The small things

In their flat in the university town of Giessen, Gina’s room is a work in progress – with personal expression at the very heart of it. She painted most of the pictures herself. Flowerpots made using a 3D printer were painted together with a group of friends gathered round a table, each with a brush. The shelf – a neighbour’s cast-off – was also repainted. And the plant in the corner? Sprouted from an avocado pit that she peeled, wrapped in a damp cloth, and waited on. “I think it’s really lovely when it eventually grows over the shelf and I can see it from my bed,” she says. And if it starts to struggle, she turns to AI to ask what’s wrong.

While the walls in her room are still mainly white, they’re unlikely to stay that way for long – she plans to fill them up with more colour and decoration, just the way she likes it. Slowly gaining control, one small decision at a time.

While her room is her sanctuary, a place “where I can be as neat or as messy as I want”, the shared spaces – kitchen, bathroom – are another story, run on a simple cleaning schedule and a set of unspoken rules. It works because she and her flatmate both know their part and are happy to play it – even if Gina had to give up on her original plan to label everything when she first moved in. “In everyday life, things got a bit messy. It didn’t work out so well,” she admits.

It’s in the kitchen that the real life happens, of course. A fold-out table that seats ten. Cooking two or three times a week together. The comfort of a warm meal and someone to eat it with. “When you live alone, it’s easy to miss having someone to talk to or share little moments with,” Gina says. For her, moving in with someone was all about everyday company. And for now, that part is solved.

Even in this small and comfortable home, though, global pressures can be felt. “It’s the current conflicts and wars that really scare me,” she admits. Like many young people, she also feels climate anxiety, worrying about the implications of missed climate targets on her future. But her response isn’t despair. It’s action, small and consistent: a vegan diet, cycling everywhere, second-hand clothes, turning off lights and heating when they aren’t needed. “I think every single person can make a big difference,” she says. “It starts with the very small things.”

Change is coming, and Gina knows it. Many of her classmates are leaving, her dental residency placement won’t last forever, and the possibility of a PhD and a bigger city beckon. Whatever happens next, she’s open to the new experiences it might bring. A different kind of communal living, perhaps? When it comes to change – embracing more sustainable living or otherwise – Gina feels it’s all about tackling it one step at a time. “Figure out what you really need, and then make small adjustments over time,” she advises. And she’s already doing it. Wall by wall, plant by plant. Ready enough for what comes next.

For life’s explorers, that kind of security – knowing who you are and what you need, with small but meaningful things always close at hand – can be another valuable companion.

Back to the IKEA Life at Home Report 2026