My wife and I lived in a series of conventional houses, maxxing out in the late 90's around 2000 square feet. Then we moved onto a sailboat.

We sold almost everything. We kept some clothes, old photographs, music recordings, tools, and a few kitchen implements. All the boat "furniture" was built in - no need to bring any of that stuff. No yard tools. No garage junk. We moved aboard in 1996 and lived aboard until the end of 2012. I think we have the "accumulate junk" tendency pretty well under control, but now that we live in a small house again, we have accumulated a bit of clutter again.

When you are looking for space-saving ideas for a small house, check out the space-saving ideas from sailboats - the situation is a little different, of course, but on the other hand sailors have been dreaming up space-saving ideas for a lot longer than the current "tiny house" movement.