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

My mug shot

This is every mug I own. How many did I buy? Zero. They seem to just appear. I don't even drink tea or coffee. In winter I have might have a hot chocolate or cocoa. So 9 mugs seems like a lot. How does this happen? I reckon most mugs are gifts. There are two reasons for this. 1. It's a safe bet. People need to drink. It's kind of like buying your dad socks for father's day. But the difference is that socks wear out and need replacing. Cups don't. One of these mugs i received as a kid in the 90s. It still works fine. Now it has 8 friends. 2. It's often for what's on the mug. It might be a greeting card-style message, or a sports team logo, or something humorous. It's a good thing that something functional can also provide an inspiring message or pleasant memory as you use it. But the problem comes when we have too much. If I use the cup my sister gave me at Christmas, then I'm not using the 'awesome brother' one she already gave m...

Adam ruins work

The TV show Adam Ruins Everything took a look at the workplace - and the 40 hour work week. It confirms my thoughts that the 40-hour work week (or at least it's relevance today) is a figment of our imagination. Very enlightening. Watch it now . The first 7 minutes are the most relevant. There were some astonishing stats coming out of it. For example, we spend only 45% of the work week doing our actual job (not including meetings etc). That's about 18 hours per week. Interestingly, that's what experts predicted. With rises in productivity, the 1950s brought talk of a 4-day work week. By 2030 they reckoned we might work just 15 hours per week. But instead we work longer hours. That results in more mistakes and safety mishaps. It also reduces brain function. We might think that it's being productive but Adam points to countries that have as much prosperity as America while working much shorter hours. A classic case of 'less is more'. PS. for the basis of ...

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...

But wait... there's less!

Search This Blog