Less is more :: Downsizing for light, space and dancing room

Spring is coming, so we've been welcoming the light and giving ourselves a little extra space. A smoky, dark winter left us feeling crowded in and thinking that we'd like to move to a bigger house again. But the thought of a much larger space, and all that entails, doesn't seem quite right for us. We're happy with a modest home and our garden is more than enough for us to tend. Our needs are simple. But still, there was this issue of space.

Much of our furniture was inherited when my parents downsized their home and generously passed half of their furniture on to us. I've grown up with it. We've always lived with it, and it's served us well, but it's never quite fit in all the houses we've lived in. We all have loads of interests and hobbies, so we need room for those. Also, we're running a shop and a school here. Our nest is well lived in! Every six months, we'll experiment with moving the furniture all around, trying to find the perfect spots as everyone grows and changes. Our spaces need to be flexible. Six months ago, it cycled around until everything was in the spot it started at! The owlets are growing so much bigger and our need for space was becoming very real, until a week ago.

My Mama Nurture Project has led me to fixing and unravelling my body and, through thinking about movement, and with a nudge from my osteopath, I found my way to the work of Katy Bowman. I'd been aware of her work before and thought her furniture free lifestyle to be intriguing. We needed flexibility in more ways than one. So naturally I suggested we try it. Accidental minimalism. A little more living like things don't exist, which is our favourite thing to do when we're questioning and challenging ourselves. The answer is usually less. Live with less. Expect less and find more. So we did.

Last weekend, we moved our rather large couches out of our lounge room. They're as old as Big Owlet and a little worse for wear, although still reasonably comfy. But they define the space and take up so much of it that they block out the light and restrict our movement. Similarly, the enormous dining table my Grandfather built, for my childhood home, took up a whole room and ensured that we'd use it to sit at most days while we worked, ate and learned together. But we couldn't use the space for anything else. It's a beautiful thing to gather around a table together. But tables can come in many shapes and sizes and, without an enormous dining room or farmhouse kitchen to fit it, the table wasn't working. Instead, it's much better placed as a studio worktable for me and Huz and our various projects that have never seemed to have a home.

So now we have these connected, multipurpose, open spaces. We have floorspace galore for yoga, music making, dancing, play and lounging around. We have a pile of comfy cushions to sprawl all around, a low table to move around and gather, eat and work at, and seating and spaces at all different heights so we can all change positions freely. We move our bodies more already as we squat and bend and stretch, and my back is much happier for it. Most of all, we have rooms filled with sunshine, warmth, light and dancing. Less is most definitely more.

~ Lauren. xx

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