Designing an optimized space

A Small Space, No Room to Hide

I have been working around a small space for quite a while, transitioning from living in a pretty good sized house to a small condominium. In small spaces you really have to be aware and careful about what you bring in. There simply isn't a lot of room. On social media I see spaces that are really pretty and cozy, and I wanted something like that, but I also wanted to be functional.

The Pottery Barn Wake-Up Call

I went to the Pottery Barn store to look at different end table options for my couch in the living room. I like Pottery Barn. It's a little expensive, but they have design elements that are easy to emulate. The sales associate asked if he could help, and while I was looking at their displays, I began showing him pictures of my space. The man almost winced when he saw the pictures. He said I needed to clear out, and adding one more piece wasn't going to change anything, there were already too many. Design is critical, he said. I know he was holding back a little, but the essence of what he said was clear out everything except the anchor points, meaning the couch, the chair, and a couple other things. Then he said, sit with it, live with it, and see how that feels. Then we start to add.

So that's what I did. I came home and got rid of one of the bulky end tables and all the knickknack objects that were frankly everywhere. I got a trashcan and really looked at the things that were stored. The large pieces at the end of the couch were used for storage. They had all sorts of things in there, including hundreds of candles (I don't know why), old books, just junk. Most of the stuff had been in those boxes for eight to ten years and obviously served no purpose. So out with all of that. And since the stuff was no longer inside of it, I no longer needed the storage. So that went too.

Long story short, I'm sitting with a few key things. One couch, two chairs, and a small ottoman. And now I'm living with that, and it feels very good.

The Bigger Metaphor

I think this is a great metaphor for what we do in our lives. A friend of mine made a large announcement earlier this month, where he needed to remove some activities from his schedule, not only his schedule but also his responsibilities. The things were weighing him down. As a giver, a pleaser, and an open heart, this man said yes to many, many things. But it was weighing him down. I don't know the inner workings of what was going on with him, but if I parallel it with myself, I keep looking for that one thing that would make everything better. But without removing some things, the space gets cluttered. The mental space, the physical space, the space on a calendar, the space for relationships, and the financial burden that all of this creates.

So a trip to a retail store, and a Bible study, really made me look at the design of my life. What I have found is there is no design. There is simply an accumulation without purpose. I think there is great wisdom in offloading elements, and then sitting with it. Sitting in the space, with no intention.