Tiny House Living -- Could you do it?

[Matata]

I've been strangely addicted to the tiny house shows for a few months. My initial reaction to them was No Way. Now I'm rethinking. I think it would have been a good option for me when I was in the 20-30 YO range and I think it's a viable option for me when I'm in my 70's and older.

Around 550 sq ft would fit a downsized lifestyle for me. My biggest concern with these homes is they usually have a loft bedroom where you can't stand up. And, getting up to the loft on a ladder or steep stairs wouldn't suit. I'd need a convertible sofa bed or a loft tall enough to stand in and a proper staircase with bannister.

Could you live in a tiny house? How much sq. footage would you need? Would you want one that is on wheels so you could follow the good weather or would you prefer one that is stationary?

 

[Dee*Jay]

I have a "boat house" that is about the size of a two car garage (so around 20' x 20') on the water in Michigan. I bought it last year and did a gut renovation, which is just now *almost* complete. The previous owners just used it as a glorified place to keep their boat (there is a 46' slip attached) and it was utter crap inside -- there wasn't even a real kitchen and the bathroom had a freestanding shower that I was afraid would collapse on itself it you blew on it too hard.

It was an interesting challenge, especially considering the wide open space I primarily live in now. I'm not sure I could do it "for real" without a serious serious SERIOUS editing of my stuff... I would have to get rid of a lot of things, including the CB as I would need to take over his closet space too! But even only only being here half time has taught me that to figure out what's important. Like wine -- I got a narrow 12 bottle wine fridge in the "dining room" slipped in beside a cabinet and it's awesome! And if you want efficient cabinetry the answer is IKEA. We put in wardrobe cabinets that make All The Different In The World. The kitchen (which isn't quite done; awaiting some trim work) is fine because we're not going to use it a ton, but I still put in a Bosch cooktop and micro/convection oven and a Fischer & Paykel dishwasher drawer and a gorgeous slab of granite. Being in this tiny space forces you to figure out what's important and ditch the rest!

Just tonight I was mulling over what to do in a corner where we charge our phones, and they end up on the floor, which is not ideal. I stumbled across a drink stand, which is only 7.5" round. Voila! Ironically in my other space I had to have sofas custom make because I couldn't find any big enough. I swear, in my next life I'm going to be an interior designer because after having moved 18 times in 28 years and doing 8 gut renovations I'm a frickin' expert. Matata, if you want to go small, big, or anywhere in between I'm there for you!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Forgot to say, I didn't do a loft bed set-up. Instead I have a king size pull out by American Leather. It's not upholstered in leather (in this humid climate that would likely be pretty gross, but the company is called American Leather). This thing is amazing -- there are three panels that pop out (so no metal bar down the middle) and the memory foam mattress is VERY comfortable. We've got chair in the living room positioned so all we have to do is scoot the coffee table over to open the bed, and we actually keep the mattress pad and fitted bottom sheet on so we just need to put in a top sheet and blanket and get the bed pillows out at night.

 

[katharath]

Ooh Dee*Jay your boat house sounds so charming!! I'd love to see pics.

I find the tiny house shows rather compelling too. I don't really search them out, but I always watch if I spot one. I just don't know if I could do it though. Definitely wouldn't want to right now with my kids, DH, and the cats, but maybe if I were older and it was just DH and I?

 

[sonnyjane]

Not only COULD I - but I would LOVE to. It is literally my dream. DH knows that if anything happens to him, this place is gone and I'm going tiny. That said - it's not as easy as it seems! There are very few places where you can legally live full-time in a tiny house. Many people have to buy a LARGE home on land, rent the home out, then keep their tiny home on the plot, which is definitely not something that would interest me!

 

[whitewave]

I could do 1100 sqft as my smallest-- the size of my first house. We do well in the 37 foot RV with 3 slides, but that would get old fast for me-- a Month maybe?

 

[Karl_K]

lived in a 20ft RV for months at a time so yea I could do it but don't really want to full time. As far as that goes lived in a popup camper for over a month growing up with 4 of us. Was a lot of fun!

 

[luv2sparkle]

I have a 28 year old son who says that he wants to live in a tiny house. As Sonnyjane said, it is harder than you would think to find a space that you can park the thing on. We have camped in trailers for many years. We have a 37 foot trailer now, and I couldn't live in it, but we have our eye on a Montana 3790-and I could live in that one easily. It is beautiful and set up so well. I would have room to bring my favorite appliances and be able to cook like I do at home. That is important to me. I am not all that fond of eating out, especially every meal. I don't have any plans to sell our home though when we get it. We plan to keep our current trailer and we were going to pour a pad on a two acre parcel of land that is for sale next door to our daughter and sons house in Rio Rico, AZ. They live out in the freakin middle of nowhere and the city of Rio Rico wouldn't let you put a trailer on that land. So I am thinking that all these people with teeny tiny houses are not going to find it as easy as they think. We can buy the land and put it in the kids name and do it, because it will be on a lot with a house-but I think we will just keep it at the beach where the kids want to go for vacations anyway.
I have watched all the tiny house shows and I always think that these people would be better of getting a travel trailer. They would spend a lot less and have things laid out a lot better.

 

[SurfFL]

I could definitely live in a small space, but not a tiny house. If I was going to do it/when I do, it will be in a travel trailer/RV. I see these tiny houses they build on the shows and then look at the 29ft travel trailer I have in my yard, I have more storage and useable space not then most of these tiny houses and I'm able to hook up to it and easily move to another location. I just don't get the amount of money they spend on some of these shows compared to what you could go buy in an RV that is designed to be moved and actually travel in. But that's just my opinion, to each his/her own.

 

[Matata]

we have our eye on a Montana 3790

I just googled that. Niiiiice.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Isn't it totally livable? You can even stack a washer and dryer in the bedroom!

 

[marcy]

I don't think I could live in that small of a home with my DH and we get along well. Our last house was 1050 square feet upstairs and sometimes we just couldn't get away from each other. We also had a small RV for camping (26 foot) and on rainy weekends we wanted to kill each other especially if I was beating him at Cribbage. If I was living in a place by myself I think I could handle something small.

 

[arkieb1]

I've seen that show too, watched in awe wished it was so, the reality is I'm a 3rd generation sh#t hoarder, my husband is also what I call a 3rd generation sh#t hoarder and my son is a sh#t hoarder.... So we'd need 10 or more tiny houses to cram in all our cr@P

 

[OreoRosies86]

I'm very claustrophobic so probably not.

 

[dk168]

My first property was a studio flat: one room measuring 16ft by 12ft that included a bay window, with a separate bathroom and a built in wardrobe opposite.
Great location in central London, however, a double room in the hotel opposite the block of flats were bigger than my room!
It was sufficiently big when I first bought it. However, as I grew older, I collected more stuff, and when I moved back to live there full time after I left my ex-husband, it proved to be too small, and had to leave some of my stuff at my ex's house.
Can't live in such a small flat now that I have a cat and a dog, in addition to everything else like a trailer full of camping gear!
Would love to have kept that shoe box of a flat though for its great location just 5min on foot from the British Museum, however it was not financially viable, shame.
DK

 

[valeria101]

I'd rather plaster a hut with jewels than go big ...

 

[Austina]

No, I couldn't live in a small house. Even though there's only the 2 of us now, I still like to have space. We did downsize 6 years ago from 4,500 to 3,500 square feet, and when we move again in approx 3-4 years, we'll be looking at downsizing to about 3,000 sq ft, that's about as small as I'm prepared to go. We've looked at places of about 2,000 sq ft, but it just felt too small.

 

[mochiko42]

In Hong Kong they are selling 200 square feet condos for US$500,000. Most people live in apartments under 900 Sq ft so 'tiny homes' are nothing new here.

I live in a 700 Sq ft apartment (average cost for something in this size is US$1.2 million) in Hong Kong, it's considered big in this city, but it cost many times what my brother and his wife paid for a 3,000 Sq ft house just outside Portland, Oregon (US$250k). Husband and I are hoping to cash in at some point and buy two condos or townhouses back in Canada (one for living in, one for rental).

I like living in a smaller apartment but not too small. Around 1000 Sq ft is a good size for me. I don't think I can afford anything bigger, unless I win the lottery lol..

I disliked living in a big house when I was growing up in Canada because it was expensive and troublesome to clean and upkeep. The house always felt very cavernous and empty, for lack of a better word. Also, the heating and hydro/electricity bills were astronomical. I recently read the KonMari book and have been gradually getting rid of a lot of material possessions, especially the bulkier items. I hate having lots of stuff cluttering the place, it always weighs heavily on my mind.

 

[missy]

Could I? Yes. Do I want to? No.

When I was living in the college dorms my space was probably less than 200 sq feet but I was still in my teens. When was living in a studio apartment in Manhattan throughout graduate school my apt was about 450 sq ft. I was in my early 20s. When I did my residency and then stayed on as faculty I was living in about 550 sq feet. Did I like it? Eh it was OK but I was young and it didn't matter the space I was living in but it mattered more where location wise I was actually living and this was the space I could afford. When I started earning real money (aka not residency pennies) I saved up and finally bought my first real home which was an 1100 sq ft apartment. That was perfect for me at that time. Mid twenties.

Now we live in a few thousand sq feet (2500 in NYC and 3200 at the beach) and I have to say it is perfect for us and our kitties. I have my space, my dh has his space and we are not always on top of each other. It would drive me batty to live in less than 2000 sq feet with my dh and kitties. We each have our hobbies and need our own space so a minimum of 3 (and preferably 4 one for guests) bedrooms.

Could we live in a smaller space? Sure. But it wouldn't be our preference. We enjoy our spaces too much. My dh creates beautiful things with his woodworking hobby and that involves room for his woodworking equipment/machines in his woodworking shop and I love my arc trainer, pilates equipment etc too much to willingly give that up. We enjoy our library room as well where we can chill listening to music, read etc.

I like that we each enjoy our spaces and are not always on top of each other. We have privacy when we want it. And we have separate bathrooms. To me that is the key to a successful marriage. Separate bathrooms and separate closets and separate spaces to enjoy our time apart as well as together.

I think tiny houses are great for some but as with everything not one size fits all.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Kath, here are a few pics to give you a general idea.

The first one is out the sliding glass door of the bedroom (which no longer exists). You'll note the Berber carpet... who puts CARPET in a beach house?! If you walk straight out the door about eight feet you better be prepared to swim!

 

[Dee*Jay]

From the other direction, taken this morning. This is where I'm posting from right now.

 

[Dee*Jay]

From the 400 square foot roof deck.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Now for the inside. This is the living room.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Dining room. I had an entirely different image of how that would look originally but I fell in love with a '50s era walnut table two weeks after I bought the place. Then we had to move it around for months as the renovation went on. At more than once point the CB and I were ready to throw it right off the dock! But I do love it now, and we keep all three leaves in, even though it's big for the space.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Kitchen.

ETA: You can see on the right that the granite guys did quite a number on the wall trying to get the backsplash in...

 

[Dee*Jay]

Wardrobe cabinets with the doors open. The one on the left opens to a real door, and there is a big closet that goes the whole way under the stairs up to the roof deck.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Bathroom. You can see the washer/dryer peeking out behind the curtain.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Pic of the "artwork" now hanging above the couch (which is also a king size pull out sofa). This is a silk scarf painted by a lady in Hawaii. I just love it!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Sorry I'm a technology moron and had to post those one at a time... Also sorry Matata for taking over your thread!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Oops -- one more... The all important mini wine fridge! Being guarded by Potter, the wooden hippopotamus, and last week's yard sale find!