I dunno if it’s the fault of my female brain or not, but there is just a ton of information in my head: some of it is useful, a lot is completely trivial, and some is target specific and really only accessed during arguments with my husband via a delivery method I like to call rapid fire recall…
An example of this type of stored factual data, is how I’m able to tell you that the single largest expense for the average family is housing or shelter, with the typical rent or mortgage making up somewhere from 18 to 30 percent of the family’s income. I’m not a Real Estate agent, never been a banker, so why do I know this? I don’t know. I just do.
Maybe it’s information like this that attracted me to the Small House Movement and why my husband and I are big fans of the television show Tiny House Nation. I don’t know all the reasons for it, but it’s not just a passing fancy, because on a recent trip to Nashville, TN to visit my youngest son, Joel Adam Russell, I found a tiny house on Airbnb and my husband and I decided to see what it would be like to live in one – or at least stay in one – over a weekend.
The tiny house we booked was just 200 square feet in size, came with a full sized bed, a bathroom with a shower, a kitchen, a living room, and even had an fire pit (outside of course), and offered free WiFi – all the comforts of home, just a whole bunch smaller…
(Below is a picture of me and my husband standing outside our tiny weekend abode. To give you feel for the overall dimensions, I’m 5’5″ and my husband is 6’0″.)
Below is a view of the living room, taken looking straight down the hallway from the kitchen.
The below picture is taken from the bedroom, just past the kitchen, aimed slightly to the side to show a better view of the overall layout of the kitchen. (The front door is between the kitchen cabinets and the table in front of the fireplace on the right.)
Even though the bed was just a full sized bed, and we normally sleep on a king, it was very comfy. (Our girl kitty, Latte – little princess that she is – decided it was the best spot in the whole place and spent pretty much every waking moment there after we arrived.)
The bathroom, included a full size toilet (thankfully!) and a microscopically small sink and shower (pictured below).
When I was about 10, my dad built my younger sister and I a full sized play house – which wasn’t that much smaller than this tiny red house. Next to the 30 year old ramshackled trailers that served as the ‘Married Student Housing’ where I lived while working on my undergraduate degree, that childhood play house had been the last time I’d spent any real time in such a tiny living space, until this weekend.
It was every bit as small as you might imagine, and I think if we ever did seriously considered down-sizing to such a degree, we would definitely go bigger than 200 square feet. The kitties seemed to like it well enough, but it was a tad too small for us: we had to take turns passing through the hallways and the bathroom sink was so small that I teased my husband about only being able to wash one hand at a time. All that said, the experience was really pretty fun, and I’m definitely glad we gave it a trail run.
How about you? Would you ever considering spending time a tiny house this small?
Yes I would consider living in such a small space – as long as I could have a small village of them all to myself! I would need two or three for all my arty crafty stuff, my studio, my photographic equipment and my computers. I would need another for all my excercise machines. Oh and the tiny houses in my village would all need to be linked so I could move from one to another without getting wet – this is the UK after all! So I guess I may as well stick to my regular size house. Looks like a great place for a cosy weekend though – lovely pictures. Thanks for sharing your experience – enjoyed it.
Gilly, I love the way your mind works! I need a tiny house village as well – for when our family and friends drop in and we want to have tiny gatherings.
New Yorkers upsize when we move and feel no guilt. I never lived in more than 630 square feet—with no amenities.
So no I couldn’t unless it was in a communal community with many friends, a living area for everyone, another huge kitchen and a guest house. Actually that might be my dream!
Pia, I totally see what you mean since you live in New York. My husband and I were in NYC twice over two separate weekends this time last year and we booked rooms at the same hotel for each trip. The first weekend our room was on a lower level than the following weekend and I noticed that our room on the higher floor the 2nd weekend was significantly smaller than the first one had been, even though we were staying in the same hotel. I questioned the manager about the size difference and discovered that in NYC the higher the floors, the smaller the rooms get – and more expensive. We have different rules in Texas. Like Go Big Or Go Home. haha. (I’d have to be married to Mayor de Blasio to own a house as big as mine is if it were in NYC.)
I think I could live in it temporarily…but not sure I’d enjoy it for the long haul (where would all my clothes fit?)!! jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
I’m fascinated by these Tiny House Shows… and in Portland, OR (where I live) there is a hotel that is a few tiny homes on a little lot. I’ve considered renting it for a night or two just for fun. I don’t think I could handle such close quarters… even if I lived by myself. But fun to see how they get so much function into such a small space!
We have downsized but not that far. We spent a week in a little house like the one you feature here. The fire alarm was set so fine that we had to take the toaster out on the little landing to cook toast so that it would not go off. It would be a challenge to live that small with two people. It is harder to keep a small place tidy as everything you want to play with looks like a mess.
Kathleen
Hi Paula! Good for you for giving it a try but I think the Tiny House Movement is more for show than practicality. After all, an RV with pop-outs is less expensive and offer almost double the amount of space. But I do agree that we have all gotten WAY-AY-AY to obsessed with size in our culture and cutting back is so many reasons both for a person AND for the planet. That’s why my husband moved to a Small House (as opposed to tiny) and practice what I call “rightsizing” where you find a size that fits all your needs (not more) and live there. Thanks for your sharing your experience. ~Kathy
How cute! I wouldn’t mind staying in one on vacation but definitely not to live in.
So true Jodie. I didn’t show a picture of the closet in the tiny red house but there was one – a floor to ceiling sized armoire, which was only about 2 1/2 feet wide. It would never work for all your lovely fashions… 🙂
Do it Tara! It’ll be fun. My husband and I like to camp and so I just looked at it sort of like a camping trip. It’s way bigger than any tent we’ve ever been in, so if you sort of think of it that way, it’s easier to adjust to the close corners. 🙂
That’s funny Kathleen, about the fire alarm and toaster, and it’s awesome that you’ve really tried out a tiny house. I agree with you though that that small is just too small for us. I love a lot of the houses we’ve seen built on ‘Tiny House Nation’, and I think those generally average around 500-600 sq.ft. – 3x bigger than the tiny house we stayed in – so that would probably be a lot more realistic size for us. On that program, they seem to do a great job of not only making the most out of the space, but also in customizing them for the individuals involved, and particularly with such a small space to work with, I think that’s kind of essential. I hope you’ll write about your downsizing experience. I’d love to read about it.:-)
You may be right Kathy, after all saying “I’m part of the ‘Tiny House Movement’.” just sounds ‘cooler’ to most peoples’ ears than saying “I’ve decided to live in an RV.” (especially if they’re young ears), but the way I look at it is this: regardless of what you decide to call it, and regardless of how you individually decide to do it, it’s just getting more and more interesting to lots of people – especially those of us who had a big ol’ mortgage payment for a over half of our lives. PS: It’s great to hear that you’ve found what works for you. That’s awesome! 🙂
It was great for a quick vacation Mary, but I totally agree. For my husband and I (and our kitties), we’d definitely need a space bigger than 200 sqft to live in.