I recently moved from a 5 room apartment with lovely views of nature to a 1 room living space. The 5 room apartment was more than I wanted to clean and keep tidy and much too much room for a single person, even with 2 cats. The rent on it was getting humongous as are all the rents in this rental market at this time. The 1 room is a bit hard on my cats, but there is another joint room with washing machine, dryer, sink, large refrigerator, wardrobe closet, and shelves for my canned goods and kitchen supplies I don’t use that often, which my cats explore when I open my door and that extra space keeps the cats happy. There is a window in my room and also one in the room outside my door and my cats enjoy looking out these windows throughout the day. I enjoy adapting to whatever situation I find myself living in and I like figuring out how best to use whatever space I happen to have (and I’ve lived in all kinds of living spaces/situations). I have lived in large spaces and very small spaces and now in my senior years I find I want a much smaller space to live in and a lower rent. Ideally I will get a 1 bedroom apartment in the near future but until then I’m quite contented living where I am.

How I furnished my 1 room living space: I bought a futon/couch for $200 and that serves as a place to sit and as my bed at night. I double a thick comforter and cover the open futon to add some softness to the firmness of the futon (the firmness is good for my back), then put my pillows on my futon bed and my comforter as my cover. I sleep quite well on it. I have a tiny round table near the bed with a lamp, alarm clock, special air filter to catch cat hairs and cat dander, and some tissues on this table. I’m ordering inexpensive large storage bags that fit under the futon couch to store the bedding during the day. On a strong, but lightweight, metal bookcase with 4 shelves I have my “kitchen”. On top shelf I keep my electric burner with spatula and stirring spoons in back and near burners in a small fireproof container; you can cook 2 pots of food at one time on the electric burner. Also, some spices I use all the time fit on this shelf and a cooking timer. The shelf below holds my microwave oven with pot holders hanging over on either side held up by magnetic hooks. Next shelf holds a few dishes, bowls, utensils, cups, glasses, and plastic utensils. Bottom shelf holds my toaster oven and since I hardly use it I store my zip lock bags in it. The burners and microwave are plugged into a power cord and I only switch on one appliance at a time so I don’t overload the outlet. Near my “kitchen” is my large trash can. On one side of this “kitchen” on a TV tray (covered with large plastic bag as it gets a bit wet at times) is my coffee center with my Mr. Coffee, and Epic water filter pitcher. Adjacent to this is a large mirror in back of another TV tray also covered with plastic cover, with my grooming and makeup supplies. In another area of room, near the door, is a small folding table with a table lamp, portable radio, fan, and electric water heater for tea or making 1 cup of coffee in the reusable stainless steel 1 cup coffee filter I use, also on it is a big can of fresh coffee, stevia packets, and plastic spoons. Across from this table, and also near the door, is a small open space, a cutout between two walls, and there I put up a very small tension rod and made a tiny closet for myself and on the floor I keep my small vacuum cleaner, broom, dustpan and brush. Most of my clothes are in a wardrobe closet in the room outside my room. This wardrobe closet also contains shelves on the side where I keep towels, sheets, pillow cases, bathroom supplies, and various other odds and ends and supplies. There was a large built-in bookshelf already in the room which I use to keep cat food on the bottom shelf, coloring markers and art book for when I’m in mood to make designs and color mandela’s. Above that shelf is a shelf with some of my books, a couple of boxes with my personal papers, above that a shelf with my many natural supplements, above that a shelf with fruit bowl and decanters with alcohol which I keep for company (once in rare while may take a tiny bit of wine or brandy) and on top shelf keep a few photos and mainly my emergency LED lanterns and batteries for when there is a power outage. On floor in front of the bookshelf are 2 trays with cat food on small disposable plates and their water bowl. On the side of the bookshelf, on the floor, is their litter box. Then along same wall, I have my comfortable rocking chair with pillows and spread on it and in front of that is small table with my laptop and speaker. I got disgusted with both the commercials and the programs on TV, so I no longer watch TV and watch mainly free Youtube videos, movies and documentaries on YouTube and some on Amazon Prime. Amazingly enough, and almost all of the time, I watch the entire films on YouTube with no ads interrupting the films! In back of my rocking chair and against the wall are the cat scratching post with a place for 1 of the cats to sleep on top, and near their scratching post is their cat tunnel they play in. And near my rocking chair and against an adjacent wall is my eating table and chair and under that is a box with the cat toys and balls. Not much more is in this room.

Outside my room I keep my food in the refrigerator and freezer which I share with another (we each have our own shelves). There is the large sink that I use all the time and I use the washing machine and dryer a lot. There’s a baker’s shelving where I keep canned goods, and kitchen supplies and have a bin with absorbent kitchen towel on the bottom to keep dishes after I wash them (this baker’s shelving is near the sink). The shared bathroom is upstairs.

So this is my living situation right now and I’m make it more convenient for me as I go along. I’m working on living more simply, with minimalism and frugality being my goal and more time for fun, family, friends, creativity, reading, music, walks, dancing, exercise and all the good things in life! Also most importantly quiet time for reflection, meditation and prayer. And always being grateful for all my blessings.