It has been awhile since I shared a small space living feature, but this one is worth the wait! Aimee from The Homegrown Apple is letting us peek inside her newly-built, modern farmhouse and you are going to love her style! Aimee and her husband built this home with their family in mind. Aimee homeschools her children and has a great system for organizing her beautiful home!
What is your home Motto?
1 Thessalonians 4:11. Aspire to live a quiet life, mind your own affairs, and work with your hands.
Why do you live in a smaller home?
A few years ago we were living in a neighborhood that we loved but we were really feeling like spreading out a bit on some property. We imagined raising our children in the country where they could run free and get dirty. We wanted to raise some animals and build our own home. At one point we had house plans drawn up for a larger house but when we added up the numbers, it just didn’t make much sense. We just realized we didn’t want the big house payment but rather the experience of living on the property and starting a little farm. So we decided to build this little house under 1200 sq. ft. which we could possibly add-on to or build a larger home on the property in the future.
Small Space Living- KITCHEN- Where do you keep all the small appliances?
To be honest, even though we have a small home, I designed the layout of the house it to have a larger kitchen. We have open shelving to make things feel bigger and more open and all of our kitchen storage is drawers which I love. We keep our toaster on the counter, my kitchen aid mixer I store under the sink, and the only other small appliances are our food processor and blender which go in drawers.
Do you have a pantry? Where is all the food?
We don’t have a pantry! Isn’t that wild. Hahaha. There just isn’t room so we have some large drawers in the kitchen that we use for food storage. One drawer has spices and baking ingredients, one has dry goods like pasta and rice and cans, and the other has snacks like chips and granola bars and such. I actually love having the pantry like this because I can see everything in the drawers and nothing gets lost in the back of a closet!
Small Space- KIDS TOYS- What is your approach to kids toys?
My kids are almost 8 and 10 now and while they do have some toys, I have to keep it to a minimum because they share a very small room and closet. They have a few stuffed animals each, some blocks, legos and magnet tiles and a few random things like an etch-a-sketch and walkie talkies. But for the most part, they love playing outside and doing art so I have really tried to foster that in them. I recently did a closet makeover for them which really helped us to organize and keep things tidy.
How do you store or keep the kids toys and games organized?
They have bins that I found at TJ Maxx for all their toys. Our family games and puzzles go in a secret storage compartment under the dining room nook. We also store extra blankets there too.
Small Space- CLOSETS- Are you able to fit all your clothes in your master bedroom?
We have fairly small wardrobes so we don’t have any trouble fitting our clothing in our master closet. I have a small dresser I keep some shirts, underwear and loungewear and pants. The rest of our clothes fit nicely in the closet.
How do you keep the kids clothes organized?
Most of their clothes hang in the closet. All tops, jackets and dresses are hung up and then we have a little cabinet where we keep their folded pants and knitwear.
Small Space- SEASONAL DECOR
Do you have a lot of seasonal decor? Where do you keep it?
I don’t have a lot of Christmas decor at all but we do have a pretty large attic space where we store that along with our camping gear and some keepsakes.
Where do you keep keepsake items? How do you decide what you hold onto?
We keep our keepsake items in the attic. I have a box of some things from when the kids were babies and some of their school stuff. We don’t really have keepsakes other than that. Now that we homeschool, the kids each have a binder of their work for the year and that becomes a sweet keepsake.
Where do you keep your broom, vacuum, cleaning supplies?
I have a small laundry room where I usually shove my broom and currently don’t own a vacuum. I have a very minimal approach to cleaning so really just Norwex rags and a spray bottle with some On Guard cleaner is all I use. I store the rags in a drawer in the kitchen and the spray bottle floats around the house but is usually stored in the laundry room.
How do you organize all the papers? Bills, school work, mail etc.
My husband and I each have a drawer in the living room where we keep our bills/papers. I usually go through it daily and make sure things don’t get out of control. Since we homeschool, that can often times take up the entire house. We have to get really creative so the kids each have a shelf of their daily schoolwork in the living room, and then I store the rest of it cabinets in the laundry room.
How do you or do you entertain?
I really love to entertain. We usually just have one family over at a time during the colder months. During the warmer months, we can have more people over because we have the entire property to entertain. We love having gatherings under the apple trees in the old orchard and on our patio too.
What is the hardest part about “Small Space Living”?
The hardest part for me is the limited space inside to entertain. Honestly our home is small but it feels big because of the open concept so I don’t ever get cabin fever!
What is your favorite part about “Small Space Living”?
My favorite part of living in a small house is that it forces me to maintain a life with less stuff. There is minimal storage and I keep only what I use often and that is very freeing.
Thank you so much for sharing your home and all of the beauty there! You can find The Homegrown Apple on Instagram.
See more Small Space living features here.
Very inspiring! She has a beautiful home. Thanks for sharing this! I think no matter what size home you have the key to having it clutter free is to not have a lot of stuff!