It’s now been three months since my husband and I moved out of our economical house sitting arrangement and into more grown up quarters. We’re been living in this three bedroom rental house for a few months now, and having the extra space was both exciting and a little bit anxiety inducing. On one hand I was really excited to have the space to entertain my family members and get away from my husband once in awhile, and other the other hand, I worried about spending so much money, and I was also worried about having so much damn space.
I didn’t want to get used to having this much space because I know that the next place I live will likely be less spacious. I didn’t want to become accustomed to so much space and then have a difficult time adjusting when I moved on from this once-in-a-life-time rental. Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry about this much, because it turns out, I don’t need that much space. My minimalist habits seem to be permanently engrained, which is what I was hoping. Sure, there are some spaces in this house that I love, but there are also some that I don’t use at all. Here are some of my favourite things about this house:
Space I Love
My Office
I have an office! It’s actually just an alcove off the living room, but it has a built in desk and shelving and I got a hand-me-down computer chair and a lamp, and it’s my office. We didn’t have a proper space to store documents and my computer at the cottage, and I really love having a designated space for this necessary stuff.
The Dining Room
There was no dining room at the cottage – and we didn’t even have a dining room table. Now, we have a dining room and thanks to a thrifted table and chairs – it functions. We don’t use it every day, but it’s great for having people over, playing Risk and Banana-grams, and for eating some of our messier dishes.
The Basement
The storage that we have in the basement of this place is great. It offers a place to put the litter box that is actually out of sight, plus our neighbours have lent us their old treadmill to use, so I can also go for runs down there. Finally, it’s nice to have a clean, dry place to store our camping gear and christmas decorations.
Space I Don’t Need
We don’t use every part of the house, and there are some rooms I don’t use on a regular basis. Here are some of them:
The Extra Bedrooms
There are three bedrooms in this house, and we only use one of them. The other two are empty and we just keep the doors closed. They might as well not exist because we don’t need them.
The Second Bathroom
The second bathroom in this house is more of an annoyance than a necessity. It’s on the first floor and is a half bath. It’s kind of a make work project. We could easily use the second, larger bathroom on the second floor, but because there’s a first floor bathroom, now we have twice as many toilets to clean, sinks to wipe down, toilet paper to restock, and soap to refill. Completely unnecessary.
The Sun Room
We also have a sun room that my husband uses as a music room. It’s nice because there are insulated french doors separating it from the main part of the house, so he can play his guitar and his drum out there without disturbing me. I don’t use it ever, and it’s definitely unnecessary space.
So, do I really need all of this space? Definitely not. The only reason we’re renting such a big space is because two bedroom rentals are awfully hard to come by in this rural location. It’s still definitely worth what we’re paying in rent, especially when I look at how much most of my peers are paying for much smaller spaces.
What about you? Is your place too big? Too small? Are there any rooms in your house that go unused?