vintage baker’s bread cooling rack drops down and folds up for use as a drying shelf. Just above that, we have our latest addition: a vintage wire shelf that supports a small but ever-present pile of items to mend. Next to it, a secondhand spice rack holds sewing supplies. 

Above: Summer started early here, so swimming season is upon us. Two old deck railing plant hangers support greenery and a bit of string that we turned into a seasonal drying line for soggy swimsuits and water shoes. 

Above: Temperatures have already climbed to 100º here, so our warmer blankets have been folded away and our lighter quilts an throws have emerged in their place. Instead of using bulky storage bins, baskets or standing racks, I used small tension rods to create a temporary, multi-tiered hanging solution for the blankets and playmat in our kids’ shared bedroom. (I always have a little stash of tension rods and s-hooks at the ready, as I always find them extremely helpful in small spaces.)