There continues to be a lot of interest in cargo container homes, small houses, and simple living. I recently found Michael Janzen’s Tiny House Living newsletter, where he shares lots of info and resources about living small. I’m really charmed by the small houses, but I don’t know what people do with all their stuff! Obviously, none of them have kids, but do they also not have any hobbies? (The photo above is from Rowdy Kittens’ post about tiny houses in Portland.)
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I would assume that a lot of Tiny House Living revolves around getting rid of a lot of your “stuff”. My large family could easily fit into a 5 bedroom, 2000 square foot house we looked at recently. But they couldn’t fit all their stuff in it.
The cabin I live in is about 400sf, which for most people counts as “tiny.” It doesn’t seem like it to me anymore! Settling in was a process of major decluttering. It is surprising how much stuff we have that we don’t really need.
Beyond that, it’s a series of trade-offs. Do I want room to store books, or yarn? I have 5 of the big-but-shallow yarn tubs, in exchange for which I have to mercilessly cull my book collection. Does the pantry hold food, or kitchen equipment? Every item of kitchen equipment displaces food storage space. I recently decided to take a pass on buying a bundt pan for this reason.
I get a little appalled now at the thought of the size of the average American home. It’s so inefficient! For one thing, I can clean my entire house, top to bottom, in about two hours. How great is that?!
I agree, we have too much stuff. And I never have the whole house clean at once. But I’d hate to have to choose between books and yarn! And some of these houses are about 10×10, which is pretty extreme.
I think I’ll stick to my 800 square foot home. It’s almost too much for me. I love the little portable homes though. Did you see the earth-bag home demo article on that blog? COOL STUFF!