in between premises

I am moving into a small light filled elderly miner's cottage for a short term as I try & crack the real estate code in a particular area. It is really quite a sweet house, yet I was for a pretty new townhouse this time & need to turn my thoughts to cottages again....
I draw much inspiration & settled thoughts from one of my single friends who lives behind her business in a small flat that she has made into a comfortable nest...
I have watched her transform this space into all one needs.... it is comfortable, minimal funds spent etc etc...
SO how much space does one person need. I do not long to rattle around a large home anymore... not sure what I will fit into...but worth some trials.
GARDENS are fine in tiny allotments now... where once a vast block was planted to within an inch of it's life...that is a piece of the past now....