You just finished unpacking the last box. The move is complete and now you can settle in. What do you do after you recycle an obscene number of boxes? A few years ago, you would have headed to Bed Bath & Beyond or maybe Target. Today, you'd probably just order something from Amazon. While you'd love to be heading to Targét to make it Better Homes and Gardens ready, you're actually heading there because every place you live is different; it has its quirks. Which means you're forced to buy things to make it organized or simply functional for your needs.
Personally, I have moved dozens of times in my life. By the age of 10, I was a packing magician. By the age of 20, I knew how to pivot a couch just right so that I was basically lifting it by myself. Then came the apartment hopping of my 20s. This is when it was even more interesting. I wasn't just doing the labor; I was deciding on furniture, accessories, objects of utility.
Moving into your first apartment is usually smooth. You don't come with much and only accumulate what you need for that space. Then you move. You gather some new items to fit the new space. Maybe you have to get rid of the large couch you purchased because your last living room was large, but this apartment has much-needed storage and room for a larger bed. So you buy and you sell. You donate and maybe get something given to you. You play games of horizontal Tetris until everything fits just right.
When you think you're perfectly settled in, having everything you need, with it all in the right place, life throws a wrench. You need to migrate again.
This has happened to me more times than I would like to recount. As annoying as it is, it has taught me a valuable skill—how to be modular.
Modularity is both a practical skill and a mindset. Like minimalism or essentialism, it does not just mean everything needs to be Lego bricks, though that can help in some cases, more on that shortly. Modularity means having the essentials to adjust to your surroundings. If you do not have the luxury or want to buy a place and stay in it for 10, 20, or 30+ years, adjusting proactively is a superpower.
While constantly moving can be a pain in the ass, the skill of being modular is something that traverses other parts of life.
For me and my wife, our modular journey started with selling the furniture that was large, rigid, and unyielding. These items could be the huge couch that barely made it through the door, the dresser that you cannot take the drawers out of without tools, or the bed that becomes a little less stable every time you reassemble it. While we did find physical solutions for these items, we ourselves learned how to adapt to our surroundings.
We started to notice that we were using the physical and time constraints of our temporary living conditions as a way to warrant or second-guess decisions. Rather than buying something that we needed or wanted, we would say "after we move" or "when we buy a house." While we absolutely cannot buy a trampoline until we have a backyard, we were defaulting to this mentality. When you are always saying "later," you are not allowing yourself to live now.
By accepting modular living, we can use it as a litmus test to understand if something would work for us holistically. That might mean a little less space in our current place but perfectly fitting in the next. It also means not just buying the cost-effective item because it just works. We now take the time to think about what we need and want, without entirely saying "no" or "later."
A major tip is holding onto the items that do not fit your current space. As much as it feels like that shower caddy or closet organizer is just going to collect dust, it might come in handy in your next place or the one after that. For these items, invest in some good storage bins. The nice thing about these bins is that they double as boxes when moving. I recommend getting varied sizes—some that fit in a closet, some that can fit under a bed, and if you are lucky, large ones for a garage.
Taking cheap or free things from family and friends might seem like a good idea in the moment, but it doesn't scale for a modular life. We have taken free furniture, just to donate it in 1–2 years. The changing of spaces is an unsettling process, even for the people that revel in it. So getting temporary items, even when they're free, is not the best idea. Wait a few more months and save up for the item that can be taken apart or stacks easily.
Moving often can be a choice, a condition of your situation, or both. If this is how you live, adapting to it proactively is the best approach. By living modularly, you can have your home come with you, even if the walls change.