= new reply since forum marked as read
... since the subject ain't guns 
, I admire the 430 sq. foot move. Is it a mini-house?
In a way, not having quite anticipated this move a few months ago, this small/mid-size guest house becomes a kind of "practice" for even smaller space living, which I've thought of, off-grid and all, for when the nest is really cleared.
Though there's the when-the-boys-come-to-visit piece of the puzzle.
Still, even thinking of my bed, you're right -- I don't have narrow, wide bins to slide under there. Yet. That alone would help with some storage....
A lot of large homes have rooms that never get used, just for family or friends who rarely come.
I guess it's nice if you can afford to keep it up, cleaned, heated, painted, etc., but kind of sad, too.
Could the boys bunk it, use sleeping bags, or even camp out?
I keep a couple inflatable mattresses for such guests.
And guns--- I haven't even held one in years or fired one in the last ten or more.
Oh, and the new place is on the ocean, tiny cuz that's all I can afford in this town but just where I've always wanted to live.
...that's what you're really moving into!
I've thought about houseboats, too, though that would something to consider if relocation out of SoCal is part of the equation...
And yes -- part of what was going on in the old place is that I was struggling to keep up rent on a bigger place, which I had back when my boys were boys, and with me nearly half the time.
And as they grew, and moved into their own lives, and I still had to deal with wacky housemates in the one sublet room in order to swing rent on the house, I started to wonder what I was doing with all that extra space, so much of the time..
In the meantime, I'm in this "middle sized place" now. Not sure where I'll land after this. But I figure sorting and winnowing now can only be good.
Especially after seeing all the stuff both my dad - -and my grandma, before that -- left behind!
Houseboats, I though I thought about it... the trouble is there aren't that many harbors along the coast and where they are, there aren't open slips.
Some even have waiting lists, but my cousin did buy a wooden boat at auction and it came with the slop.. Half Moon Bay.
Me, I bought a condo at auction that overlooks the ocean, 300 steps to the beach.
Only because it's tiny and only because I bought it as-is at auction was I able to afford it, and even then I'll have to rent it or my existing place to make ends meet.
I wouldn't trade this for anything, but downsizing from a 990 square foot two bed two bath and a shop to just a little one bed one bath condo with no shop is going to be a challenge.
