WHEN LESS MEANS MORE: EMBRACING MINIMALISM
Paring down possessions for smaller spaces grows in appeal for all ages
Jeff Ragan and Katrina Brown want their home to only contain what truly matters to them.
Intrigued by minimalist living, the couple has decided to downsize their home, and subsequently their mortgage, substantially. They’re leaving a 1,214-square-foot downtown condo for 627 square feet in Bridgeland, buying at Radius by Bucci Developments.
Finding the right fit for their clutter-cutting lifestyle has been a process, says Brown.
“We moved from a bigger townhouse to this (downtown condo) because we wanted to downsize. We’re here and like ‘this is still too big,’ says Brown. “There’s still an empty room that we don’t use and too much stuff just sitting around that we don’t need.”
Part of the decision to find something smaller came from Netflix. The couple watched Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, and it struck a chord.
“We thought about minimalism before,” says Brown. “Then the night after watching (the documentary), I went to my closet and got rid of like seven garbage bags of clothes. Stuff I didn’t need.”
Less square footage made more sense to Ragan, too.
“Everyone works too much and life is drowned out by the material things, always having bigger and better,” says Ragan. Instead, he adds, a smaller space and fewer possessions allow more time to the do things they enjoy.
They’re both creative people. Brown’s an artist and learning to play piano, while Ragan is a guitarist in the four-piece Calgary band Bebo Grove.
“It’ll be great to have time to do the stuff you love, the stuff that makes you happy,” Ragan says.
Radius is a seven-storey development under construction at 88 9th St. N.E.
It paced all developments in finalists for multi-family development categories at the Calgary Region SAM (Sales and Marketing) Awards handed out in early 2016. Prices start from $330,000.
“Just being able to pay off our mortgage, too, was a big part,” says Brown. “Ideally, in the next five years, we’ll be able to pay off the mortgage at Radius. So we’re thinking, we could do that, or live in this bigger condo and keep paying it for the next 20 to 30 years.”
They like to cook, so while the floor plan is smaller, they were fond of the “full-sized” kitchen, along with its functional overall design, says Brown.
She also points to the importance of the living space that exists outside their door.
“We like their amenities,” says Brown, singling out the yoga studio, spin studio and weight room.
They look forward to using the rooftop terrace and urban garden. They have a German shepherd-golden Labrador cross and were pleased to hear about plans for an underground dog wash.
Radius will also boast a ski, snowboard and bike service room, concierge, and a space earmarked for picking up orders placed through grocery delivery service Spud.ca
Other condo developments in the city are supporting a move to smaller space living, too. My Legacy Park in Calgary’s southeast, Ezra on Riley Park in the inner-city, and N3 along with Ink in East Village, either are selling or have sold condos for less than 500 square feet.
“Ink was designed to capitalize on that exact trend,” says Chris Pollen, director of sales and marketing at Battistella Developments, the company behind Ink.
The skyscraper, now 65 per cent sold out, opened sales with condos starting from 368 square feet. Its smallest available floor plan is now 444 square feet. Ink broke ground on construction earlier this year and is expected to offer first possessions in late 2018.
“One of the defining features of the millennial generation is the concept of valuing experiences more than things,” Pollen says. “By living in a smaller space, downsizing your mortgage, downsizing your payments — just living with what you need, gives you the ability to experience more. Whether that’s experiencing travelling or just the city that’s around you.”
A move to less square footage is an even more familiar story for empty-nesters. Jani Meyers and her husband are cutting back more than 1,500 square feet with a move to Ink.
The couple in their mid-60s are moving to a 519-square-foot condo from a 2,200-square-foot single-family home in Inglewood. Part of their inner-city home was constructed in 1904.
“Because of the design of this house, there’s a lot of space which is not completely utilized,” says Meyers, a retired library worker and book keeper, who now spends her time as a textile artist.
On the other hand, she adds, condos such as the floor plan she picked at Ink, are designed to “work hard.”
But location was a primary consideration in their purchase, Meyers says.
“It’s the convenience of being right downtown,” she adds. “The condo will be — I timed it — three minutes to the new downtown public library.
“It’s about 10 minutes to the CTrain station and then the whole city is open to you,” she adds.