Skip to main content

Living in a converted barn

Could you live in a converted barn? Could we? My wife and I tried out this small cottage. I'm guessing it's around 35 - 40 m2.


It's decorated to have that barn look from the outside, but inside it is quite modern. Down one end are the bathroom and the kitchen, which are more spacious than I expected.



At the other end is the bedroom and sitting area (along with a table of tourist brochures). Behind the central curtain is an outdoor seating area.


Tiny home enthusiasts: there is also a loft. It looks like there are hooks for a ladder to get up there.


Could we live there?

Obviously, visiting on a holiday is different to making a permanent home. On a trip you leave things behind. Your washing machine, musical instruments, bicycles, and Christmas tree - to name just some.

Having said that, I think it would be very possible to live in a space this size. The height is a great feature as it allows for much storage, both in a loft above a room and by having even more cupboard space in the kitchen.

We got to thinking how we would (in theory) live in a space like this. We'd add more clothes storage, like a wardrobe where the brochure table is; and probably some under-bed clothes drawers. The kitchen table would double as my blogging desk.

We'd have to downsize our paperwork to get it into a couple of drawers in the kitchen. Same goes for downsizing all the stuff that's in our garage to the point where it could fit in a space like the loft.

The key really is how much stuff we own - that we don't really need. It's got me inspired to do another round of downsizing.

You may like to download my free ebook Less Clutter More Cash. It's our tips from selling 350+ items online, freeing up space in our home and making thousands of dollars. :)

PS. This is the second of my travel series after a recent trip (here's the first). Subscribe above or follow on facebook for the rest of the series.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What to do with 128 pens?

I never need buy a pen again. Ever. The pen round-up. I searched the house for pens and gathered them up. We had 128. Woah - that's more than I expected. Then it was test-time. (You can get a lot done watching summer sport ;). Good ones went on the table. Broken ones in the box. Pen operations I saved a few 'broken' pens, by taking working insides and matching them with functional outsides. Particularly much-loved pens, for sentimental reasons, were given a life-extending 'ink transplant'. Final Tally We ended up with 67 broken pens and 61 good ones. And about 10 pencils. What to do with 67 broken pens? In my city Biome recycles pens . It's as easy as taking them into the store and dropping them into the giant collection box. Decluttering and recycling together - I love it. A lifetime of pens An average pen writes 45,000 words. So that dedicated shopping list pen on the fridge could write a 20-word shopping list for 43 years. Our 61 pens repre...

How to never worry about the share market

The Ulysses Contract doesn't sound like a book about investing. The subtitle "How to never worry about the share market again" is what grabbed my attention. The book is mostly about the mindset and strategy of investing in shares. The obscure title refers to Greek mythology, the temptation of the siren songs, and the measures Ulysses took to keep his ship and crew safe - including being tied to the mast of the ship, to hold himself to his own plan. In the book, Michael Kemp outlines the temptations (siren songs) in the share market, gives some solid guiding principles (the mast) that investors can secure themselves to, and outlines his idea of a Ulysses contract for investing. The temptations include spending too much on consumer items (it's hard to invest if we spend all our income) doing what everyone else is doing (when the crowd is selling, it might be the best time to buy) expert predictions (not worth that much, and can be wrong as much as right) market-timing, ...

Four Thousand Weeks - Time and How to Use It

First question. Why 4000 weeks? That's the average human lifespan. If you're reading this you've probably used up 1000 already. If you're a bit older you may have only 2000 left. Maybe just 1000. That can be a startling thought - given how quickly each week goes by. There's so much wisdom in this book, it's hard to summarise it briefly. But I'll give it a go.... Face the Finitude If time was infinite, we could work for 40 years and not miss out on anything. We could spend frivolously as we could always earn more money later. But in the real world there are time limits. Even if we have enough money to escape the nine-to-five, our time (though more plentiful) is finite. Just like money, we will run out if we fritter it away on low-value options. "Face the Finitude" has become one of my internal phrases now. It's my reminder that I don't have infinite time to waste. It may be helpful to think of it like money. eg. I might like something, but d...