Tiny Homes: Size Matters

Downsizing your home would be viewed by most as a step backwards, perhaps a sign you lost your job, or your ex-wife just fleeced you. Yet there’s a growing number of people who are wilfully and radically downsizing their homes and possessions in the pursuit of simplicity, affordability and new ideal for living. 60 square feet digs is not everyone’s idea of fun, but for the Tiny House people, this is the way forward.

So what’s it all about? Are we witnessing a subconscious Freudian desire to return to the womb? Or are people just too skint these days to buy real houses? Hmmm….

Jettison the Junk

Getting rid of what you don’t need is one of the basic tenets of Tiny Home living. Take a look at all the stuff you own; the clothes, books, CDs, records, furniture, pots, pans, cables, gadgets, crockery, sex toys, knickknacks etc. and consider how much of it you actually need? Wouldn’t it be nice to streamline it all and strip things down to the bare essentials? This is an increasingly appealing proposition in a world that is full of crap; kind of like one big life-enema.

Individuality & Beauty

This is a culture that is just as committed to aesthetics, as it is size, a fact reflected in the incredibly original and varied types of Tiny Homes seen around the world; many of which are designed and built by their owners themselves. From little wooden prefabs on wheels, to customised shipping containers, converted cement sewer pipes, modified garages, tree houses, cave homes, cupboard apartments, shed houses, dome homes, cabins, floating homes: the permutations are endless.

Quality Vs. Quantity

Ever felt like Wallpaper magazine should be top shelf? Got a bit of a Frank Lloyd Wright Pinterest fetish board going on? Well, good news for you: high-quality design suddenly becomes way more affordable when your home has the floor space of a postage stamp. Create the dream abode you’ve always fantasised about (just 100 times smaller) for a fraction of the cost, and then fill it sparingly with a smattering of top quality stuff.

Nothing is Superfluous

Living on such a small scale, nothing can be there that doesn’t need to be, including space; every surface, nook and cranny must have a specific use. Micro-homes are often designed ingeniously so that rooms can be adapted or even transformed completely: sitting areas become bedrooms, dining areas become studies, showers become toilets etc.

Cabin Footprint

If you’ve got any interest in helping to save the planet, then Tiny Homes are a great way to do your bit, as they use fewer materials (wood, concrete, bricks, plastic, metal, stone, slate, glass etc.) and far less energy to heat up or cool down. Many Tiny Homes have ecological, dry composting toilets, which will probably freak out your visitors, meaning they won’t take a crap at your house ever again. Win win.

Ditch the Debts

That mortgage you’re servicing each month, fancy getting rid of it? A Tiny House can be bought for as little as $5000. Bargain. So you’ve told your bank manager to fuck off, gone and bought your Tiny Home; now what are you going to spend all that spare cash on? Remember you no longer have the space to warehouse crap in anymore, so blow your new disposable income on a trip abroad, a plot of land, or an expensive drill.

What’s the Hitch?

Living in such condensed quarters is clearly not for everyone, and depending on what type of Tiny Home you own and where, it certainly won’t be without its drawbacks. What might suit a single person or two soulmates would probably be a step too far for a family of three, or a toxic couple. Personality definitely plays a large hand in whether micro-living works for you or not; living with a noisy person who eats with their mouth open could easily result in a bit of Tiny Home ultra-violence.

Summing Up

In this modern world where bigger is better, and the perpetual cycle of buying more stuff has become our main function, it’s heartening to see people bucking the trend and doing the exact opposite. The fact that some Tiny Homes are incredible feats of design and engineering, and not just a woolly wigwam wet dream, lends credibility to the people who choose this way of life. Mobile micro-homes may possibly invite comparisons with caravans, but the Tiny Home owner is not a redneck eking out an existence in the back of a trailer; rather they are seeking to create a life that reflects beauty and originality, while being aligned with their wider principles of sustainability and less-is-more.

We like Tiny Homes a lot. In fact, we’ll probably be living in one (or two) before long.