A lot has changed since our last home tour. We’re still in the same condo, but our family has grown and we’ve had to get creative with how we use the space.

Take a look at the video below for the full walkthrough, then keep reading for more on how we make it work as a family of five.

Our Home Now: A Family of Five

The Layout, Floor by Floor

We bought this condo back in 2019, and it’s served us well since. We brought our dog Charlie home right after we moved in, so this is the only home she’s ever known.

Our 18 year old took over the first floor garage space a couple of years ago after we did a bit of remodeling for her, and that area isn’t up for viewing. The second floor has the dining room with a bathroom attached right where you’d want it, a small kitchen, a living room with an office nook, and a tiny deck I’m still trying to figure out.

The third floor is where the rest of us sleep, wash up, and play. This is home.

Why We’re Staying Put For Now

A good four bedroom in our area costs between half a million and a million dollars. Someday we hope to move somewhere with a yard and no shared wall, though we hardly notice most days since our neighbors are pretty great.

Right now we’ve decided that having the money to travel is a higher priority at this stage of our lives.

Minimalism That Flexes

The spectrum of minimalism is pretty vast, but overall we live a pretty minimalist lifestyle. Everything has a place and a purpose, and we don’t often hold onto things we don’t need.

We do have a storage space in the garage filled with things like tools, camping supplies, and Christmas decor. We don’t have space for much more than that anyway.

Our toddler’s toys fit into one toy box upstairs, or a cubby if we’re downstairs. Every two to three days I put the toys back in like that, because she tends to play with them more that way.

We generally use things that are reusable, and we all sit down to eat dinner together at this table, no tech allowed. It works well for us, since we all actually enjoy each other’s company.

We don’t have any strict indoctrinations for our kids either. My oldest is a self-proclaimed maximalist, and that’s fine.

We have a system in place, and it helps that she’s chosen to convert the garage into her own space. For us it really does come down to systems and boundaries.

As a side note, we plan to downsize her queen bed in the garage and add an indoor play structure for Chloe, since we live in the rainy Pacific Northwest. It’s not the most minimalist choice, but I think it’ll be cool.

Amplifying the Space We Have

One thing that really helps this work for us is that we amplify the space we have. We’ve used bunk beds in the past with an office that fit underneath, and we’ve since swapped that out for a twin and small crib combo that fits great in that room.

We’ve also converted our garage many times over. It’s been an office, a fitness area, a bedroom, and soon might be a guest room or playroom.

The upstairs hallway has become a play space for Chloe, which gives Gracie more privacy down the hall. Makeshift office spaces show up in the nooks of both our bedroom and the living room.

We also tend to opt for smaller pieces, like a mobile coffee table instead of a big standard one in our living room. That leaves a wider floor space for me to do yoga, and for Chloe and Charlie to play on me while I do it.

Owning Less (Mostly)

We also just try to own less stuff. That one’s probably a given, but our space could easily get overwhelmed just like anyone else’s, even with our best attempts to amplify what we have.

There are just as many things we own none of, but we still have things we probably don’t need, like a meditation pillow. I like it, I don’t need it.

I don’t even use it for meditation most of the time. It’s become a leg rest, a stepping stool for Chloe, and something I sit on when we play board games on the ground.

But I do like it. Looking at it reminds me of feeling calm.

Systems for Keeping It Moving

We also have systems for maintaining things and moving them out. In the past we used Greenlight debit cards for chores, and we still use the card for payments even though we’re not using the chores feature anymore.

Now that the girls are older, their chores are tied to their cell phone service. We cover their phone service, and they pay it off by doing things like dishes.

We also keep a running donation bag or box, which makes maintaining and moving things out easy. When the box or bag gets full, it’s time for a trip to the donation center.

It makes the whole thing easy and visual. Before we had a system like that, things would just get shoved away.

It’s pretty basic. My life has never been so simple.

Our Home Back in 2021

Here’s the original tour from a few years back, when we were a family of four in the same condo.

Come on in! Today I’m excited to welcome you into my home for a minimalist home tour. It’s a two-bedroom condo for my family of four, and we’ve been here for about three years. I want to share what we’ve done to make this space feel like home.

Kitchen & Dining Area

When you first walk in, you’ll see the kitchen and dining room.

But first, to the right of these rooms is our pantry. We organize and separate our pantry items using bins and baskets. Although labels can be useful organizational tools, we go without them, because we already have an idea of where everything is. It’s all about having a system that works for you!

To the left of the pantry is our half bath, the only bathroom on this floor. In the mornings, I like to get ready in here because it’s close to the kitchen (and most importantly, the coffee). When we choose to decorate our space, we like to keep the decorations minimal and meaningful. Here, we have homemade ceramics made by our daughters.

In our dining area, we have a table, chairs, and a coffee station which includes a Keurig and espresso machine. Below our coffee station is our dog Charlie’s food and water bowl.

Then attached to the dining room is our kitchen. We renovated it last year, adding white countertops, a deep sink (which I’ve been loving), and a faucet. We like to keep things simple, only owning dishes and appliances that we find necessary. This way, our space remains functional and calm.

We also have a mix of artificial and real plants scattered about. Our real plants are either in planters or hanging in Boho macrame plant holders.

Down the hall is our living area. I wanted this room to be an entertaining but calm space, where the whole family can comfortably watch a movie or play games. I think we pulled it off! We tucked cubbies behind the couch for storage. We also have an entertainment center where we keep remotes, office supplies, headsets, gadgets that we use often, for quick access. Lastly, we found a small desk that fits perfectly into our space. We use it as a little office for our girls.

Two of my favorite things in our living area are our digital picture frame and our Oculus Quest 2. The frame was a wedding gift and it’s where we keep all of our photos. The Quest 2 is a virtual reality set. I use it for meditation, and fitness training, and the girls play games on it too. It let me visit new places without leaving my home, which I loved.

That calm, entertaining-but-simple feeling in the living area is exactly what I mean when I talk about making a minimalist home cozy instead of cold.

Bedrooms & Bathroom

On our third floor, we have bedrooms and bathrooms. This used to be our daughters’ shared room, but now it’s just my youngest daughter’s. Her bed frame has a built-in desk which we absolutely love. The brand is Ikea, but we bought it second-hand on Offer Up for a great price. Her closet has plenty of space as well, which is always nice.

In the hallway, we have a photo collage with meaningful photos of the family. We have one of the girls, as well as Matt and me.

In between the two bedrooms are mirrored bathrooms. The left is for me and Matt. We display some simple decorations on our ladder shelf and keep the trash can and scale underneath.

Our shower and bath combo is quite simple. I try to keep just one shampoo, one conditioner, and two soaps (because Matt likes his body soap.) I personally prefer the bars of soap that I get from the farmer’s market, and I use a metal razor I received for Christmas for shaving. For the most part, we keep our products in the medicine cabinet. My husband’s products are on the left and mine are on the right.

Master Bedroom

The last room on the third floor is our master bedroom. I love how this room turned out. It’s so cozy and it has exactly the minimal, slightly boho vibe that I was going for. I previously lived in Arizona, where I developed a love for desert plants and scenery. In fact, Matt proposed to me at Antelope Canyon. And right afterward, we went to Horseshoe Bend. So the big photo behind our bed, which is actually Horseshoe Bend, is meaningful and brings back sentimental memories for us.

Like in the bathroom, Matt uses the left side of our closet and I use the right. We keep our full wardrobes here. I also store my books and the journals I’m currently using here too.

Our master bedroom also doubles as our office. Matt has his dual monitor set up, which you have probably noticed in the backdrop of my videos. I also enjoy journaling here.

The lamp pictured above is one of my favorite pieces in this bedroom because it will adjust the warmth and lighting. If you touch and hold the little loop, it will actually adjust to the ambiance of the room.

So this last room is for our veterans. There’s only one space that you haven’t seen yet, and that is back down at the entry. There’s a door to the left of the garage where we have a big, heavy gray curtain hung up. If you pull that curtain back, you will see my oldest daughter’s studio bedroom. She’d been sharing a room with her sister for many years, and she was just ready for her own space.

Now, if you’ve been following me very long, you might remember when I turned the back of this garage into my personal office. Well, now it has been transformed again! We pushed back the railing and curtains for space and added more curtains for temperature regulation and noise canceling. My daughter painted this accent wall black, which I think adds a really nice moody vibe to the space. And she is loving it down here!

If you pull back the curtain on the other side of her room, you will see our laundry facilities. Of course, these were always down here, but we do have some nice display shelves that we’ve put up and some items to kind of make it feel a little more decorative.

So that’s our home. Thanks for joining me on a virtual stroll! Every choice in here comes back to the same idea: a space that supports the people living in it. That’s the whole heart of creating a holistic home.