I think this is a great question and as F2BH said, it doesn't only apply to singles. DH and I are still in the 4 br, 2.5 ba 2 story house we raised our boys in with never-ending plans to move. We no longer use our dining room regularly, maybe 3 - 4 times/year. We absolutely do not use our living room , though it's cozy, not at all formal. Once in a blue moon I'll go in there to read. We *live* in our kitchen/family room which is one open space, has comfy sofa and chairs, the tv and the eating nook. One bedroom is DH's office and used regularly. 2 bedrooms are for infrequent visits of far-away sons (or another guest although that's another blue moon scenario) One bedroom is ours, of course. There is an additional room on the 2nd floor that we've turned into a gym and that gets regular use. Then there's the 3 season sun room and a large deck that get some use, but enough to justify? Maybe. And a full unfinished basement that houses DH's business workshop and stores some of the overwhelming inventory of a remodeling business. And an oversized 2.5 car garage, rafters packed with more business inventory. And a large shed. So what do we really *need*?? A tiny 1 br house and a HUGE workshop/gym (that I DO NOT HAVE TO CLEAN)- that's what! Except that when we move it will be away from family/friends here, even farther from our sons than currently and to a lovely area where we anticipate people will want to visit so we'll need space to entertain and put up guests comfortably!! Will we actually downsize/minimize our lives? Don't bet on it.

So what you're proposing to do is basically remove a 2 foot strip off one end of your bedroom, right, to turn it into permanent furniture, aka a closet divided into various parts, with mirrors? I'm not clear if the "built-in armoir" (is this a closet??) is already there. My parents did this when they built their house - a long closet with mirrored doors runs the length of one wall. Their home is modern and the mirrors are frameless, but the concept holds. The remaining bedroom is majorly small, almost room only for the bed. And even if there were room, the closet wall is useless for putting furniture against, in the event that, say, you wanted to change the orientation of the bed. In other words, the bedroom arrangement is now cast in stone. This would bother me. But what would bother me even more, quite honestly and not to spoil anyone's lunch, would be always being able to see myself every time I had my eyes open in the bedroom. Enough said. I like those doors too, but in the bedroom? Bedrooms need mirrors, but how many do you really want, and where? If you have space for a boudoir table, console, and side chair, by all means - that room in your picture must be big, I don't even SEE the bed. Mirrors have their place, and I'm not so sure a smaller bedroom is it. KarinL

Well, I have a 900 SF Mobile home... does that count? The best thing we did was to rent a storage unit, the smallest one, real nearby. It only costs $25 a month and it's the best $25 I spend in a very tight budget. By having that out of site place, and safe and secure, better than a shed or something, I can store a TON of stuff in there... and that keeps the moby from getting too tight feeling. We go over often enough and I'm pretty careful not to just store "junk"... and we make a habit of cleaning it out once or twice a year... it's like our own garage sale... my kids kinda forget what they have packratted over there and we go through and make sure the boxes are well labeled and just pull it out and take some back with us and bring over some seasonal stuff too. Great way to vary your decorating a little bit too... you can kinda change out accessories and such, and that will brighten up your small place and make it interesting.... I like the idea too, of keeping things small scale and not too cluttered.... I think when you walk in to a small place and it's just SO filled with eye candy, you feel a little trapped and kinda cluttered as well... keep it simple and it will feel BIGGER! Hope that helps! MHWoman Here is a link that might be useful: The Mobile Home Woman Blog

do you like the location? because that is above all the most important thing. this is a really nice house. adding and removing walls to change the layout seems very possible here. plus it's all one level! win-win! for a temporary solution, your room divider idea sounds great. I love your idea of a bookcase - it will allow partial visual cover while allowing natural light to pass through and not feel so closed in (be sure to securely anchor the end to the wall). if you want to talk impossible, come over to my house. practically no "normal" way to put upper cabinets in the kitchen, small bedrooms, tiny closets. the layout makes it nearly impossible to add or remove walls to change these things. and it's a split level -- four levels! your house seems very workable compared to mine.