Each Tuesday will highlight the ups and downs of small-scale living and some of the reasons why people make that lifestyle choice.
This week, meet the folks at Bungalow Ranch Style.
Location: Portland, OR
Square footage: 900 sq ft plus a 400 sq ft unfinished basement
Number of people/pets: 2 adults, 1 cat, 1 dog
What is your favorite and least favorite, or the what you would change, parts of living in a small home?
Our house lives big. It has a great floor plan with large public areas in front of the house, but also has well-lit, adequately sized private areas and lots of closet space in the back of the house. It really is about the efficiency of the floor plan and the balancing open space with closed space. Shared areas need to be big enough to avoid conflict and collisions, but you also need places where you can be alone. The only thing we really lack is an additional 1/2 bath. It would be nice to have an extra toilet and shower every now and then.
What circumstances led to living in a small home? Was it a choice to downsize, a desire to create a smaller carbon footprint on the environment, or some other situation?
We chose a smaller house because it fits our lifestyle. We’d rather be out in the community or in our yard than paging each other from opposite sides of the house. There’s also the amount of time you spend cleaning. It takes a lot less time to clean 900 sq ft of floor than 2500 sq ft. While we did consider conservation of resources, we also ended up buying an older home that isn’t quite as energy efficient as new construction can be. Even so, we use much less electricity and gas, we’re able to have a substantial garden on our city-sized lot. The other added benefit to a smaller house is that you can take money you have budgeted for renovations and apply it to quality, instead of quantity. We’re able to use more salvaged and natural materials and also afford low/no-VOC paint and other “green” products.
What changes have you made to your home since you moved in? Has it just been paint and decor, or more elaborate renovations?
We’re about to start remodeling the kitchen, but we’re going to keep the existing cabinetry since they’re made of the original solid Douglas fir from 1952, when our house was built. We’re also going to be refinishing the floors. We’ve replaced the sink in our bathroom and made plaster repairs. We’ve also painted everything, made new window coverings, and spent a lot of time landscaping our yard. Eventually, we may try to add a 1/2 bath and quest quarters (really a place for us to sleep when it gets really hot in the summer) in the basement and also finish the laundry area.
Where do you get furniture and other small scale items for your home? Any favorite shops or websites?
IKEA is a godsend. We also like salvage stores like Portland’s Rebuilding Center and Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. Otherwise, I just consider scale when purchasing furniture. Most stores have smaller versions of their models of furniture. For example, when we bought our sofa the floor model was 85″ but we ordered the 60″ version of the same sofa.
Would you ever upgrade back up to a larger home?
No. If anything, I’d rather have a bunch of tiny pied-a-terres all around the world.
Thanks, folks!
Come back next week for the new chat with Rachel from California.
For more posts in this series, check out this page.
