Earlier this year, we bought 14.5 acres which came with a small home on the property. The property is AMAZING. It has sheds for days, tons of woods, a large pond, and a very well built home. As I have been sharing our adventure on social media, I have realized that many only see the highlight reel. All of the outside structures and our amazing animals are usually the main focus. This series is going to be about the things that have been a struggle. Over time, I have realized that there are several things that I now do not have out here on this property. Some of these things I miss terribly and others I didn’t even realize I could live without. Most of these things will be tangible items but today, it is about something a little different. 

And that is space. Inside space. The home is about 1000 sq ft. and consists of 2 actual bedrooms (we made one of the other rooms a master bedroom for right now) and 1.5 baths. Now to be clear, it isn’t the square footage that I am necessarily missing but the closets and cabinet spaces. Only one of our rooms has a closet and then there is a hall closet/pantry and a small closet in the bathroom. That is it. It has made organizing quite challenging when I don’t want to add more furniture to an already smaller home. 

I have had to deal with the fact that everything will have it’s place and that place might be in plain sight. Or that things might be stacked. Or that things just won’t fit. 

Having less space has truly taught us to think about what actually comes into our home. If we cannot say where it will “live” then it can’t come inside or leave the store. Also, it has made us spend more time outside which is the heart of why we moved out here. When most of the kids toys and adventures are outside, that is where they go! Again, just some more closets would be nice!

The main thing that I miss is having people over. It is super hard to do inside. And now that it is summer, it is harder to do things outside. For a while, we didn’t invite anyone over because I was embarrassed of the small space and the lack of organization. If I felt it was chaos, then so would everyone else. But then I realized that I cannot let this pettiness stop us from community. That is just ridiculous! So we have started having people over and eating outside! Hospitality and community just looks different and that is OKAY!That’s what all of this is about. Things look different. In the beginning it was hard, but now it is a perspective shift. Overall, I wouldn’t change living out here for anything else! It has brought our family closer together and made us realize the depth of our love for creation.