I’d take an Ecocapsule over my college dorm any day of the week.
yes, would have thrived in a tiny tiny home when I was in graduate school. As long as I felt safe and could do some cooking I would have love it.
This one seems more “do-able” for having multi-function rooms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYV0qATsyts
I can see living in a smaller 400-600 square foot place that has multi-function rooms. I can’t really see living in under 300 square feet and constantly having to pull my bed out of the wall or down. Guest beds OK, but not MY bed. I also like some separation between bathroom and shower and like sitting up or standing in my bedroom.
The comments about bathroom smells permeating the whole house tells me all I need to know.
No, just…no.
With both kids visiting for the summer, we are 2 weeks into a month of having 4 adults in our 850 sq ft flat. It helps that we all leave periodically to give each other space. Fortunately, we have 2 br and 2 (very tiny) bathrooms. I really can’t see going much smaller. One thing that I realized when we downsized is that every piece of furniture should be multi-functional (ie. ottoman that opens up for storage, nightstands that are also bookshelves, etc). And the “one in, one out” rule. Every time I buy a book or an item of clothing, I have to get rid of one. After 2 years, it’s going well, even though I periodically have to purge H’s office/2nd bedroom for him. He’s the child of hoarders and still has some packrat tendencies.
S has 2 friends arriving for week’s visit tomorrow. We realized that 6 adults in the flat was crazy, so H and I are moving out into our friends’ empty flat for a week (and their flat is 1250 sq ft - luxury!!!)
I was just watching one of the Tiny House shows on HGTV. The home owner (a single woman) had to consider the weight of everything she put in her house. So in the kitchen, instead of those cool glass tiles many people are using for their back splash, she used “vinyl glass tiles” because they weigh so little. They just peeled off and were attached sticky side to the wall.
At least on tv, they looked EXACTLY like the glass tiles we usually see on these shows. I’m sure they are a fraction of the cost. I thought that idea was pretty creative.
I was just thinking of the juxtaposition of this thread and the one on preparing for a disaster by stocking up on food and other supplies for months or years of self-sufficiency. 
I would love to put a tiny house on my back patio and make it my “she-shed.” 
@Nrdsb4, I would be a bit concerned about using “vinyl glass tiles” for a backsplash, especially if they are anywhere they might get hot (like near stove). Melted plastic is not a good look. My H grew up in an 800 square foot home with one bathroom, 3 bedrooms. They survived fine. Our house is slightly larger at 1250 square feet, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I have no interest in going much smaller or larger, but we are happy with what we have.
Good point @HImom, and I never would go for vinyl tiles either, but I would think that they must be vetted for safety if they are to be used in the kitchen, but I what do I really know about it? Nada.
DH and I live in a pretty large home for two people, even considering his very large office (where he runs his business). I watch these shows and just cannot imagine going that small. To each his own, of course, but I always wonder how long it’s going to take these couples to decide that they were possibly way idealistic about making it work.
I could see using a tiny house as a weekend get-away but I certainly couldn’t see living in one full-time.
One also needs to be careful about living in one of those while aging. There’s no way most people my age could climb up to the loft to go to sleep – much less get up in the middle of the night and go downstairs to use the bathroom!
I would have loved a tiny house when I was in graduate school.
I would hate a ladder now but at 22 would have thought it was fine.
As I have always cooked the most important item would have been the frig.
Then at least two burners and an oven.
I think a tiny house for one person is quite doable .
But two—hmmm.
Ok what’s with people on hgtv wanting a tiny house then complaining that the loft is cramped or the can’t fit a king size bed? They do know the meaning of “tiny” don’t they?
^^^They’re complaining about not having room for a king size bed?
Shaking my head…
I wonder how many of these people regret their choice in very short order.
Tiny, no way.
Compact, yes. For a couple, 800 square feet, if intelligently laid out with good storage, would work for me. For a family of four, maybe 1,200 square feet.
I grew up in a split level, about 1300 square feet, 3 bedrooms, LR, DR, 1.5 baths. We were a family of 5. I remember it as manageable to clean, but not cramped. However, when I go back to visit my dad, I marvel over how small the kitchen is.
But that would require downsizing the family’s stuff which takes time we don’t have. I chip away at it when I can.
H grew up–family of 5 in a 800 square foot, 3 bedroom, 1 bath home. He said it was fine. Neither he nor I have interest in going smaller than we are–1250 or so square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 bath. It’s just the right size for us–when we had our 2 kids living with us and now with just the 2 of us.
It’s the 200 sq ft for a family of four that gets me. No privacy, no proper seating - plywood benches don’t cut it, even with cushions, a 2-burner stove, storage for 2 pans, no place to put clothing. The one with the kids sharing a bed and parents on one that pulled out below made me twitch.
The other one this week had a young woman looking for a place. Requirements: full size kitchen, dishwasher, washer/dryer. Placed on a friend’s property. Where does the waste go? I get composting toilets, but they don’t all have those. And all the gray water associated with showers, dishwashers, and clothes washing - how is that treated? Just expelled into the ground? What about the water hookups?
There has to be more to it.
Zeebamom, that particular episode with the Florida family was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen on HGTV. Wonder where they were going to put that house when their property sold, and how do they get water/electric hookups?
When I was in HS, we lived in a 1200 sq ft house with five kids (ages 12-18), two parents and a dog.
DH and I have 2400 now, but a well-designed 1800 sq ft house (single level, three bedrooms with two of them 2 MBRs – one would be my quilting room, kitchen with an island, no need for both a living room and family room) would be fine with me. We actually have a little outbuilding in our yard that the previous owner built – it’s about 14x18 with electric and two windows. We call it our Manhattan pied a terre. The previous owner built it when his wife said he had to do his woodworking and cigar smoking someplace besides in the house. It needs roof repair and gutting at his point (if not a total tear-down). S2 needs to take everything in there to the dump.