Narrowest house in Amsterdam

We knew living in the center of the city would mean having less space. But we had also seen plenty of small but efficient living spaces when traveling abroad. Even New York City, with its tiny rooms, sometimes surprises you with the comfort and convenience planned carefully into small rooms. Thus, we were willing to consider something pretty small when we came to Boston in March to determine whether we could live in the city

When we visited Beacon Hill apartments, we discovered spaces that failed hands down, no matter how charming, by simply feeling cramped and unmanageable. Most seemed fit for no more than one small, non-claustrophobic person.

Back Bay units kick up the size average just a notch, but that is also where we learned how much layout, light, and high ceilings matter. The place we fell in love with scored high in all three, not to mention charm, of course.

So now that we’ve been here for two months, I thought I’d give you the low down on tiny house living to date!

First, you need to know that we did an amazing job of planning. By measuring and loading furniture ahead of time, everything is here, everything has its place, and we still have extra drawer and cupboard space available. I should probably write about that process sometime. I could easily share a host of tips about downsizing, planning, and moving.

I already mentioned that everything has its place. One secret to successful tiny house living is that everything needs to be kept in those places. If we weren’t disciplined enough to put things away after use, we would have gone crazy and killed each other by now. I’m sure of it.

Being neat is not just important for aesthetics. Neat is functional in small spaces. For example, we have a nice granite counter top open to the living room and kitchen. It is the perfect place to collect mail, grocery list, keys, etc. No can do. Because it serves three other functions. First, it is also our biggest kitchen counter space and must be kept clear so we can chop vegetables. Once the food is ready, it becomes our dining table. Between meals, you will often find my husband there with a laptop. Multi-use spaces like this cease to be multi-use once piled with stuff!

Multi-use spaces also require some new habits. My husband has always set the table before we start cooking. After two months, I think he is finally over the habit. It is a lot harder to chop vegetables or make a salad when every movement threatens to knock wine glasses, silverware, and salad bowls off the edge.

In order to make it easy to keep things neat, things must be easily accessible. If you have to lift 6 things out of a cupboard to put one away, you will stop putting it away. We discovered this with pots and pans. Despite bringing only the bare necessities with us,  we struggled to get pots and skillets in and out of cupboards. As a result, the heavy cast iron pan started to live on our stove top. Now this stove top is one of those smooth glass tops and another great multi-use surface (and a must for a small house). There simply wasn’t room to store a pan there when we needed that space for cooking and food prep. After very little time, we found a better  configuration that keeps all pans put away.

Obviously, another secret to small house success is to get rid of everything you don’t need, which, by the way, is probably almost everything you own. At least that is true for us. We got rid of untold quantities of stuff and have missed exactly four items that we didn’t bring: a garlic press – mincing by hand really gets old fast;  an ice cream scoop – no, a regular spoon doesn’t work, it just bends; a rolling pin – I like to make pies and I can’t explain how painful it was making a crust without one; a cheese grater – we can usually, not always, buy the right kind of cheese already grated. It is fascinating to me that the only things I’ve missed are kitchen gadgets since we aren’t exactly gourmet cooks.

On the flip side, there is almost nothing in this apartment that we haven’t used yet, not counting the mittens and other cold weather gear and clothing I fully expect to wear in cooler weather. The only things I can find that are untouched in two months are two nested cookie tins and our binoculars. It will be interesting to see if that is still true in another ten months.

The advantages of tiny house living are pretty cool:

• My coffee mug is never far away. I can’t leave it in the bedroom and get caught up in a project downstairs because there is no downstairs.
• The air conditioning is instant. Literally.
• A candle at dinner is probably all we’ll need for heat this winner. That and cooking. We usually have a candle at dinner, but have discontinued that practice in the heat of the summer. One less thing to keep around!
• With only one of everything, it is easier to put things away. We used to have three scissors, three flashlights, three bottles of sunscreen. You know the drill. One on each floor, in each bathroom, by each door, or in the kitchen, the office, and the bedroom. And those somehow had a way of accumulating so all were in the same place. When you have only one, it can’t accumulate with siblings.
• You feel better about the stuff you have because it is getting used!
• You quit accumulating new stuff! Kindle books, experiences, and consumables are all we want. As a result, a recent birthday surprise was a whale watching expedition complements of our daughters. What a great idea and memorable gift!
• We go out more. Not because we aren’t comfortable, but because we see the city as an extension of our space. We read on the shore or in the Public Garden often. We walk miles and miles.
• It takes no time to clean a tiny house.
• We waste no time looking for each other! Actually, it is surprising how often my husband isn’t where I think he is. I’m amazed that he can move from the living room to kitchen or out the door entirely without my noticing.

The long and short of it? We will never need, or want, as much space as we used to have in any of the three houses we owned. I’m not saying we didn’t need space when we had children at home. We just won’t ever need it again.

Stay tuned for future updates! After all, two months is only two months!

Read Part 9 of The Urban Experiment!