Why I prefer my smaller apartment

After having lived in a 2 bedroom apartment for a year I 'upgraded' to a very spacious 3 bedroom detached property with it's own big garden and driveway. I quickly found myself accustomed and found that I just filled the space with stuff very easily. Fast forward a year and myself and my partner decided to relocate and pair this with a big downsize. There were a few factors involved in this decision but for me the downsizing decision came from a financial standpoint (I have recently left my full time job) and also to pursue a simple life and avoid the pressure to constantly move to bigger properties.

I have only lived in my 1 bedroom apartment for a little over a week when writing this but honestly I've already seen benefits. I thought I would really struggle with moving back into a smaller property and would miss all the space but so far I don't at all... as with anything in life there will be pros and cons and all though there are still things I'm getting used to, overall I'm really enjoying living in a smaller space.

Here are the reasons:

1. It's way way easier to keep it clean and looking nice. You would think that having a bigger space would mean ample space and storage which would mean your home would look less cluttered because stuff can be spread out but actually I have found the opposite. I've found that because I now occupy a smaller space, I'm cleaning and tidying way more often and actually putting things away as soon as I'm done using them. I think this is because I know that if I allow a mess to build up in a small space it will look awful very quickly whereas in a bigger space you can get away with it more. I'm finding that I am taking much more pride in how my home looks and I think this is due to how easily it could look bad. Cleaning and tidying the whole of my previous property took hours and hours and a lot of energy but now it really doesn't take long at all and doesn't need to be a big deal.

2. I am loving how minimal I have almost been forced to be. As I said above, when I moved into a big property I just automatically started to fill the space up with stuff and often things I didn't need. So by moving back into a smaller apartment I had to take a long hard look at what I owned and remove anything that I felt was unnecessary. I don't want my space to look busy and cluttered so I am finding I am stricter on what I buy and regularly assessing whether there is anything I should remove. Having a smaller space means I am less likely to buy new things because I know I don't have space to just keep adding stuff.

3. I'm feeling less overwhelmed and stressed. I think this will be an accumulation of life factors but I think this is also partly down to my living space. My living space now is pretty simple and minimal and there's nothing I have that doesn't either serve a purpose or bring me joy. I find it quite mentally freeing to know that i'm using everything in my home for a purpose and nothing is just sitting there collecting dust.

4. My smaller home is less expensive in rent and to run for example the cost of electricity is much less now. Having a smaller property is more energy efficient for example its much quicker to heat in the winter. Also as I now live in a flat and have people living underneath me I find that the heat rises so I can almost benefit of someone else's heating costs. As I am not working in my full time job anymore, again if you're interested in more info about why this is then watch this video here, I'm am glad I have been able to reduce my cost of living a bit to then take the pressure of me financially. Having lower costs will free up money to invest, save or spend on other things. Also, I have found that you end up having things that are multi functional to save space which again saves money. Before I had a desk and a dining table and a console unit and storage units but now i have a multi functional piece of furniture that does it all. This saves space of course but also money.

5. It's cozy and homely. It feels more intimate and I'm optimizing the space much more effectively than I did with a larger home.

6. I'm getting outside more and I'm ventilating more. When I lived in a bigger property I was able to spend days and days inside without going outside without even realising that I hadn't been out but now I don't do that because I am finding I notice quicker that I have been cooped up indoors and need some fresh air. This is a real benefits because being outside is great for my physical and mental health. Also when I lived in a bigger property I would find that it didn't get warm very easily and because the air was circulating in a much larger space it didn't ever feel as though I need fresh air as such but now I have my windows open all the time to let fresh air in and it's so nice.

I'm sure as time goes on I will come across more benefits but also downsides of living in a smaller apartment.

Thanks for reading,

Hayley