5 Reasons I Love Living in a Small Apartment

James in his private dining, aka the patio

Brock, James, and I live in a pretty small apartment that makes me really happy. Before we moved to California, we lived in a much smaller apartment in Chicago that was just one bedroom and one bathroom. Now that we've moved to an apartment with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, I've had people ask if our new apartment feels huge to me after our old one. I've found that it really doesn't- it's still small but this one feels like it's the perfect size for us.

There are a lot of things I like about living in a small apartment and I can honestly say I have no desire (at this point) to move into anything bigger. And if we did decide to move and found a place where we lost some square feet, I wouldn't mind at all. Here is why I love living in a small space:

1. Cleaning is not an all-day job
Vacuuming the whole apartment, cleaning up the kitchen, and quickly wiping down the bathrooms will take Brock and me maybe half an hour. Since it is really important to us to have a tidy home, this is a huge benefit of living in a small apartment. Actually, it is for this reason alone that I never want to live in a big house. I would never want to clean all that!

2. No need for a baby monitor
We have never needed a baby monitor in our home because it simply is not big enough for us not hear James cry. We actually did buy one last summer when we were staying at our parents' houses and having to use a baby monitor always makes me slightly paranoid. Is the volume turned up all the way? Is it close enough to our bed that we can hear it? Is it plugged in so the battery won't die in the night? Whew. I much prefer to be able to hear James from the adjoining room rather than using a monitor.

3. You always know where your family members are
I have many memories from growing up where I would have no idea who of my family was home and I would have to comb the whole house to find my mom. Situations like that never happen in our little apartment. You always know where everyone else is and once you walk through the door you can pretty much pinpoint exactly where the rest of the family is. This is extra beneficial when there is a toddler like James around- there is no where for him to hide!

4. Keeps stuff to a minimum
Having a small apartment is really the best incentive (and the best excuse) for me to keep our stuff pared down. I really love how simple it makes things for me- I cannot buy lots of furniture or bulky toys because we have absolutely nowhere to put them. I think having more space would stress me out feeling like I would need to fill it up, but the way we have feels perfectly manageable to me.

5. Easy to find stuff you lost
This reason is key for me. I lose my slippers about 10 times a day. My slippers are extremely integral to keeping my feet warm, which by extension makes them integral to my happiness and overall comfort in life. So, when I cannot remember where I took them off I get extremely frustrated. Luckily, it takes less than 2 minutes to search the apartment so I always find them right away. We're also able to find keys, wallets, water bottles, etc. with (almost) no problems and I'm always so glad for that.