Our Dream of Downsizing

JD and I would love a smaller house.

It's not something most people aspire to in fact I'd say it's the norm for most families to want a bigger house. They feel they've outgrown the house they're in (usually because of the amount of possessions the average family has so they run out of storage space) or they want to move up the property ladder. It's what we're all ingrained to want in this material world. A bigger house, a bigger car, more possessions etc etc. Having a big house shows people what a success your life has been. A bigger house usually means a bigger mortgage and having to work more though.

What we'd love to be able to do is to save up and build our own small house. It'd be great to have no rent or mortgage to pay. We'd get solar panels and a windmill to help with energy costs too. We'd reduce our possessions down to accommodate the downsizing and take pleasure in having less stuff.

A small house would be easier to maintain, there would be less housework and  it'd be easier to heat a smaller space in the winter. Which would make it better for the environment, less energy used to heat it but also less energy used in building it with less materials used etc.

In case you're wondering exactly how small of a house we want you can read this story about a couple who built their own small house: http://news.distractify.com/abby-s-marino/itty-bitty-house/?v=1

What we love about a house like this is that no space is wasted in it. There are cupboards everywhere and areas for different things are only just as big as you need. It's perfect. Lots of bigger houses have wasted space. It's a particular dislike of JD's that houses all have fireplaces/chimneys which aren't used but take up space from rooms the chimney goes through.

It's not something that would be practical for right now because of our kids. Maybe we'll wait and plan to have a home like this when the kids are older and moved out. Or maybe we'll have a slightly bigger house for a family version, still smaller than most family homes.

For now it's just a dream but one day we hope it becomes our reality.