We got hooked on the episodes of “Tiny Houses” on HGTV over the holidays (even made a “Tiny Houses” inspired breakfast this morning for D1 who heads back home today - mini pancakes, mini breakfast sandwiches, mini diced potatoes, tiny diced fruit…) Just like regular House Hunters but the people are looking to downsize to “tiny” - most of them 600 sq ft or next (one for a family of 6!) down to one that we saw that was 97 sq ft!!!
Anyone else watch?
Makes you think. How little could you live on a regular basis??? Could you live with a significant other or just yourself in a studio? Could you manage with only one small closet?
Our cottage IS kind of a tiny house. It’s on one of the great lakes and can only be used Spring through fall (no good heat source). I can do it for vacation, but for everyday? Not so sure! I need some private space.
How tiny have you lived before? Or how tiny could you reduce to??
Twice, I lived in a tiny house. Three of us in a 50 square meter condo in the french alps for a few weeks. We also lived in a house boat for a few months. It was good. I didn’t feel squeezed. The first house we bought was abit bigger, 14’ by 45’ times 3, a colonial trinity.
I’ve never seen the show but, no, I couldn’t do tiny. I love my big house and giving up my antiques, art collection and other important personal items would be a no go. We also have a large family and not being able to entertain them, have them come stay with us, nope.
I’m attracted to the tiny houses, but I don’t think I could live in one long-term. They look palatial compared to the 2 1/2 foot by 7 foot tent I’m going to spend three months of next summer in, though.
I’ve seen the show and yes, the tiny houses look cute and cozy but I don’t think I could live in one long term. Maybe I could have one as just a little workspace but not as a house.
I’ve seen it. I thought the family of 6 was going to find out pretty soon that the house they bought is really too small for them. I also thought it odd that the vineyard owners wanted to downsize from a 1300 sq, ft. house - it’s not as though that is large to begin with - but I did like the wee house they bought.
I could see going that small as a weekend get-away house on a lake and I do like the one’s which are very contemporary.
I lived in a L shaped studio apartment in NYC after college. It was probably around 800 sq feet (was large for a studio) and was perfectly fine for a single person or even two adults…
My house isn’t very big and even with a family room addition is only about 1800-1900sq. ft. Perfect size, imo, for us empty-nesters. Half the basement is finished and we have a bedroom down there, too - which S uses when he is home on break. Gives us all the privacy we want.
When I worked on a cruise ship back in the dark ages, I lived in a tiny cabin for 5 years – just big enough for a bed, small closet and chest of drawers. I don’t ever want to live in a tiny ANYTHING again for as long as I live!
Some of those tiny houses are awfully cute, though. Love the way they make use of space.
I love the idea of a tiny house, and if I were single and had no husband/children, I’d seriously consider it. It’s fascinating to me. I like clothes, but aside from that I could be fairly minimalist. Books can be gotten from library or kindle; music is all digital.
I can live in a tiny house if it has a large lanai, a big yard, and an internet connection to keep Mr happy - and if is located in Hawaii or San Diego! In my neck of the woods - nope.
Hi Emilybee – I’m from California and we don’t have many basements so statements like this always confuse me. Why doesn’t the finished space down in the basement count toward square footage? Plus you have all that extra storage space in the unfinished part of the basement. It sounds funny to my West Coast ears not to count all that extra square footage!
Nottelling, a below grade basement (finished or unfinished) is not counted towards the total sq, footage for assessment purposes and if I were to list my house for sale it would also not be included in the sq. footage.
Yes, we have a ton of storage space down there. The whole basement is the exact foot print of my house (minus the addition) as I live in a ranch.
^^^I’ve known that’s the case, but I don’t understand why a finished basement which has available living space is not counted as sq. feet for assessment purposes or for that matter, any discussion regarding the size of a house.
I feel like H and I are just rattling around in the big house now that we are empty nesters, so the idea of a tiny house appeals to me. Realistically, I would love to move into a condo right now, maybe 1000 square ft.
I’d like a compound in a lovely climate. San Diego, Hawaii, etc… A location where the outdoors is in essence another useable room. When I look at what parts of our house is used every single day, it is about half of our 2200 SF house. It’ll be even less when our last child leaves for college in the fall.
I’d love a walled compound, with a smallish, but open and airy main house, and a couple of guest houses or wings of the main house arranged around the perimeter of a cental garden/patio/ outdoor area. I’d like to have the space available for family to stay, but the ability to close off the extra space and live in a smaller house.
It’ll probably never happen, but a girl can dream.
I’d like that, too, eastcoastcrazy. But the central courtyard should be open on one side so the outdoor living space has access to the fabulous view (but is sufficiently blocked from the wind).
“I’ve known that’s the case, but I don’t understand why a finished basement which has available living space is not counted as sq. feet for assessment purposes or for that matter, any discussion regarding the size of a house.”
Don’t know why it isn’t - it’s just not. But, I’m happy it’s not as my property taxes would be a lot more and they are already high (I’m in NY.) I also cannot count the bedroom down there as a bedroom for assessment/selling purposes.
When S isn’t home no one uses it at all (my laundry is on the main floor so no reason for H & I to go down there besides putting stuff we don’t use in unfinished part) and when he was still in middle/high school it’s were he hung out with his friends. It was the first major remodel we did to the house as there was no place for him to hang out, except his bedroom, at all.
We were required to put in an egress window which was quite expensive ($5K)
H and his 2 sibs and parents grew up in a 800 square foot house. We had 9 of us in a 4 bedroom place–maybe 2500 square feet total. We aren’t neat enough to go too small. We like having space for files and “stuff.”. It’s very “Zen” to go simple and small, but nope, I had a nice cozy dorm room I shared in college and law school. Not particularly interested in returning to living in tiny spaces.
My son and his friend went on a trip out west last summer and he asked me to book them something in Portland. I wanted to surprise him, but he looked it up in advance. He said it was a cool place, but would have been better suited for him and his girlfriend, not him and his guy friend. They stayed in the “caboose”.
In my neck of the woods - nope.