Living Large In Little Houses: Sam’s UK Home

Today we’re visiting with Sam. She lives in Kent, UK with her husband, their two year old daughter and their puppy, Betsy. Sam blogs at Dove Cottage.

An entryway with a bit of boho style. Always nice to have a place to take your shoes off or put them on before you head out the door.

Sam seems to have a narrow living room, which is pretty common in small space homes.

The kitchen is about the size you’d expect. Just enough room to turn around and touch the opposite cabinet!

And a boho bathroom. It looks all ready for a nice bath with bubble bath and soft music playing.

Their daughter’s room. All pretty in pink. Looks comfy and sweet.

Boho in the bedroom as well. And plants. Plants make a home feel cozy no matter the size.

I like the wallpaper. Looks to be only on the wall where the head of the bed is. Nice to have a feature wall.

Let’s chat with Sam now and ask her about her lovely home.

Questionnaire:

How long have you lived in your small space home?

We’ve lived in this home for five and a half years now. This is our first home and definitely starting to think about moving on soon! Hopefully this year.

Did you actively seek small space living and why? Price? Downsizing?

It was definitely a price thing! We rented an apartment in a city, Canterbury in the South East of the UK and wanted to get on the property ladder and buy our own place. Which unfortunately meant moving out of the city and into the rural villages around it.

This meant we could afford a small house, which was great, however this was absolutely the biggest place we could stretch to!

Which room has proven to be most problematic for you?

The trickiest room has absolutely been our tiny spare room – its seen about five different variations by now I think! Its awkwardly shaped, with no built-in storage at all. Meaning we’ve never really worked out what to do with the space.

It started off as a snug with a sofa, TV and PlayStation (mainly for my husband!), then I nabbed it to be a sewing/crafting room, and its now a spare room with single bed.

Do you have a pantry and/or linen closet?

I don’t have either of those things unfortunately! My linen is stored in storage boxes on a shelf in the tiny spare room. It’s my dream one day to have a pantry though!

Where do you store small appliances and things like ironing boards, etc?

All our small appliances such as ironing board, vacuum cleaner etc. are stored in a small cupboard under the stairs. I have to make sure we have regular clear-outs to prevent things spilling out from there and into the hallway.

Where do you store seasonal/holiday decor?

All my seasonal decor (of which I have a lot as Christmas is definitely my favourite time of year!) is boxed up and stored in the attic.

What do you like best about living in a small space?

Our rooms are cosy, and I find it easy to style spaces without artwork or interiors looking ‘lost’ in a huge room. It also means I have to keep myself very tidy and organised – everything has to have a home. Otherwise we’d have even less space than we do now!

I think if we lived in a larger house I’d probably be a little more relaxed with de-cluttering and spring cleaning, as it wouldn’t matter as much.

What do you find most challenging about living in a small home?

I find it very challenging living in a small home, especially since our daughter has come along. She has brought so much stuff with her that its tricky to store it all neatly!

What projects are you wanting to start but haven’t tackled yet?

I’ve put my stamp on every room now with the exception of the en-suite to our master bedroom. I’d absolutely love to get my hands on it, and perhaps replace the flooring and wall tiles.

What made you fall in love with this house?

I knew this house was ‘the one’ as soon as we walked through the front door! We’d viewed so many properties previously which were much smaller, and the fact this house had an en-suite and conservatory really surprised me!