Tiny house movement

[backlash]

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?ps=931&rip_id=%3CD9JPOI780%40news.ap.org%3E&_LT=HOME_LARSDCCLM_UNEWS

Here is a story about a guy that lives in an 89 sq. ft house.
Not sure I could do that and the price seems to be way to high.
Maybe for a weekend but full time I would like a little more room.

[Aamylf]

Talk about having to go to the grocery store every day! Where would he put supplies? My one pantry is larger than that. For me, that house is as impractical in the long run as would be an 8,000 sq' house. Just seems like a gimmick. Now, if you're building your home and you start with that and add on, I can understand completely.

The price/sq' is pretty high, but not crazy high.

[Deep South]

I've thought about this alot over the past year or two.

Currently I have 960 sq ft. living space, which includes two bedrooms, one full bathroom and one half bathroom.

Now, I used to live in an efficiency apartment - somewhere between 500 and 600 sq ft.

Due to the exorbitant cost to build and other factors, my house goals have changed. I am back to considering a smaller scale, something like 600 sq ft with one full bathroom only, a small bedroom, a combined dining/living space...with hopefully the addition of a small loft. That, I think, would be a good fit for me. I don't need an area set aside for a washer and dryer, so the pantry area could expand.

Just thinking here.

[oldtimer]

It has amazed me all the "tree huggers" out there that live in huge homes that take up land, used a lot of materials to build and then take a lot of fuel to maintain. And they have like what, 2 1/2 people in the house???

If you're concerned about the environment and your pocket book, go small. We've had seven kids in a 1200 foot home with one bathroom. Our big room is a 12 by 18 foot kitchen where we spend most of our time. We also have a summer kitchen separate from the house.

Things were tight when everyone was home and you had to take a number at the bathroom and wait. (If you had to, you could head down the path to the backhouse) but now the children are grown, this house is plenty big for Mrs. and myself.

[cinok]

We have lived in a 14x28 cabin thats 392 square feet with 4 people.Thier is small loft the boys 13/14 use for a bedroom above the kitchen/bath area of the cabin its only 6ft in the center and slopes down. I rencently added a 120 square foot bedroom(was our deck) for me and my wife. Up to then the living area was also our bedroom. Storage was a problem in the beginning but we got rid off alot of crap. We have all the amenty in out 10x9 kitchen and full bath tub in the bathroom. My wife completed her ADN/BSN with honors my boys have ggod grades and we all get along real well. We do have plans for another addition for the boys bedroom but we are on the pay as you go plan. This was not our plan but rather reality after I got hurt at work and lived in a tent while we framed in our cabin. Its called life and reality.

[Dame]

We moved into our current house from 3000 square feet. This one when we are using it all is about 1500. The first couple of years were a challenge. Now a decade later 3 of us can manage comfortably in13x15 of actually heated space with another 200 of just above freezing and 135 of semi-heated. We leave the balance of the house entirely unheated/cooled.

We actually prefer the smaller space and the reduced workload of maintaining and heating it.

[rwwoodcock]

After my last divorce I built a 14x20 one room cabin . that comes to an amazing 240 sq ft. Granted it is just me, but I have plenty of room in it I lived in it for 3 years till my teen daughter wanted to live with me instead of her mom. She has grown up and moved out on her own now and I moved back to the 240 footer and rent the trailer that I bought so there would be privacy for a daughter. I like the little house for just me. It is very cheap to heat and cool. I cut the logs, drug them out with horses, sawed the lumber and drove every nail myself. With electric and water and all the furnishings I spent less than $5,000 on the place. I insulated the daylights out of it and my utilities are approx $75 a month. I built the house so it could be added onto easily if I need to in the future. I love it.

[Gunnywag]

rwwoodcock - would love to see photos of your place.

Gunny

[AK_ID]

Looks like a good thread to get my feet wet in. I live in a small cabin (192 square feet plus a 10x12 loft), and am comfortable. Eighty nine square feet seems a bit tight, though -- I'd have to sell my books and the dog. There are several reasons I built small. Finances, both short term in material costs and long term in heating costs, were a factor. Ease of construction was another -- much easier for a gimpy old fart to hang rafters that are only eight feet long than trying to wrestle with longer ones, or worse yet, trusses. The fact that my kids are grown was another factor. And when family does visit, the small space ensures short stays (yes, we old guys do use our noggins now and then). And the house cleaning isn't much of a chore -- staying organized is the key.

Could everyone be happy in a small space? Nope. We all have different druthers. For me, it's worked out great. The fact that I spend an awful lot of my time outside probably helps.

Nice forum here. I've been reading for a long while, and finally decided to join last night.

[randallhilton]

we eventually added on to our house, bringing it up to almost 1,100 sq feet but now that we're down to the last of 8 youngsters the house is a bit large. In the U.S. we've been suckered in to the idea that houses need to be huge.

Read Walden Pond by HD Thoreau for a more sensible perspective, it not perhaps too far the other way.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I live in a small cabin (192 square feet plus a 10x12 loft),

I have two questions--
How do you heat/cool?
And where do you keep your pantry items? Do you have a separate shed for food storage?

[AK_ID]

I have two questions--
How do you heat/cool?
And where do you keep your pantry items? Do you have a separate shed for food storage?

I heat with a wood stove, and cool by keeping windows open and spending a lot of time in summer sitting in a lawn chair in the shade down by the creek.

I have a small pantry at the end of the kitchen area, more than enough room for one person. The freezer sits in the covered porch.

[southernyankee]

going small is in the building stages right now, going from a 1800 sq ft home to a 450sq ft cabin we are building to live in while we build the big house, personally i can't wait, my fondest memories are growing up in a tiny house (576 sq ft) everyone was forced to interact,. just me and the mrs now and be nice to not have the room for her adult children to come "visit" for a year at a time lol