The Shell

Photo courtesy Flickr

For several years I’ve been experimenting with the way the house is laid out. Corralling small possessions into one room on each floor has left the rest of the space flexible and easy to maintain. I can reconfigure a room single-handed in ten minutes. The second floor “smalls” live in a glass-fronted bookcase and in plastic bins on high-tech coated wire storage racks. The ground floor smalls live in the pass-pantry and in the toxin-free mechanic’s red metal rolling tool chest that has replaced the kitchen junk drawer.

A sleeping room with none but essentials in it becomes a guest room with a simple change of linen. Carefully edited space forces me to make sure the furnishings are as good and as well cared-for as I can manage, and that the walls, ceiling, and floor are, as well.

Many of the forces of domestic life leave one spread far too thin. Offering a pitched challenge to excess leaves me with at least the realistic hope of energy left over to think and feel.

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