I grew up in a Big Old House built between 1835-1865. And yet, that Big Old House had its cozy little spaces, which forever endeared me to tiny spaces and tiny houses. For quite a few years of my life, my place in my parents' house was a 10'x10' bedroom, phenomenally messy.
This Big Old House was filled with antiques and Interesting Things, so from early childhood, my idea of a neat house to live in was either a tiny stone cottage filled with antiques and Interesting Things, or a Big Old House, preferably with a tower, filled with antiques and Interesting Things. (My Big Old House does not have a tower, alas. But there is another Big Old House with a tower that I get to see every day right down the road.)
For quite a few years now, I've been struggling with the space in my Big Old House and trying to recreate it to work in a more efficient, less cluttered way. That has involves lots of decluttering and downsizing, stuff-wise, not that you can particularly tell I've gotten rid of anything at all...and there's a reason for that.
This is not me:
This is me:
Neither pictures are current; my desk isn't even in that room anymore (and I'm not even using the same desk, for that matter), but you get the idea, I'm sure. While I love the idea of a simply furnished, Shaker-style house, it's just not me. If I lived in a Shaker-style house or a small stone cottage, perhaps things would be different. (Although I'm not so sure.) Right now, I live in a Big Old House with a lovely bay window, large windows, a big kitchen, and too much space for one person. But it's where I live, and where I'm going to be living (barring anything catastrophic) for the next foreseeable few years.
So with that in mind, I'll be aiming towards comfortably cluttered instead of outrageously so. And my childhood dream of living in a Big Old House filled with antiques and Interesting Objects need not disappear after all.
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