I was musing the other day about small space living. A friend who lived i a 25 foot fifth wheel trailer for a couple of years pointed out that it really felt like he had much more space because he spent so much time outdoors. Another small house (650 square feet) dweller said that just having a 36 inch tall bookcase as a divider behind the desk and chair at one end of the living space was enough give him the sense of having a separate office  space of his own, even when the rest of the family was in the room with him.

We are used to building walls as boundaries in this country and we somehow, most of us, continue to think that bigger is better and that we need ever more space. I'm still not convinced that we own our stuff rather than the other way around because most of the space is used to store stuff rather than to actually live in. When all is said and done, except for the catered sit down dinner,when you have people over to share a meal, most folks crowd nto the kitchen/dining room area and the rest of the house stays empty.

Most of us shared bedrooms and televisions sets just fine with other family members. I think we probably got to know them a lot better too because we actually spent time with them rather than having each one in their own room with their own television and/or computer.

My two favorite places that I have lived in were a 450 square foot studio apartment in San Francisco (okay it was right after college and I didn't have that much stuff, an 8x35 foot fifth wheel travel trailer I lived in with my husband for 6 months and another 450 square foot studio apartment for a year or so in 2005-2006. Having a larger house only works for me now because that way I have room for an office separate from the sewing and painting (acrylic) and fiber art. My husband has someplace to build airplanes (remote control, not the real ones) and garden scale railroads and do woodworking. I think we really should just buy an old warehouse and make a small apartment in one end!

Of course, my other belief is that smaller homes are greener because they use less resources too, which means making a smaller impact on the planet.