The electric drip coffee maker was one such enigma: I used it once every single day, yet it served only one purpose and consumed space 23 hours 55 minutes a day. I realized I had one of my grandmother’s (now) antique percolators (and one of her tea-pots) as well as a french press, and promptly gave away the electric drip coffee maker. After about a month of happily using the percolator to make coffee, I realized it would heat water just as well when not loaded with coffee, and donated the rarely used teapot. A month after that I not only realized I never made more than one mug’s-worth of coffee at a time, which the french press handled admirably, but also realized I could heat water in the one sauce pan I had decided to keep, and donated the percolator. Bingo: no more single-purpose coffee making devices taking up space, just a travel mug with a french press-lid and a multipurpose sauce pan, both of which get used several times, every day.
To elaborate on my answer to my friend’s question “was it difficult moving into a smaller house,” I would say “no,” as long as you’re able to look at even commonly-used things and ask “what function does this thing serve, and what else do I already have that can do part or all of that same function?” Being able to remove things that needlessly duplicate functionality allows one to happily live in less space.