In a previous career, Nicola Turner’s job was to convince us to buy more. Now she uses this insight to help us consume less and how that ethos impacts her living space.
Words Nicola Turner. Photography Tori Veysey
When we bought our home, my goal was for a place where I only had to plug in my vacuum cleaner once to reach every room. While I’m not a huge fan of vacuuming, there was obviously way more to the decision than just that.
Choosing a smaller house was symbolic of the life we wanted to lead. As a family, we want to live with less stuff, less waste and less impact – with more simplicity and more time. This mindset now drives the big life choices we make. Getting out of the big city and going smaller with our house was a massive turning point; it’s kind of reverse-engineered our life so that it fits with our priorities.
I’ve been blown away by how dramatic the upsides are from going smaller.
The Upsides Of Living Smaller
· Saving time Having everything on a smaller scale saves time. Previously, we were living in a four-bedroom two-bathroom home – I’ve figured out that, compared to now, I was spending an extra 32 minutes on my weekly cleaning (yep, I measure these things).
That’s an additional 28 hours, or 3.5 workdays per year! And that’s not even taking into account the extra window cleaning (if you’re into that). Combine this figure with other home maintenance tasks, looking for things, opening/closing extra curtains – I know it sounds ridiculous, but this stuff fascinates me. When you add it all up, it’s far from insignificant. There are so many other things I would rather be doing with that time.
· Saving money Smaller is cheaper – it’s simple economics. Lower purchase cost for a smaller house, buying less furniture, artwork, doilies and fewer appliances and other stuff, less on heating and electricity, less maintenance – things like painting, repairs and re-carpeting are on a smaller scale, lower property rates.
Saving money and breaking up with the constant quest for more has given us more freedom of choice. Both my husband and I have been able to break up with our corporate salaries. We’ve both reinvented the way we work – we’re now working fewer hours and in jobs that are way more aligned with our purpose.
· Consuming less Living smaller has meant we’ve decreased our impact without even thinking about it. We live to the space we have, which means we’re consuming way less. Think fewer cleaning products, furniture, linen, ditties (that’s what my husband calls knick-knacks and artwork), carpet, appliances … which means less stuff ultimately ending up in landfill. We also consume less of other resources such as electricity and water – we’re not heating or servicing areas of our home that we’re not using.
The Mindset
· Breaking up with more The physical act of going smaller was relatively easy, but I had to make sure my mindset was also along for the ride. Our society is wired to be on a constant quest for more. When it comes to our homes and our stuff, it’s often about newer, bigger and better. Australia and New Zealand have some of the world’s largest square-metre houses per person. I’ve consciously had to break up with the drive for wanting bigger and newer. I often feel like our family is swimming against the tide and, occasionally, I worry about other people’s expectations. But then I remember that everything in life is a choice and we’re making the right one for us.
· A story about choice We have friends with big houses. Sometimes, after visiting, my kids will ask, ‘Why can’t we have a big house, like Nigella?’ (Not her real name.) ‘Why can’t we have a playroom and pool?’
I’m not going to lie – I often ask myself the same question. I still compare myself to other people – I’m only human. Sometimes, I still want the stuff that other people have. Having to explain things to my kids helps me to get things straight in my own head as well.
Here’s what we talk about: everything in life is a choice – we all have limited time, energy and resources, and we need to choose how to spend them. As a family, we choose to have a smaller low-maintenance house without much stuff. Making this choice means we have more freedom to do other things that are important to our family. We work less, go on more holidays, and have more time to just hang out. If
I ever need perspective, I remind myself that it takes me only 45 minutes to clean my whole house. I’m sold.
· Bringing families closer together Living smaller means that we’re physically closer together. I get that this is a double-edged sword! Maybe it will change as my kids get older but, in the meantime, I enjoy having conversations and interacting with what they’re doing when we’re at home together. As long as everyone has their own space to escape to, then it works for us.
Getting It Done
· Make the most of your space Live to the space. We have a small lounge. Instead of trying to squeeze all our furniture into it, we got rid of some. This makes the space way more usable. It’s a compact space but there’s always more than enough room for the kids to build huts, my erratic, impromptu yoga sessions and indoor picnics. We also have a family rule that you have to put away what you’re using before getting anything else out.
I love the idea of multifunctional spaces. One day, I’d love to have one of those beds that folds into the wall (I’m sure I got the idea from watching ‘Full House’ as a child), or switch to Japanese futons that you pack away. It’s such a smart idea – beds just sit there all day, taking up space!
· Everything in its place Having less of everything makes it easier to have a place for everything and frees up usable space. I’m pretty intentional about where stuff goes in our home – this keeps me sane and frees up the space so it’s usable. Having less stuff means I’ve always got more than enough cupboard space for everything. I’m also a big fan of Marie Kondo’s box approach. I’m not patient enough to keep all small things orderly, and having boxes means I can get away with throwing items in while keeping everything together and easy to find.
While good storage and organisation are important, be wary of using this as an excuse to just have more stuff!
· Less stuff in your space If you had opened my linen cupboard a few years ago, you would have found enough sheets to sleep 18 people (with both summer and winter options).
We live in a 110 square metre house – I’m pretty sure I couldn’t actually fit that many people on my floor. Then there’s the fact that it would never happen. It was a case of only ever using the first few sets and never getting to the other ones (the classic 80/20 rule). I now have two summer sets and one winter set per bed.
If I have a massive influx of friends wanting to stay, I can rock out the sleeping bags or ask them to bring their own sheets. I figured out I had all that linen ‘just in case’. Statistically, that ‘just in case’ was highly unlikely to ever happen. I realised that, if it did, I had ways of dealing with it.
It wasn’t only the sheets. Our home was full of things we rarely used. It felt like the amount of stuff we owned was constantly multiplying. All of it was taking up space, time and energy, and holding onto it, when other people could be using it, started to feel like a waste.
· ‘Just in case’ We feel like we need certain things. We have things ‘just in case’ (like my linen stash), or maybe we were given them as a wedding present, or maybe Target or Briscoes had a sale. Sometimes, we hold onto things because they have meaning, or because we’re conditioned to feel like we should own things. By shifting to being conscious of why you’re holding onto things, you can address whether or not you really need them.
· Furniture F-waste is a thing. Yep, we’re wasting so much furniture at home and work, it needs its own abbreviation.
A generation ago, furniture and décor was an investment that you had for life. Now, it’s a fashion trend with seasonal colours, textures and designs. At the risk of sounding like my grandfather – things also just aren’t made to last like they used to.
I’m a big fan of second-hand furniture. It has personality and you get a good sense of how it lasts and looks after some wear and tear. I’d way rather get something restored and re-covered than buy it new.
I aim for timeless design that’s not going to date. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’ve been into Scandinavian design for a while – it’s functional, intentional and beautiful, and it hasn’t gone out of style yet (at least, I don’t think it has).
Extracted with permission from Living Lightly: The Busy Person’s Guide to Mindful Consumption by Nicola Turner, Harper Collins NZ, $45.
