Leaving the McMansion for the Small Life
Natives to pastoral areas know what it looks like. What was once a pasture with cows now looks like a small village — only the homes are anything but small. These McMansions are often well over 4,000 square feet large with plenty of luxury amenities for the average sized family. Interestingly, these mega-homes may not be all the rage in our future suburban landscapes.
The Star Ledger, one of New Jersey’s leading papers, is reporting an emerging trend away from the huge-home-mindset and towards luxury apartment living. It turns out that life matters; when you have a huge home that requires lots of maintenance, some of the other important things in life can take a back seat. These might include: spending time with your spouse, your kids or investing in friendships that will last far longer than a house. The larger the home, the more it takes to keep it running in terms of financial resources and time spent keeping things up. One starts to wonder, “Do I own my house or does it own me?” This may be why more and more people are opting for small.
The other aspect of smaller living is the reality that small might actually add to your quality of life. I realize that a large family does require more space but for the rest of us, small just might do. Here are some benefits to owning a smaller home:
- Less space forces you to make decisions more often. When you don’t have a walk-in closet, there’s very little space for procrastination. Rather than hide clothes in a pile in the large closet, your small storage spaces challenge you to make a decision: put it away, do the laundry, fold it, etc.
- Less space allows you to know what you have. When you can see what you have, you’re less likely to buy something that you already have.
- Less space promotes family communication. Living in closer proximity to your loved ones means that you’ll see them more often and share little interactions that a larger home might not afford.
- Less space allows for simpler decorating. Since more “stuff” around the house makes it feel smaller, a streamlined home encourages simpler style. Avoid small items, breakables and tiny collectibles and opt for items which will last, are durable and are stylish in their own right.
- Smaller spaces encourage contemplative living. I know — this is a bit of a stretch but my home (which I consider to be on the smaller side) is something which I know, inside and out. I know every corner of it, all of its idiosyncrasies and finer points. My kids and I also get to work around the house together which is great for family bonding. Whenever you get to appreciate and know something well, a spirit of contemplation gradually grows.
Living in a larger home is not something to scorn but opting to live in a smaller home certainly makes a statement. It teaches you to appreciate space, possessions and challenges you to make-do with what you have. Would you like to have more space? Probably. Can you grow in simplicity by living in a smaller space? Definitely.
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
MikePierre
Mike St. Pierre is the creator of The Daily Saint, a productivity blog with a spiritual twist. Mike is a professional educator in New Jersey where he lives with his wife and three children.
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Comments
Eugene says on November 26th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Sure living in a smaller home is nice and all, but show me where I can buy a small home? I’d have to have it built which means I’d have to buy land someplace first which means I’d have to be 2.5 hours from any place of employment.
Draper says on November 26th, 2007 at 10:11 am
I’m convinced that starter castles’ appeal is when people imagining their first big party, when people walk in the door and exclaim. But soaring heights and en suite living for every member of the family aren’t humanizing. The former is a public space, not a private one. People love a nook to curl up in with a book, not a hotel lobby. And when children never have to leave their private area for a communal one, what happens to the family dynamic?
That’s without considering the environmental impact huge living has. The time will come when the financial cost and moral cost will be too great to keep up. Perhaps we’ll see these homes turn into true en suite living for a number of people, subdivided into apartments with a nice lobby and public eating areas. Maybe then, these structures will become livable.
Universe says on November 26th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Sometimes it boils down to long commuting times from the suburbs or rural areas. Most VIPs can not constantly telecommute.
In space tight metro areas, those surrounding areas they are the only places where there can be homes with sizable land.
lumpy says on November 26th, 2007 at 11:20 am
It amazes me how long it takes mainstream america to come back to what europeans have done forever.
Small is the word. Why do you need 30 pairs of jeans? you need 3-5. you need 3-5 pairs of dress slacks and at MOST 10 shirts. People have too much crap.
get rid of the crap, live in 800sq feet of space.
Kim Siever says on November 26th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Move to Lethbridge, AB. We have a tonne of small houses here. Mine is 798 sq ft in fact. We purchased it for $75K.
@Stephen | HD BizBlog says on November 26th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
My wife and I just rented a little cottage in the woods in SE Maine, and we love the privacy and cozyness.
Sure, it’s far from EVERYTHING, but now I have a real impetus to get my online business going.
I Love Smalltown Living!!
Andy C says on November 26th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
I’ve been living in a duplex or smaller for the past 6 years. I need more space. It’s not an affectionate desire, it’s something I know I need. I’ve used all my space from ground to ceiling, if my wife catches me putting up one more rack of shelves to hold things she’ll axe me.
It’s good to live small, and it’s good to have small places to keep you focused but you will also hit a point of understanding the reasons why you need more space. It’s also good to defrag your home enough until you understand where and why it is the way it is. I guess the classic know your limitations bit.
I don’t think you should just go from nothing to 4000sqft but do realize that there is nothing wrong with growing as long as it’s understood as such. People I know who have large homes and rooms they never enter is a bizare concept to me. The more rooms I have the more independent silos I can build to ratchet another project to life.
I am currently out of space and will need to do some heavy sacrificing in order to bring anything new into the home.
Jennifer Mannion says on November 26th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Hi, GREAT article. We moved from a house in NJ that was over 6,000 square feet to a house upstate NY that is 2,300 Square feet and WHAT an improvement of quality of life! Yes, we did throw a party for the history books in the big Victorian but also had to deal with something breaking every day, not being able to keep up with anything, heating the place and any time you wanted to have someone over KNOWING there was no way your whole place could be clean! My family and I are closer now in the smaller place and it is MUCH more manageable. We had accumulated SO MUCH stuff in the big house because “we had the space” so took things any time anyone offered. There’s no way I would go back to a HUGE house — this one’s not tiny or huge — this one’s “JUST RIGHT”. Jenny
Louise says on November 26th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
We downsized from a 1200 sq ft condo to a 300 sq ft motorhome and love it. Our lives have become simpler. Each item we chose to keep was a favorite and a pleasure to use. If and when we move back into a fixed dwelling, it will definitely be small. I’d rather live in a studio apartment in a fantastic urban neighborhood than a big house anywhere.
David B. Bohl at SlowDownFAST.com says on November 26th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Great post. In an effort to achieve a more consciously simple and uncluttered life, I’ve been lightening up – giving things away, organizing, and the other things you describe. My wife, kids, and I spent Friday and Saturday doing just that – checking boxes in our crawl space that we haven’t touched in the 1 3/4 years we’ve lived in out home.
Muzz says on November 27th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Great ideas…we’ve been living in 288 sf for some years now — okay it’s a little small, but…we do it. And I have two pair of jeans.
Mike St. Pierre/Post Author says on November 27th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Thanks everyone for your feedback. In response to Andy C- I agree: there comes a point when more space is indeed necessary, especially when family gets larger.
Peace, Mike
Eugene says on December 4th, 2007 at 9:27 am
I still haven’t found/read a good solution to the problem. I need to move because the city has made my neighborhood unsafe (long story there) and I can’t find a decent sized home anywhere near any decent jobs. So were faced with buying an oversized home with an oversized price tag so we can be close to work and shcools, or buy land way out in the country and have a normal sized house built but then not be able to find a job or having to drive an hour to work and waste resources there.