We have Lived With out Furnishings for Years and Love It; Nice for Well being

My spouse and I dwell in a fairly backyard condo that is nearly completely devoid of furnishings. The closest issues we’ve are a bamboo laptop computer desk and two single tenting mattresses.

At our ages — 57 and 60 — we’re anticipated to spend money on matching La-Z-Boys and TV trays, however we spend most of our time on the ground on yoga mats. Truthfully, we have by no means been happier.

In the event you’d informed me this was what the longer term held for us again after we had been lounging on our L-shaped sofa in 2020, I would have instructed you scale back the energy of your edibles. As a lot as we nonetheless dream about that snug sofa, although, we would not take it again.

Life with out furnishings comes with an array of advantages, each anticipated and sudden, they usually’re not price buying and selling for modern-day creature comforts.

Adopting a minimalist life-style made us open to new and other ways of dwelling

Ever since inadvertently changing into minimalists in 2008, we have made a degree of partaking in life-style experiments, nevertheless it had by no means occurred to us to eschew furnishings.

Then, I listened to a podcast about furniture-free dwelling. I used to be instantly intrigued, however my spouse wasn’t as simply satisfied.

The concept wasn’t one we might entertain anyway, since we had been about to maneuver to a fully-furnished cottage in the midst of nowhere. Life has a approach of providing you with what you want, although, and the nation wasn’t for us.

5 months later, we had been again in Cape City’s metropolis bowl, on the hunt for brand spanking new digs.

Discovering an almost-empty condo to hire felt like our signal to offer furniture-free dwelling a strive

When a shocking, inexpensive, and unfurnished condo confirmed up in my inbox, I took it as an indication that it was time to offer furniture-free dwelling a strive.

The plush, bee-friendly backyard with a towering pine tree gained my spouse over instantly. I did not even must say a phrase; I believe she’d have agreed even when it meant sleeping exterior in a tent.

We made some errors at first. Initially, we purchased an inexpensive, low-level futon to sleep on, nevertheless it proved a poor alternative for our backs, and we quickly ditched it in favor of our tenting mattresses.

Our intention was at all times to purchase a tatami sleeping mat down the road, however our frugal “if it ain’t broke” selves hold deferring the acquisition.

Proper from the get-go, we each liked hanging out on the ground, and it simply felt proper.

This life-style comes with a number of advantages

Inside a few month, we started to really feel bodily stronger — in all probability as a result of we had been consistently getting up and down from ground degree and compelled to work on our posture.

With out a comfortable workplace chair to sink into for hours at a stretch, we’re naturally reminded to alter place or stand up and transfer.

Plus, our stability has improved as a result of we have skilled ourselves to stand up and sit down with out the assistance of our arms. We are able to additionally sit unsupported for prolonged intervals.

Virtually, no furnishings makes transferring properties — one thing we have completed greater than as soon as up to now few years — a breeze. It is smart for us to dwell in a approach that helps our perpetual need for change.

With nothing to maneuver, house responsibilities can be ridiculously simple. Plus, our condo at all times seems to be neat.

Most likely the perfect profit, although, is that our quirky rescue kitty appears to like our furniture-free life. He prefers to tunnel beneath our legs fairly than sit on our laps — and being on the ground offers him lots of probabilities to do that.

It isn’t for everybody, and that is OK

After we inform individuals about our life-style, the identical concern at all times comes up: How do you entertain? The reality is, we do not.

This lifestyle is not for everybody, and the very last thing we would need is to make our friends really feel uncomfortable. So, we have discovered center floor by assembly for walks or going out for espresso or a meal. It won’t work for everybody, nevertheless it works for us.

Sarcastically, our subsequent life-style experiment — which we’re tentatively planning for late 2026 — means going again to a mattress and sofa, however solely as a result of you’ll be able to’t do with out both if you dwell in a van.

Effectively, technically you might … however even we’re not up for that degree of discomfort.