Thrify Thursday: Simplicity

I love doing the Thrifty Thursday posts because they make me think more consciously about why I do what I do.   One of the values that Dan & I have always had is to live a simple lifestyle.  

We don't have to have the best of everything.  We don't have the latest gadgets.  I don't have to have designer clothing or fancy jewelry.

This goes for living arrangements too.  I've been spoiled here the past few years because we've lived in a fairly large home.  So that means, if someone said, "Could you use xyz?" I generally said, "Yes!" because we had the space.   We are currently living a in a two story, 4 bedroom home.  It also has a living room, dining room, and a large "extra" room built onto it.

We are moving to a 3 bedroom, double wide, modular home.  After the initial shock/dismay at realizing how much smaller it is, I realized that I would just have to remember the "simplicity" model.  We served for 10 years in an inner city ministry and always lived in 2 bedroom apartments with 3 children.  Granted, the kids were small then, but with some creativity, I can do this! :-)

That means however, that I'm going to be using rooms in a different way.

For example, one of our values is also entertaining.  We love company and large crowds don't scare me.  We have a huge dining room table that was given to us and it expands to sit 14.  It's big, bulky and will take up the entire dining room (which is just an extension of the living room) in the new place.

So, I decided to turn the living room (the room Dan is facing) into a dining room.  


The space that's intended for a dining room will just become a little sitting area where people can visit with me while I cook.  See the lettering on the wall to the left?  It says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"  Love it!

The room that you see straight ahead through the doors is a sun room that was added to the house.  It is very large and that will be our living room area.  I'll just have to carve out a little corner for my sewing.

It runs the length of the house and has a gas heater at one end.  If I leave the door open to the rest of the house and use a space heater, we should be good.

The kitchen is small, but still much larger than what I have now.  And it has that island there for extra space.  I can envision lots of entertaining going on! :-)

I'm in the process of sorting, decluttering, and downsizing.  Our piano which no one ever plays is going tomorrow.  I have bags of things here or there that are going to the thrift shop, friends, or garbage.  There are a few other pieces of furniture that I'll need to give away.

I'm actually enjoying getting back to a bit more simplicity which is what being frugal is all about!