Fewer Things, Lately

For a period of time, I used to document all the things we edited from our home. It was fun but I couldn't keep up with it. But I have been on a tear lately, analyzing things in our space that I had previously just accepted. A few items were of note so I thought I would share what, why and how we edited them from our space.

Ironing Board

Recently I replaced our iron and ironing board with a steamer. We rarely iron our clothes and the full-size ironing board took up precious space shoved beside our washer and dryer along with our drying rack making every time we needed to use either item a potential trap where either item could fall on top of us. The portable steamer takes up the same amount of room as the iron and is good enough for our purposes (pressed shirts are not high on our priorities). I'm still learning how to use it but it came highly recommended from a stylist friend and interior designer friend. I love when I don't have to do extensive research on something and can just trust expert opinions. (UPDATE: Here is the steamer I bought... link .)

Step Stool

We had a cute small wooden step stool in our bathroom since Theo needed one. It's served us well and barely fits the two of them on it (causing many dangerous shoving moments). Since Mae could walk, she has enjoyed sitting still and colouring (something I have yet to experience with our firstborn). So I bought 2 small ikea Flisat stools (I'm a big fan of the Flisat line) and the tiniest table they make. I bought the table and stools as an experiment and they've turned out to be quite a hit. I'm pretty sure Theo has only sat on the stools a handful of times but Mae likes to sit and colour often. They use them to climb and sometimes to eat at the "kids" table with little friends. Anyway they have been a happy addition to our tiny home and they tuck away in a corner of the kids room when not in use around the house. Mae started carrying the stools around the house to access things she wanted and started bringing one into the bathroom so she didn't have to share the stepstool with Theo (smart girl). Watching her carry this stool around the house (which is hilarious by the way, "Ma do it!" as she insists) reminded me that moving a small stool around the house is not a big deal but gaining the space of the step stool is. So the step stool is gone and one of the flisat stools is in it's place or carried there when needed. I may regret this move for now the bathroom feels more spacious.

Once again more than any clever addition to our space, removing something is always the best way to have our space feel lighter and bigger. I've been spending some time lately re-imagining our current space and all it could be (if only I had the budget to gut it and start fresh!). I'm currently inspired by Andrea McLean's renovation of her personal one bedroom home (she shares the progress on her instagram stories) and getting lost in the Clever section of Architectural Digest ( love this 340 square foot cottage, and this 140 square foot studio, or this article of small space ideas). 

The other stool in the place where Mae's mini crib used to be.