I often dream of having one more living room or even another bedroom. Molly at the moment sleeps in our walk-in closet but will one day have to share a room with her 8 years older sister. Our little house also doesn't have a garage or much of a yard. One of the many drawbacks to having a small house with no garage is that the master bedroom ends up being the catch all. It is where the computer, the t.v. and all the "stuff" tends to reside.
We decided the computer and t.v were going to be in the bedroom to make them less accessible to our children. Out of sight and out of mind. I actually don't mind having the t.v. in the bedroom. It is rather nice to be able to lay in bed and watch a good movie. On the other hand, when the kids want to watch a movie I have them all sitting on and in my bed. I can't tell you how many times I have found popcorn in my bed when I am trying to sleep.
Today after months and months of telling myself to clean and my husband saying we needed to organize or get rid of a lot this of junk, we decided to finally get to our bedroom/t.v/computer/stuff room. Rather then just tidying up like we usually do, I decided to rearrange everything. All the "stuff" got shifted and the furniture moved. It felt nice to sweep up that much dust and fluff. The garbage can is filled and there are a number of books that are going to be given to the Friends of the LIbrary booksale and even a bag of items that are going to the Goodwill. And the rearrangement is such a better use of space. The room suddenly feels more spacious. This is quite an achievement considering what needs a home in this room. My kids are even trying to convince us that there is now enough space for a Wii.
As much as I complain about the tight quarters that the 6 of us live in, I am actually very happy to live in our little house. We feel pretty lucky to able to live as comfortably as we do, in the area of the world in which we live, and on one income. This little house keeps us from gathering too much "stuff" or getting too "Heavy" as my husband puts it. Many purchases have been averted, since I always have to consider the space it is going to need or take in the house. It helps me keep things simple.
As much as it would be nice to have a dining room, a play room, a theater room, a nicely planned out school room, a bedroom for each child, and a really nice big pantry for our food storage (so I wouldn't have to store it under the kids' beds), I don't think it would make our lives any better. We have it really good! Right now we even have it a little less dusty and a little more organized. It is feeling wonderful!
I hope it stays this way for a little while!
That was a lot of work.
4 comments:
Congratulations on living the 'simple life.' I need to get rid of more things, too. I love that picture of Alice in Wonderland and the outgrown house.
We lived in an 800 sq foot house with four kids. My three oldest who can remember talk about it with fond memories. When we finally moved into a 'HUGE' house (with our six child) my older ones were excited but also wary "It's just that much more we're going to have to clean!" So true. Give me the simple life any day!
I hear ya sister!! What a great post! We've got a computer and desk in our room too- along with the baby. The two oldest share a room and listen to audio books together at night.
We saved so much money this year on Christmas presents for the kids because we just don't have any space for more toys!
I do look forward to having our own place soon. It will be nice to hang our own pictures and eat on our own dishes.
I love it! Reading the Little House books always reminds me how little we need and makes me question how much stuff I have. Very inspiring post!
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