Small House Movement
Small homes, big living
A few years ago I read an article in The Economist on small homes, or as they called it, a "Very little house on the prairie". It talks about the movement to make homes smaller again, and the example given is of a man who has built small homes out of salvaged material and antique hardware. The idea is that there is plenty of material out there to put together new spaces for living, and that these new spaces do not need to be McMansions.
I am hooked! I have now been exploring websites and looking at pictures and design plans, and I'm ready to build my own small house! It seems like quite a few people have already taken the leap and are now enjoying their reduced living spaces. There are TV shows and websites dedicated to simple living and tiny houses all around the world.
Small House Links
- Tiny Texas Houses
"My goal is to show people what can be done with a concept I call Salvage Building, thus what you see is 99% Pure Salvage." - Small Home & House | small, simple, modular, prefab, modern, solar, plans, kits & design @ s
Small House Style is a web magazine dedicated to all things small house & home, prefab, sustainable, design, architecture and modern. - Tumbleweed Tiny House Company
The leader in Tiny Houses. Buy house plans and build it yourself, or buy ready made houses. - Small House Society
The Small House Society is an effective living outreach of Resources for Life. We are a cooperatively managed organization dedicated to the promotion of smaller housing alternatives which can be more affordable and ecolog
Another Small House
My NYC Small House
I guess I should point out that I have lived in a small space before - in NYC my first apartment was probably 100 sq feet, and the amount of money I spent on rent while living in that space would have been enough to cover a good portion of a small house out in the countryside! But I think my experience in city dwelling has allowed me to feel comfortable in a small space for my living area, since I realized that there is more outside and all around you that is yours to enjoy, just not necessarily own, and that having a small space is an excellent way to learn to live a simple lifestyle.
The apartment was basically one room, with a kitchenette at one end, next to a small closet. There was a bathroom off to one side, with a half-bath and a water heater pipe that you just might hit as you were sitting on the toilet. I lived on the 4th floor, and my window looked out into a courtyard of other apartments that were similar in size. All of these people living together in small spaces. It was tiny, but it was nice to have a space that was my own in the big city!
I definitely enjoyed having access to the city. Being able to live in a cool location without all of the unnecessary stuff and space forced me out more to explore and enjoy the world around me.
Pics of my NYC Small House
Could you do it?
While living in NYC in a small apartment as a single guy wasn't too bad, I'm not sure how easy it would be to do it now with kids. There are certainly families on the TV shows that seem to make it work, but having grown up in a larger home, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the small space, unless we had property or access to other spaces that allowed for more privacy and room to spread out a bit. I know that one of the big adjustments would be in the kitchen area - having space to cook and prepare, as well as store all of the gadgets and pots and pans we use is something we have definitely grown used to. But who knows, maybe small houses in groupings that allow for common spaces will be the way of the future! Maybe even a "shared-style" kitchen for larger events, with a simple kitchen in the private living space, would give us what we would be looking for.
