Living Small. Dreaming big.

We built our Grace Lane home for our living pleasure, but also as an example of both building green and living small.  By illustration we hoped to do our part in changing the American home ideal from too big to just right.    We have happily experienced living in 860 square feet for the last several years.

Large garden with 860 square foot home in three separate buildings.

Then we decided to sell our home to purchase Thistle and live aboard permanently. 

Thistle with covered patio and a world to rove.  

This  plan meant we would reduce our living space from 860 square feet  to 110 square feet.  A huge reduction in space but we were mostly confident we could do it.  After all, we’d been going from small home to smaller home for years.  Eliminating our valued possessions had become easier with each downsizing.  We learned what was required for today’s needs, not worrying about special event needs.  We learned that a thrift store is perfect  for spillover storage.  In our town the thrift store, Good Cheer, supports our community’s food bank so buying and returning items helps our community as well as helping us stay bare boned.  This buy and sell model gives us access to the extra platter or bowl  for an overflow event but keeps us free of clutter.

Good Cheer Thrift Store, Langley, WA

What we didn’t expect in our most recent downsize was our reaction when we returned home three weeks ago from our  month of travel in Thistle.  At dinner, an evening or two after our return, I looked at Ed and said, “This house feels too big.  I’m rattling around.” He looked at me and laughed, saying, “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”   Our small home is too big?  What?  Although our small home lives big, it's not big.  Although the design is brilliant providing double or triple use of every space, it's still small.  But, for us, it's now also too big.

With our van-living doubts ousted, any skepticism has been replaced with the certainty that we weren’t crazy when we decided to live full time in Thistle.  We are looking forward to the day when our  too-big home is sold and we are on the road permanently, living small and dreaming  big.

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"Let your dreams outgrow the shoes of your expectations."

~Ryunosuke Satoro