How Two People Share a Super Tiny, 17-Inch Closet — Seriously

Tiny (adj.) Wardrobes (n.): The collection of clothing owned by people who live in tiny homes.
(Original story appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine)

Like many women who graduated college only a few years ago, Molly Goldsmith used to have a closet full of cheap-ish crop tops and short-shorts that went completely unworn once she hit the real world. But it took moving into a 250-square-foot home a year and a half ago for the 25-year-old to ditch them for good.

Goldsmith, who grew up in a family of seven on a five-acre plot in Gilroy, California, had more than 200 items — not including pajamas, underwear, and shoes — in her closet by the time she got to college. Her studies in sustainability gradually inspired her to live minimally, and when one of her sisters sent a link to a very cute tiny home, she decided to take drastic action with her living situation — and, consequently, her closet.

Goldsmith and her boyfriend of seven years, Rodney Balajadia, 25, whom she'd met in high school, had been living in an apartment in San Francisco's eastern Bay Area. They had 700 square feet to call their own but could barely make rent in their positions as an operations specialist at a sustainable grocery store and an electrician for a lighting company.

"We were paying a lot," she says. "We needed our parents' help." In July 2016, after calling the Oregon-based builder of the home her sister pointed out, the pair road-tripped to Portland to pick up their tiny house and drive it back to California.

"Rodney and I hadn't really even talked about living in one until that point, because every one we saw had a cabin feel, with like a small hot plate — that's not our style," Goldsmith says of the house, which they've parked at her parents' property. "This one had a full oven, full stove, full fridge, a huge farmhouse sink — nothing seemed to be compromised. We added lots of sustainable touches to ours, like using reclaimed wood and wall insulation made from old denim."

Goldsmith and Balajadia's new home comprises a lofted bedroom and a living space that includes a full kitchen, a sitting area, a bathroom, and a bedroom. There's also 36 square feet for what the couple calls their "Catio" — a chic screened-in porch built just for Goldsmith and Balajadia's two cats. "The cats aren't very outdoorsy — they're spoiled, they've been inside cats for five years," Goldsmith says. "To sort of compromise with them on space, Rodney built the Catio, where they can go in and out via a window."

Adapting to 400 fewer square feet was easy for Goldsmith, even when it came to editing down her wardrobe by nearly 75 percent — including the aforementioned short-shorts and crop tops. Balajadia got rid of about 20 items, or roughly one-third of his previous wardrobe. "It was not hard to say goodbye to those kinds of things — I just never had a reason to do it before," Goldsmith says. "Now I have 60 clothing items [not including shoes or accessories], and I still feel like I have too much. Some things were harder than others — stuff that was expensive, for example. It helped that we had a huge garage sale." That way, they got to see just how excited people were when they bought their old clothing.

Balajadia and Goldsmith share a 17-inch wide closet space. Hidden beneath the couple's couch is an extra 6-by-3-feet space for clothing that doesn't need to be hung. Additionally, they have three deep drawers for shoes; three small baskets for socks, underwear, and bathing suits; and one cubby in the loft, which houses their PJs, near the bed.

The tiny-living lifestyle ended up being perfect for the couple, and although they see themselves living in this setup for quite some time, they envision a future in a bigger home. "We do want kids, and I don't think that we would have them in the tiny house," Goldsmith says, adding that there are safety concerns, like the lack of hand-railings, in their current space. "But we'll never get rid of the tiny house. It is so fun and different. [We could eventually] use it as a guest house, or ... we could also always Airbnb it."

But they won't ever give up their de-cluttering and sustainable ethos. "When we eventually outgrow our tiny home, we hope to bring this attitude with us and remember that things don't bring us happiness — experiences and people do," she says. "This journey is only getting started."