Remember a few years ago the trend was to have bigger and bigger homes? You just weren’t living right — according to lots of suburbanites — unless you had a media room in addition to five bedrooms (for your three-person family), a three-car garage, an eat-in kitchen (and separate dining room) and two living rooms. Who needs two living rooms and a media room? Well, things have changed. Smaller is better. Shifts in the economy and environmental issues like climate change have led many people to seek out a life lived within their means. Yet, other folks have taken it a step further with tiny houses.
According to MSN Real Estate reporter Christopher Solomon, the average square footage for a typical American family has increased by 140 percent. From 983 square feet in 1950 to 2,349 square feet in 2004, the typical family home is much larger than it used to be.
Although I’m one of those people building a tiny house (it’s solar powered too!), I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t see how people live in such snug surroundings. My tiny house is out in the country and is a hobby project, not my primary residence. If I had to live in the 320 square feet of space that my family and I tinker in on the weekends, I could, but there’s not much elbow room in there. Tiny house aficionados, however, love the Spartan-like accommodations these mini residences provide.
Flexibility & Freedom to Living Tiny
What I find most intriguing are the motivations behind living tiny. Not only are these modest dwellings good for the environment, they also afford owners a large amount of freedom. Some of these tiny abodes are portable. That’s right: if you want a tiny wood frame cottage complete with a trailer hitch to cart behind your car or truck to the destination of your choice, there are companies to suit you. Especially when we’re talking about the moveable homes, owners can pretty much live wherever they want, without being limited to an RV. Plus, many tiny homeowners find themselves free from their mortgages and able to have more enriched lifestyles.
In an interview with About Face Magazine, Portland Alternative Dwellings’ resident tiny home expert Dee Williams said that tiny living helps to reduce the bottom line of living necessities like heating bills. According to Williams, living tiny helps homeowners to participate more in life.
Living Simply
The simple life is certainly an ideal that many people are adopting. The good news is that the values of tiny living can be shared by all, even if living in a small space is just not your thing. A simplified life means trimming back on things you just don’t need. Netflix and e-books mean that we don’t have to have as much stuff sitting around. Being conscious of your impact on the Earth and doing little things — whether it’s helping a friend figure out how to recycle properly or launching a neighborhood cleanup project — help the environment. Being self-sufficient is another value that a lot of tiny homeowners share and it’s as easy as planting a vegetable garden or making your own beauty products.
Overall, the tiny house movement is about independence with the understanding that we’re all a part of the ecosystem. How we live in it is really up to us.