Small Space, Bigger Marriage?

So, in my quest for making our townhouse bearable small house decorating tips, I came across a terrific blog resource – the Jewel Box Home.

This online site provides a guide to decorating, entertaining and joyful living in a smaller home. I’m going to be spending a lot of time here. I can already tell.

And, upon my first visit, Lo! and Behold!, a blog post asking if a smaller house makes for a happier marriage? Ummm, well, I dunno…

The Jewel Box Home author, Genevieve, makes very compelling arguments for how a smaller space would force togetherness and compromise. I will not argue with her points. Because she’s right. There’s no getting away from me him in our small place. He’s just going to have to deal.

But, that means I have to deal, too. And, therein lies another side of the coin.

Anyone who knows me (or hangs around this blog long enough), knows that I wish to run screaming from vacate our 1,500 square foot townhouse. Husband swore we would be here temporarily. (Note to self: Next time ask his definition of “temporary.”) Upon moving day, I was told we would build and move into our dream house, tout de suite.

(For the record, our dream house is not a McMansion, either. It’s a respectable 3,500 square foot home that will include two offices – we run our own businesses –, a home gym and guest quarters. So, that’s not so big.)

Alas, five years later and two stepsons’ college tuitions later, we’re still here, where he trips over my shoes in the hall and I get to view growing stacks of paper, magazines and newspapers on our kitchen table.

Before we moved in together I had a 2,500 square foot home to myself. I do believe it was the first time I did not have to “switch out” my winter and summer clothes. There was a guest bedroom and office where all my overflow stuff could, well, overflow. And, I could stretch out onto the couch at any time I wanted. No one was going to ask me to “scoot over.”

I wasn’t always so space piggy, though.

My favorite place I ever lived was a 565 square foot, one bedroom condo in Arlington, Virginia. In the dead of winter, I could see the Washington monument from my parking lot. In the spring I was greeted with flowering magnolia and pink dogwood trees at my front door. It had a fireplace. And, cathedral ceilings. Even a one-person washer/dryer unit in the one-of-two closets. I was in heaven. I had no room to add anything, once I moved in. But, I loved it anyway.

But, I have come to realize that what made this small place so grand included a few things missing from our current small place. For one, silence.

As I write, I can hear the television news from downstairs. This is not an unusual day, either. I regularly hear the news. Blaring in every. single. corner of the place. So, until they come up with uber soundproofing that can muffle CNBC, I’m going to continue to dream of more space.

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