IS LESS REALLY MORE?

“Less is More”  Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe

A few years ago, a friend sent me this picture.  

The house, located in downtown Toronto, Canada, was about the size of a postage stamp. It was, at the time, for sale.

This immediately captured my attention. I was intrigued, wondering what it could possibly be like to live in such a tiny space. I found the challenge of maximizing the living space in a house this size, and creating a warm and inviting interior, to be exciting!

Now, I realize that a miniature dwelling of this scale just doesn’t cut it for most of us, including myself.

If nothing else, it certainly puts things in perspective, especially if you’ve ever felt you don’t have enough room and need a bigger house.

You’re not alone.

The thing is, you can move to a larger home, but if won’t be long before you’ve once again run out of room.

Because the problem isn’t lack of room, it’s that you have too much stuff.

The bigger the house, the more things you can accumulate, and the more you accumulate, well, sooner or later there might not be room to store it all.

So the problem, or challenge, is simply to get by with less in the first place.

Have you ever noticed how an organized space, free of clutter, can literally free up your mind?

The theory behind this is that a cluttered home (substitute life, schedule, desk, etc.) usually reveals a much deeper problem.

In fact, recent studies have even proven a connection between clutter and excess weight! In other words, excess of any kind literally weighs us down, just as the magazine headline inferred.

One more thing:

When we say ‘Less is More’ it applies to square footage, as well as possessions.

Which means that, knowing what is ‘enough’ in your own life, will help you appreciate the incredible power of keeping things small.