They’re not part of any official Small House Movement, but they live in a small home and they live well.
When Marta Barceló and her husband Miguel prepped their 47 square meter (505 square foot) apartment for the arrival of her first child, Bruno, they had to create space in their one-bedroom place.
Miguel built a bed beneath the stairs in their entryway and the space became their firstborn’s bedroom.Three years later, when expecting their second child, they had to further transform their place (this time using the terrace) in order to fit their growing family.
In this video, we follow Marta before and after the birth of her second child, Milo. She shows us the bed-beneath-the-stairs which will now become a closet, their inventive storage space and their new living room on the roof. She also talks about how living small means knowing what you really need: something she enjoys discovering.
Via Kirsten at faircompanies.com
Great/fun video Kirsten! Keep it up. I almost bought that same exact ikea kitchen table to modify it years back…then they locally discontinued it- so I ended up self-building/riggin’ something else (the yankee/redneck way).
-Deek
Relaxshacks.com
Gracias por compartir tu experiencia! De veras tenemos much que aprender sobre simplificar la vida, y realmente disfrutar de ella. Tienes dos hijos hermosos…felicidades!
¿Por qué es esto en español? No puedes decir que este sitio web está escrito en Inglés, y obviamente sus lectores son de habla Inglés?
Charming family and obviously happy kids!
I love when she says the space is correct, she just needs less stuff. I know they expanded their “under roof” space during the video with the baby coming, but she knows she has everything she needs and a lot more than she wants. What a refreshing attitude, most people in out culture just want more and more when they are young and don;t figure it out (if ever) until they are older.
I adore Marta! This woman is so in touch with what ENOUGH really means. Even when the interviewer was asking “is this ALL the clothes you have,” without missing a beat Marta replies, “I have too much.” Certainly the European influence for small is there, but Americans have a lot to learn. While showing the kitchen storage areas she again says “we have all we need.” While Americans amass garages piled with junk they don’t even remember they have so their $40k auto can sit out in the elements, it’s uplifting and downright inspiring to see a family who knows they have enough and is happy and content. Kudos!
This year I visited Croatia and you can find very tiny places in these old European cities. A long time ago people had to live in very limited areas to stay inside the walls of the city in other words the defended territory of the city. This resulted that families lived even in smaller places.
I agree with Tom, podemos hablar o escribir en espanol pero aqui no… so we can speak and write in Spanish but here it is better to use English.
Hey, it’s Shakespeare’s language! :)))
Innovative use of space. Hope she does an update interview… I especially would love to see the finished terrace.
Several of my Danish friends and relatives (who live in very small houses) spent their time as infants sleeping in a closet. I think it makes children feel safe to be “tucked away”. When I was young, I loved shoving my bead into my closet and sleeping with the doors closed. Maybe that’s where my love of tiny houses came from…