Twelve years ago, our family moved into a smaller home.
We made the decision because we recognized the benefits of owning a smaller house: less expense, less stress, more freedom, more family interaction, and more opportunity to spend our lives on greater things than square footage.
One of the most attractive advantages we have experienced in a smaller home is the extra time that has been returned to our lives. All homes require maintenance and cleaning, regardless of size. But smaller homes are easier to clean than larger ones. Consider these practical examples.
11 Household Chores Made Easier in a Smaller Home
1. Tidying-Up. In every home, items get moved and things get used. But in our smaller home, tidying up and refreshing the home for a clutter-free morning takes much less time and effort.
2. Dusting. Fewer rooms, fewer walls, fewer shelves, fewer decorations and fewer knick-knacks. Dusting has never been easier.
3. Taking Out the Trash. Because there are fewer rooms and each of them are closer together, taking out the trash/recycling each week is never difficult.
4. Doing Laundry. A smaller home does not mean less laundry—we still wear clothes everyday. But gathering the laundry from different areas in the home and returning the clean clothes is much less burdensome than completing the task in a larger home.
5. Cleaning Floors. Floors need to be vacuumed and/or swept on a routine basis. They also need to be mopped and scrubbed to be kept clean. Less flooring in our home makes this chore easier to accomplish—and easier to find the motivation to even start.
6. Washing Windows. Fewer windows means less time to clean them, both inside and outside. Of course, our single-story home also makes this chore significantly easier.
7. Putting up Holiday/Seasonal Decorating. We still decorate our home for the Fall and Holiday season. But changing the environment of our home takes less time today than before—and it takes fewer decorations to accomplish that cozy feeling.
8. Scrubbing bathrooms. Because who wants to clean more showers and toilets than they have to?
9. Cleaning the furniture. Because we’re not furnishing unnecessary rooms in our home anymore, cleaning furnishings is less burdensome (also cleaning behind/under the furniture). This is a job that gets neglected in many homes—but not ours.
10. Deep Cleaning Baseboard, Cabinets, Corners. In our previous home, the thought of cleaning baseboards and cabinets (especially in lesser-used rooms) was enough to keep us from ever tackling the chore. In our new home, we complete it on a regular basis.
11. Professional services. Stuff breaks and things wear out. And some home repairs are definitely outside my expertise. Each time we have needed a professional service in our new home (new carpets, exterior paint, spraying for insects), our expense has been far less than a comparable service in our previous home.
Because of the numerous practical benefits, I’ve never regretted the decision we made five years ago. We are far happier today living in a smaller home than if we’d purchased a larger one just because we could.
And I continue to recommend the idea to anyone who is listening.
Amy@MoreTimeThanMoney says
When we are all in the bathroom at the same time, getting in each other’s way, I momentarily wish we had two bathrooms. Then I remember I’d need to clean it, and the desire passes.
Max Young says
Great posts. My wife and I live in an old villa/unit/townhouse (<700 sq ft) and we have more than enough room. Most probably too much. We now often entertain 10-12 for dinner.
We minimalised several years ago when the kids left home and married. I took to downsizing like an axeman to a tree, throwing out or giving away 80% of our stuff. Never missed anything.
The junk that people buy is flabbergasting. I include myself in that statement.
Happy days and thanks for the great site.
Max
M vL says
I love that you host 10-12 people for dinner parties in 700sq ft.
You don’t need a really large space to have people over. Just a clear, clean and inviting one.
Sally says
I’d love to see pics of your dinner parties. We just down-sized to 1300 square feet and I feel like we can’t have company anymore, lol.
Marta says
In Spain people live in smaller homes that in the US, but anyway we tend to accumulate stuff. I have leant through the years that it’s so much better to accumulate experiences (specially those shared with my loved ones) than stuff.
I live in a one-story house now with 3 bedrooms and just one small bathroom, and it’s great to have the whole house clean in a couple of hours!
I totally agree with you, and I am sooo much happier since I started reading about minimalism and begun simplifying my life. Thanks!!
Mindy says
I love this article! It’s so true. While many people are rediscovering simple living and a small footprint/blueprint, many are still caught up in the idea that more is more. They don’t know what they are missing out on, in my opinion. Our family of 5 chose to downsize from 5 bedrooms/3 full baths/2700 sq ft to 3 bedrooms/2 baths/1200 sq ft and I’ve never been more content in my life. There are many reasons for this, but less cleaning is definitely one of the those reasons – and I actually enjoy cleaning. I’ve never been able to keep a home clean with as little effort and I love it! More living, less cleaning.
Donna Pepper says
I borrowed “The More of Less” from my local library. It is without a doubt the best, most inspiring, simplest, non-judgemental book that I have read on minimalism and how to get there.
I have got farther on my de-cluttering while reading this book than ever before. It is written with few rules as we are all different, living different lives, just simple guidelines.
Well done Joshua and thank you for so many great ideas and a truly great book.
joshua becker says
Ah, thanks Donna. Your words are very kind.
judy says
I love our <1000 sq. Ft. home. We bought it in the 80's to flip and then the coal mines closed. We decided to keep this house and be debt free. I do have 17 windows in a five room house… but it can be like living outside when the weather permits. We purge our home yearly to keep stuff at a minimum and we enjoy living with less stuff. As we are approaching retirement we have found our home to be a blessing… we had to have help after two major surgeries within a month and the person helping me could clean our home in a very short time and that saved so much. I am now able to take back the care of our home and enjoy every minute of caring for our nest. During our yearly sorting, I call in our nieces and nephews and let them have a free pick of items we no longer need…. the rest goes to a local thrift shop that helps fund scholarships for anyone from our town entering the field of medical care. It's a win / win situation! As the years are passing there is less and less stuff to get rid of because we just concentrate more on only buying consumables these days. There are still our special treasures that we keep and they have weathered many years of sorting. I think living a simple life has afforded us so many extra blessings in our lifetime and the ability to share blessings with others! We would not change a thing! Love this site!
patty says
How do you deep clean baseboards?
Mindy says
The easiest way is to spray them first with a cleaning spray, then come behind and wipe them with a wet cloth. If they haven’t been cleaned in a while, this may take some time. Maybe do one room at a time until you are caught up. After that dust them weekly with a feather duster or sweep them with a stiff broom.
Tom says
All really good points. I would add two more things to this. Having a big garden and pool.
Unless you can / want to afford a gardener or gardening is your hobby stay clear of gardens with high maintenance plants. You’ll literally waste your life with gardening or your money on a gardener.
The same goes for a pool. Fun in theory the time you spend in the pool is generally less then the time it takes to main it. Or again you spend a lot of money every year getting someone else to do it.
Gary Fischer says
Sad and stressful situation with a silver lining.
My mother’s health is quickly failing. At 88, after living independently in her own home (over 40 years as a widow), she now has moved to a very small assisted living apartment.
After numerous 3 day weekends, 18+ hour days, I have just finished emptying my mother’s sold home one week before closing. After the first stressful weekend I and my niece returned to our separate homes and began filling large trash bags with items we now realize are not at all important.
Why am I saving my notes and all text books from my first 2 degrees? …some light reading in the future? They are now gone. I sold my large corner hutch computer desk in my home office, replacing it with a very simple small desk with virtually no drawers or other built in storage, and much less horizontal surfaces to sit ‘stuff’ on. 50% of my belongings in my home office and closets are now gone.
My niece’s son confronted her in their basement saying, “Mom. Are you throwing away all my school artwork!?”. She replied, “John, just walk away. Trust me.” She filled 8 bags at her home the first night.
Neighbors and friends of my mother watched my niece and I filling a dumpster and moving Uhaul after Uhaul of ‘stuff’ to a local charity. Several neighbors spoke with us toward the end stating, ‘After watching what you have gone through, I am now cleaning out my home’ and ‘I am now going through each room in my home eliminating things, as I never want my children to go through that!’.
My mother loved her house. She loved her belongings. I had started reading over the last years about minimizing one’s belongings for a better life focused on what is truly important.
My mother may never fully understand the philosophy and benefit of ‘Minimalist’, and yet at 88 views the need to eliminate belongings and her home as defeat. Sadly, she also may never recognize the significant life changing lesson her ordeal has taught so many exposed to what she has had to do do.
Betsy says
As an older woman I think for your mother it may not be defeat but the loss of what was. I feel it myself some days. About 20 years ago I had 3 relatives get severely ill or pass away. All 3 involved my assisting in clearing out their homes that were lived in for years. The experience opened my eyes and I began the process of clearing out my home. As soon as the children moved out my husband and I downsized to 960 sq. feet from 2400. It’s so easy to clean our little place. I remember all the lugging and donating we did. I knew the name of the workers at Impact Thrift! I keep reading this blog because it keeps me on track.
AGS says
I have many times felt grateful to only have one bathroom for my family of 5. I used to wish for another full bath, but realized last year that I didn’t have the time to clean a second one. As we prepare to do some renovations, and I can look forward to a second bathroom in the next two years, I sometimes find myself curious as to how much time I’ll spend cleaning – though by then my oldest will be old enough to help with some of the chores.