Accidentally Downsizing

Who downsizes right after having a baby?

We do. That’s who.

But not on purpose. Not on purpose at all.

As you know, we recently moved to Virginia from Michigan and, after the house we had planned on renting fell through, we ended up in an apartment.

The apartment is far and away the nicest place we’ve ever lived – there’s AC and a dishwasher and hardwoods and new appliances and a fireplace – and we are SO happy we landed here.

The one little catch? It’s smaller than we expected.

Like, significantly smaller.

Our last home had more square footage than our apartment, PLUS a basement and a garage. We had it so good.

The real kicker here is that by the time we knew we would be living in a smaller-than-anticipated place, all of our belongings and furniture had already been loaded onto a moving truck and were on their way to Virginia. 

You should also know that I can’t stand clutter. It makes me anxious. I like negative space and cleared off surfaces and, in my ideal world, things we don’t use regularly are out of sight entirely. 

Nevertheless, the moving truck arrived and all of our belongings that had filled 1,400 square feet and a basement and a garage were unloaded into our 1,200 square foot apartment. Clutter and chaos abounded. My stress level went up far higher than I would like to admit. 

So, we accidentally downsized. I was initially unhappy about this, but, I’ve decided there are some serious pros to the situation.

First, we are being forced to learn how to use our space most efficiently. We are de-cluttering, deciding what we really need to have in our home, organizing and arranging and rearranging to make things fit, and getting rid of the things that just won’t.

Second, I think having a smaller space will prevent us from keeping things we don’t need. I am alway surprised by how quickly we accumulate stuff when we have the space to store it. So I am happy that we won’t be able to do this. 

Lastly, our current apartment feels like a very manageable size. Not so big that maintaining it is an overwhelming project, but big enough to give us the space we need. We want to be good stewards of our home and the things in it, and I think the smaller size makes that – at least a little – easier.