The living room is very small and the kitchen is pretty tiny as well.

This post originally appeared onThe Simple Dollar.

I grew up there with my parents and two older brothers.

There were also periods where my mothers younger brothers lived with us, too.

It was cozy at times, to say the least.

Yet, when I look back on it, I dont have any bad memories of living there.

I dont recall any situation where things were made uncomfortable due to the smallness of the house.

There was always somewhere I could go for privacy.

The house I live in today is much larger, but the story is much the same.

I live here with my wife and we have three children.

There is always room for privacy and there is always room for projects.

So, why the bigger house?

Naturally,when you have storage space, you tend to fill it.

We have boxes of old childrens clothes and toys.

Many of our personal collections have grown, such as our board game collection.

Recently, however, Ive been thinking more and more about the house I grew up in.

Why Live in a Smaller House?

So, why would I even consider downsizing?

For me, it really comes back to three key things.

There are more things that can break and need to be fixed.

There are more things that simply need attention.

The insurance is higher.

The maintenance costs are higher.

Smaller Houses and Social Status

Some people view their homes as a status symbol.

Often, part of that sense of status comes from the size of the house.

I really dont care what they think of me.

It just doesnt have an impact in any real way.

They come to visitbecause they like my company.

Am I engaged in work that I enjoy?

Do I have time for leisure and relaxation?

Do I have a good relationship with the people closest to me?

That, to me, is success.

Makes sense, right?

The first problem that pops up isfinding the right size.Im obviously open to a smaller house, buthowsmall?

Lets get the small house thing out of the way right now.

I want something a little larger than a small house, then.

I want one with a functional basement on a proper foundation with tiling.

Yet, on the other hand, our current home is honestly a bit too big.

And thats just scratching the surface of what should really be purged from our storage space.

So, what do we actually use?

We really only use one of our two family rooms and only two of our four bathrooms.

The boxes in our closets.

The furniture in rarely-used rooms.

The loft and the shelves in the garage full of all kinds of items.

What do we do with all of that stuff?

We need to shred old papers.We have several boxes of old papers that simply need to be shredded.

They simply need to be shredded and properly disposed of, which is itself a sizable task.

My solution for this problem is touse a simple evaluation systemfor everything in the closets.

If the answer is no, then get rid of it.

Then, if you use an item with masking tape on it, remove the tape.

Then, revisit the closet in a year and remove all items with tape still on them.

A well-organized space means everything takes up minimal space while still being easily accessible.

Our closets and other storage spaces tend toward the former, unfortunately.

Things like temporary shelves, wire racks, clearly-labeled boxes, and so on are definitely in order.

Pulling the Trigger

With such a clear game plan, why arent we downsizing, then?

The idea of movingand losing such close access to those thingsis something that none of them enjoy.

We have no reason to move for school.

We have no reason to move for social reason.

We have no real reason to move for improved access to cultural things.

Our current location is pretty good in all of those regards.

So Why Consider It?

Reorganizing our storage spaces makes our stuff that we choose to keep more accessible, too.

That house would cost less.

It would have lower property taxes and lower insurance.

It would also require less time and effort for maintenance.

And I wouldnt actually lose any genuinely useful living space.

The Challenge of Moving to a Smaller Home| The Simple Dollar

Trent Hamm is a personal finance writer atTheSimpleDollar.com.

Image bymhatzapa(Shutterstock).