Today I wasted too many hours searching the Internet for decorating ideas for small space living with kids. I found some interesting ideas, read about families who had downsized, and generally got frustrated and overwhelmed. I saw children packed into strange custom built cubes in studio apartments, families with very young kids, and lots of pages featuring gorgeous Murphy beds and expensive Resource furniture that I could never hope to afford. In my hours online what I didn't find was anyone doing downsizing that I could relate to.
Here's my deal. I'm a single mom of 2 teens (DD 13, DS 15) and 2 cats. We have recently relocated to the big city after 5 years of living in a smaller town in the Great White North. I could have found us a 1200 sq ft townhouse in the 'burbs but I wanted to be in the catchment for specific schools and the idea of a long commute to work does not appeal to me. I've rented a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 870 sq. ft. condo on the 15th floor of a downtown high rise. It has absolutely no storage, a poorly laid out kitchen, and balcony I can barely set foot on (fear of heights) but I can look out my floor-to-ceiling windows and admire the Rocky Mountains at sunset. I sold my big furniture (sofa, bed, bookcases, etc) so I could afford to make the move. I also got rid of boxes and boxes of 'stuff', something that is very hard for someone in my profession to do! So now I'm saving to buy replacement furniture that is space efficient. At the same time, my family will be making some major lifestyle shifts to use less, spend less, waste less, eat better, walk more, play more and enjoy our time together before they go off to university in 4-6 years. We will be exploring our new urban neighbourhood for family friendly fun and maybe travelling a little with any money we manage to save.
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