Downsizing to 351 square feet! What more could you want?

Real Simple magazine featured an article this month called Happily Ever After in 351 Square Feet. I found it interesting that the magazine found this so extraordinary. The young couple lost their 1400 square foot house to a fire and decided to use insurance money to build a work space on their property instead of a new house. They took two small cottages that had been given to them and joined them together creating a small home. They chose to remain childless so the neatnik couple were managing perfectly. The design for their house was not what I would choose. They created a kitchen that was oversized and lived in a separate room that included a combined living room and bedroom. I think that if they had taken a look at our Park Model design they would have found some very good ideas for optimizing their space. After all, these little houses are designed to use every inch of space either for storage or for living. The kitchen you see above has a full sized stove and sink. The young couple admitted that they did miss these amenities...I don't. We have an apartment sized stove and dishwasher. I like that a lot.

Typical Park Model Design by Cavco

Our fire place fits in corner cabinet.

     Downsizing may be something you dread but it really is a wonderful choice. We have learned that living with small things...appliances, closet, bathrooms, and kitchens does not mean we have sacrificed comfort or even luxury. We have a tiny fireplace that heats the living room/kitchen and a dishwasher that washes all the dishes even when we entertain for 6 or more. After living in 350 square feet in Arizona for 7 months of the year our condo here in Hillsboro, Oregon feels enormous and we can not imagine ever having enough dishes to fill that dishwasher.
   Unfortunately, we are like gold fish...we grow to fit the size of the space we have. Before long I am filling the dishwasher every day and sometimes twice a day. My closet become cluttered with things I don't want or need and, because I have a separate room to iron in, I let the ironing go until I am absolute out of anything to wear...even pajamas! I have come to see it as wasteful and unnecessary. We will downsize here in Oregon too when the time is right to sell our condo. I love living in a space that has everything on one floor and I can smell the coffee brewing in the morning. I like it when I can sit in the next room and still talk with my husband. All I really require is enough room to cook, some kitchen gadgets and a few pots to plants herbs and flower in. I am a very simply woman.
     We have always tried to live small even when we owned bigger houses. It will not be hard for us to live small wherever we are.

Five Little Ducks...stories played out!

The children's song about the little ducks leaving the nest to fly away has always been one of my favorites. Every mother has seen their babies fly away and rejoiced. Life comes full circle. Animals live that same cycle. Babies grow up. Birds leave the nest. Life goes on. So when the three ducks show up every year near my patio I am not surprised. But I am puzzled that it always seems to be the same three. Something just doesn't seem right. It appears the one did not fly away at all. Five little ducks Went out to play Over the hills and far away. The mommy duck went "quack, quack quack," Four little ducks came swimming back... And then Three Two and One. A drake, a female duck (a hen) and a not quite a drake but still not a hen gather here on the 5th green of the golf course. She leads and the other two follow along obediently. They eat, sleep, and guard each other. Each and every day this time of year they come. I have not named them. Jinxing them would be very pos...

How to be a Snowbird in 2024

Early years in RV resort! Our motor home is parked next to our first Park Model When it begins to cool in the evenings and the geese fly in formation, my mind turns to Arizona. Yearning for the desert air and vibrant blue sky is compel me to fly away. I do it every year and will as long as I am allowed. Townhome near Tucson's Pantano Wash and bike trail. We started this way of life when we retired. First with a fifth-wheel trailer, later with a motor home, and finally in something permanent that evolved over the years. First, it was a park model in an RV Resort, then a townhouse close to walking trails, and finally into a home on a small golf course. Congress Hotel from window of near by hotel. Each time we moved, we upscaled and increased our monetary wealth. That is the way our mind works. It is as though we couldn't just have fun without working a lot. We painted and planted flowers and haunted thrift stores to find just the right furniture. We were always hav...

How to be a 12 Month Snow Bird

Vacation Rental in Mexico I live around snowbirds 6 months of the year. I have heard those people say that they all want to live the "snowbird" lifestyle when they go home. But it just is not possible. They are isolated and cold. Social activities with friends and beautiful weather are greatly missed when they return to the realities of their "real" life. One couple I visited with lately returned to Florida this morning where they own a home. The woman is a nurse and works in the summer. They are not going home until May this year. It is too cold in Michigan in the spring so they are hoping to extend their good weather season by simply staying away. Besides that they love their Florida lifestyle a lot. Last week I visited with a woman that lives the snowbird lifestyle year around. No going home to the Midwest in the spring. They essentially vacation 12 month out of the year. And I thought their solution for avoiding unpleasant weather and keeping their lifestyle in...

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