My mother has been quarantined in her small single bedroom for several months now. She has limited access to the rest of the house she lives in, so she makes do with the small space she has. She lives minimally, freeing up her lifestyle to be as flexible as possible.
Each morning she folds up her futon bed to make room for her daily living. She added foam flooring underneath to help create padding.
She stores all of her bedding tucked in her closet out of the way except her sheepskin. It doubles as an insulating layer on her futon as well as a day-to-day carpet on her floor.
With everything out of the way, she has room to exercise and enjoy her space!
While being pent up, it’s important for her to keep her body active and moving. Every day she does yoga, both in the morning and night. She also tries to get in at least an hour to two hours of bike riding in. Lately, in her town, people have been flooding the bike paths and breaking quarantine, so it has been harder to find safe routes that won’t put her at risk.
On her small balcony, she has started a mini potted garden. Even with limited space, she grows lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, chives, and squash.
Her bedroom is bright and airy, filled with indoor plants opposite the balcony window. While her garden grows outside, her indoor plants are thriving inside. Light floods in from her windows, and above her bed a tree is in full purple bloom.
She eats her meals simply, preferring the floor, she has no furniture other than her computer stand, which she made out of the base of a piano and a window pane from her bathroom.
A writer and an artist, she used to have her drawings plastered over her walls. Now, only two characters are tucked in her work corner, held in place by the packing tape she had left over from her move into the room.
It’s been three years since she transitioned to this lifestyle. She says she loves it, she has never been so free and unburdened by clutter. Looking out her window as she stretches out on her yoga mat after a two-minute plank, she is completely in her element.
