Sometimes small-town life can get you down. Everyone’s going to West Elm, or Anthropologie, or heck — even Target, and you can only dream about being close enough to one of those stores to be able to casually drop by. Well, I’m here to remind you of ten reasons why living in a small town can really rock.1. Trendy design is hard to find.

Looking through all the Small Cool entries this month has me pining for the small space I used to inhabit — I loved it so much, but I don’t miss the challenge of hosting overnight guests in such a small house. We had one bathroom and one bedroom, and frequent houseguests that would often stay for two or three nights — sometimes more. While we love to host family and friends and put them up when they visit, it can pose a real challenge to keep everyone happy, healthy, and sane.