Yesterday, being another snow day, (Thanks Bomb Cyclone, whomever you are) I decided to use the extra time to do some “winter cleaning” using the same “spring cleaning” structure that most are accustomed to. It was the regular cleaning, but with all of the extras: baseboards, windowsills, walls, ceiling corners, etc. It reminded me of how often we are asked by folks who want to know more about our tiny lifestyle, “does it only take you minutes to clean a tiny house?”
The answer to that, is no, it takes more than just minutes. The other answer is, it definitely takes a LOT less time than it did in our previous home. We had 3 bedrooms and 3 baths to clean- I still say out loud while I’m cleaning our one bathroom, “we used to have 3 bathrooms to do this for!” I often say it loudly, and in a way that really sounds like an attempt to shame us, as if we should be embarrassed for having had 3 bathrooms. Gerry will often say that I shouldn’t be hard on us, in that the lifestyle we had was what we thought we wanted at that time. It just still amazes me that two people found a way to make use of 3 bathrooms. Things sure have changed.
With tiny living, it does turn a former day of cleaning our old house down to about an hour now, which is a huge change. By the time I’m done with the bathroom, everything else seems easy peasy!
We often have to clean once more in a week now, simply due to the fact that there are two of us, and our dog, in a small space, so things get dusty quicker, and the bathroom sometimes needs a spruce up midweek, but the process is much easier than taking a whole day out of our lives, like it used to. A lot of people could probably skip that midweek clean, but to know me is to know that I am a neat freak, so it is a must for me, and my sanity.
Living tiny not only reduces the cleaning time, but it also allows that extra time to be lived. I also remember paying someone to clean our home when we were too busy to do it ourselves. Cleaning my home is sort of a therapeutic feeling; it gives me a sense of accomplishment, so I actually missed that feeling. Living in a much smaller dwelling, I am able to save the money that was spent on hiring a cleaning service, and take care of it myself, feeling fulfilled, not to mention making sure that my daily activities in our home are conducive to keeping it clean as we go along.
Just as a penny saved is a penny earned…. Time saved is time earned. We use that extra time we now have, by living tiny, in an intentional way- enjoying this life rather than rushing through it. Just another check in the “pro” list of going tiny. This is a winsome lifestyle for us- one in which allows us to breathe easier each and every day.
