Why the obsession with "tiny houses"?

Yea, 200 sqft would be a little too cramped but a small house under 800 sqft would be completely doable. The "fad" is the people over charging for these these small houses. The way I look at is why heat/cool and clean a giant house when that is all i would need. The key to it would be storage sheds and/or workshops outside with nice porches.

The house i live in now has a log cabin built in 1780 that is about 200sqft and an entire family lived here. Of course there were many outbuildings that they did all their work in.

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I'm not in to those pricey tiny houses. I think that's a bit ridiculous. I am in to 'small' living, but you can build yourself (or hire out what you can't do) and not spend huge bucks. our tiny house is 900 sq. ft., and as to heating/cooling.....it depends on how you build it. we have ours as an open 'A' frame type interior design that is totally compatible to woodstove heating. all areas receive the heat efficiently (can't imagine a woodstove in one room of a house) our trees keep us cool in summer, so ceiling fan/fans are enough. for us it's about living frugal. just two of us, and we like things a bit more simple. I have many friends/family that moan about how they could never live small. that's ok with me (so I wish they'd stop giving me their opinions on my small house. lol) I think the tiny house 'movement' is really about people wanting to live without all the excess. if you rule out the pricey companies that chime in, it's not a bad thing at all. I love the small cabin forum. most are building for pleasure cabins, but some build to live small.

I did want to add, however, I'm not somebody that judges anyone wanting to live in a 'McMansion' either. people should be able to live as they want without prejudice. some folks want to think they somehow are suffering, and I highly doubt it. they just live as they choose, and that's cool with me.

I have a very large farm house and I could not live in 200sq. Ft. Heck my living room now is 16x27 and is not to big. I guess if you like small spaces go for it.

I spent a few years living in a small cabin I built for about $6000. My friends said it looked like the unibombers place. I loved it. So little upkeep and you don't have room to buy extra stuff. I still prefer to live in smaller places.

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i think that it is a consumer reaction to the jones'. its a dream for a simpler life. also think thats why zombies are so popular - because people want society to 'reset' to a way that all threats are physical instead of the ambiguous anxiety their life has now.
i have a 900 sf house and i love it. i would love to have a tiny house or rv on some land for camping, too, but really so its more of a permanant tent. living that small would be difficult - what about toys and art projects, crafts, and hobbies? and tools? truly you could do all your hobbies outside, but youd have to have a place to store that stuff. and people that live in tiny houses must not put up christmas trees, right?

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Scrub Land's Blog

Christmas trees are simple. Just get a small one. Actually i make one. Take 2 coat hangers and make a tree shape and wrap garland and lights around it and set it on a table.

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U.S. Constitution -10th Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

I've lived in a small log cabin, and large houses and rv/campers. If I were to live in a small place again, I'd have a barn to hold all my goodies. An outside kitchen. In the summer I don't spend much time inside and in the winter most of my time is spent in the living room and kitchen.I do almost every craft imaginable, the entire upstares is my 'storage". The whole idea of haveing 3 bedrooms-"for resale value" is just dumb. Can't stand it when I hear that I have to consider the next person more than what I need.

wind in her hair, that is a beautiful cabin you and you husband have. Thanks for sharing.

I think I will stick to my 1260 sq ft 7 room double cinder block walled 60 year old house. With one room being 420 sq ft of greenhouse after charging the walls warm in the winter and cool in the spring I can keep my sorta biosphere fortress with 16 inch walls at a comfortable 70 degrees using only three electric radiators in cool weather and two 5000 btu air conditioners in the heat of summer for only a couple dollars a day.

Its affordable, plenty of room for me and the dogs and a comfortable refuge from temperature extremes for all of us.

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that tumble weed home is a little small but it is inspiring. Small apartments in the city were mentioned and it is true some of them are small, very small. Living in the city you just get use to it. I have a small apartment. Me personally, I see no sense in working hard all day to be able to afford to heat a house that is bigger then you need.

A funny observation though, most people live in just a few rooms of their house anyway, so they are living in a tiny house within a larger house in a way. I see people with large dinning rooms, formal living rooms, and two and a half baths who spend all their free time in the den watching tv, eating at the small kitchen table, and they use the half bath all day when they have to go.. The other rooms do not get used unless large amounts of company come over. Then there are some people who have a large house and they basically live and eat in their bedrooms. These people cook in the kitchen then go eat sitting in bed watching tv, they hang out in bed on the computer or watching tv, or talking on the phone and that is it. Those kinds of people only need a studio apartment to live in to suit their habits and lifestyle needs.

that's cool, Shrek. hopefully you can see, tho, that tiny houses are no more an 'obsession' as a huge house is. just.......choice. sidenote is I'd rather live in a true building, be it tiny, than an rv. now that's just me. I like a bit of true building structure around my person.

For whatever the reason, our township codes require 1,000 sq ft of living area for any newly constructed house(this covers most double wides and mfg houses, too)--and doesn't let it be in a basement area--but 800 on the ground floor and 200 on the second story is acceptable..

That's usually a small kitchen and eating area, a living room, a bathroom, and three bedrooms.

You would have to go under the radar here if you wanted to live in a smaller space.

geo

If I lived by myself I would have a house of about 1,000 sq. feet (to me that is small) and would have no formal dining room but a huge country kitchen that I could eat in, a den, and two bedrooms (one for me and one for the grands) and one bathroom. I would have a large pantry.

My office would be in a nook just big enough for a desk and computer and file cabinet.
Washer and Dryer would be in a closet in the hall next to the bedrooms.

that is about all the space I need, but a big kitchen is a must. And a wrap around porch. Another must.

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Well I think the idea is good.

But like you say some of the sort of designer ones are a bit too expensive.

I grew up in a 3 bedroom house but that house was way smaller than any 3 bedroom made today.

I think part of the housing bubble crisis was that if people would have had the option to buy a house smaller and less expensive more people would have not gone under but at least around here nobody is even building those type houses anymore.

I think some of the cheaper ideas posted here are cool.

I live in a small space and it's a love/hate relationship. In the wintertime, it's really small. Not being able to be outside. My kitchen and bath are just under half the space. My place checks in somewhere around 550 sq ft. I love my kitchen for baking and cooking. Everything is within easy reach. I don't do my canning here though--that's next door in Dad's house. His stove is bigger and gas. Mine's tiny and electric. But I will do as much of the prep as I can at my place.

You learn to live with it and adapt. I do a lot of sewing, so I've got a dummy, cutting table and machines peppered throughout the place. It's easy to clutter up too. So you do need to be vigilant about what you have.

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Leslie

“If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.” --Katherine Hepburn

the bad thing about smalls spaces is that if you do stuff and make a mess you can not just close the door and go to another part of the house. So, if you are tired after doing a project and making a mess you have to ether clean it up so you can relax or just relax in a messy space until you get the energy to clean it up.

I clean up the mess. but then again that's just me, too. I can't continue a project the next day unless I begin with total organization. which brings me to the most important thing.....you must be the type of person that is totally organized to live small. no clutter..and organized.


(City Bound...you sounded like my hubby, so I got a kick out of your post. I always say...'no, you can't just close a door'. and yes...he'd be fine in the messy space. haha!! )

They're cute, but living in something smaller than my chicken coop?! No thanks. I'd be horrified if my kitchen alone was that small.
I've lived in apartments with no kitchen space. In one, the counter had enough space for a toaster, nothing more. What kind of crap is that?! I mean, really, even if you're a microwave meal maker, you still need somewhere to beat your ramen noodles to a pulp. Looking to buy a house, my major requirements were a big kitchen with lots of counter space and cabinets and a bathroom with a tub, where you could sit on the pot without your knees pulled up to your nose or having to put them on the counter or in the tub.

I like the idea of a small living area to keep clean and ready for visitors, and then the 'stuff' for hobbies and the like in the auxilary building for being able to walk away and leave it and come back in and continue working on it. larger version of closing the door and not seeing it when company comes.

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That is my house. It is 1200 square feet and there are two of us. We do have two bathrooms though.