Friday, July 30, 2010

The Tiny Home Movement

A friend Ms Gently Used produced this segment on PBS's Need to Know, Living Large: A look into the tiny house movement.

Do take the 10 minutes to watch the segment. It's inspiring; it really is. Ha! And many Americans would think the Golightly home small at 1,800 square feet. It fits us just fine.

My only dilemma with a tiny home would be what to do with my childrens book library. I plan on being the grandmother who reads to her grandchildren someday. Things are changing so fast, I want my legacy to have books land in little hands.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I you on the books. And Playmobil toys. And craft supplies.

Nope, I wouldn't choose a tiny house.

Jora

Nichole said...

While I have a traditional house, it is "tiny" when compared with today's standards. At 650sf, it fits my needs for now. Honestly, it almost feels too big as it allows for the collection of more stuff. I'm slowing getting rid of things and would love to downsize my housing even further in the future.

I have considered these tiny houses before and have looked into other alternative housing and would love to do it someday. But I'm not quite there yet.

Thanks for the link to the story.

Shopping Golightly said...

I don't know if we'll ever leave our current home. We've put a lot of ourselves into it. By the standard market, it's certainly not a big one.

I fired my first agent when we launched our home search in Denver. He kept thinking he could up me in price and size; both my decision, not his.

After apartment living in Boston and Chicago, 1,800 square feet felt like a mansion! And in my heart, that's exactly what it is.

Ru said...

Oh my...well - we are currently dealing with downsizing as we are moving to an apartment in Silicon Valley half the size of our 1840 s.f. house in Ohio (with 320 more in the finished basement). We are loving getting rid of things, but it will still be a challenge to adjust. I got unused to small rooms after leaving behind more than 20 years in the Boston area. (And yes, Chicago apartments can be quite similar to those.)

Our aim is at some point to have a nice Mediterranean style home with breathing room, but Apartment Therapy does make the small home lifestyle really appealing. I'll have to watch the vid to feel better about halving our living space...

Kelly said...

The houses of my childhood had one bathroom and if you were really fortunate , a powder room . We shared bedrooms , ate in the dining room and the Den/Living room was where our one and only TV was located .

Closets were small and a pantry was two kitchen cabinet shelves . Groceries were purchased every few days and consumed before they spoiled .

We were very fortunate to have a laundry room , so that clothes could be line dried inside in the winter . The ironing board was always set up in the Laundry room as everything (but towels) needed to ironed.

Shopping Golightly said...

Kelly,

In the former post I mention an old, neighbor and friend Joe. He and his new wife bought their two bedroom bungalow and happily raised six children. My grandmother was raised in a four room home with five children. My husband's father raised in a similar home with 12 children and a two-holer out back. The modern day person has quickly forgotten that we used to be happy with less.

Ru,

Oh! San Fran! One of my favorite places. You may end up with a small home but you will have the city, the bay, the mountains, the ocean, the restaurants,...

Laurie said...

Thanks for sharing the PBS segment. I've been happy to see people getting away from Mcmansions. I built my home with help, and it's huge compared to the tiny houses, at 1000 sq ft. I wonder if I would have done things differently if the tiny movement had started before I began my house. There sure are some sweet homes.

LaureAnn said...

So funny to see this post today! I've been reading about small homes lately, and am intrigued by the idea! One of my friends said that she would need a huge storage unit if she lived in a tiny house......I think she has missed the point. We (general we) have WAY too much stuff and too little "life". I too am guilty, and am doing my part to stock the shelves at the Archer Goodwill...as well as a bit of shopping there! Maybe we'll bump shoulders some day.

Anonymous said...

There are some wonderful websites dedicated to showcasing Tiny Houses. Some are weird and unbelieveable, others are so cute!
I would love a tiny house - set on my property behind the other non-McMansion house.