Tiny House Living?

carrie1977

carrie1977

Sweet Shoppe SugarBabe
Could you do it?

I'm sitting here watching an episode of Tiny House Hunters and I just don't think I could do it. I do find some of the homes super cute but I think I would feel claustrophobic. And I'm not one that suffers from claustrophobia. :D
 
I'd say that would be similar to staying in an apartment?
We currently stay in a 2-bedrooms apartment, 77sqm, with one kitchen and one bathroom. Living room and dining room are basically in the same space. Would you call that tiny? I am not sure what's the average size of houses there, though. But, compare to the houses in Bali, this apartment is tiny for me.
 
I know I could never do it, especially with children. I need for each of us to have our own designated spaced. If we were empty-nesters, I don't even think I could do it then. Once upon a time we lived in a 700sq foot home and my husband was always in the living room. I could either go in the kitchen/dining, bedroom or bathroom for my space. I turned one of our closets in to a crafting room just so I could "shut a door" and call it mine! That was also 18+ years ago and I don't think I could ever sit in a closet while doing something crafty, much less think. To have a tiny home where we all could see one another, listen to them smacking their gum, keyboard clicks or controller movements on the xbox---no thank you!! Some are called to live that way, but I like my space! :D
 
By myself? Maybe. I lived in a small studio apartment for a few months right after college and it was fine. (Of course, I was 22 and used to living in dorm rooms that were hardly bigger than a walk-in closet!) But there's no way I could share a space that small with anyone. I need my own space and alone time, so living in a tiny house with anyone else would drive me batty.
 
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nietis said:
I'd say that would be similar to staying in an apartment?
We currently stay in a 2-bedrooms apartment, 77sqm, with one kitchen and one bathroom. Living room and dining room are basically in the same space. Would you call that tiny? I am not sure what's the average size of houses there, though. But, compare to the houses in Bali, this apartment is tiny for me.
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That's almost 829 sq ft here. While I'd like to say that's small, we've lived in that size for quite a few years as a family of four and managed. It's tight, that's for sure!

When we had my oldest, we stayed in a 750 sq foot (69 sqm) three-bedroom home. The rooms were SO tiny. My daughter's bedroom barely fit her crib and her changing table! But that was our home back then!

This was taken from the web about a tiny home:
The typical size of a small home seldom exceeds 500 square feet (46 m2). The typical tiny house on wheels is usually less than 8 ft by 20 ft, with livable space totaling 120 square feet (11 m2) or less, for ease of towing and to exempt it from the need for a building permit.
 
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Some of these people are looking for 300 sq ft of space. That's insanely small. I want my own space, too. If I always had to listen to my husband chew his food, I'd be in jail. LMAO!
 
I think they are cray-cray! Though my husband enjoy the show, we figure it's the modern day "living in mom's basement" since most of the people on the show are living on a relative's property :)

I could never do it! I thought 1100sq feet was too small when we had two toddlers & a dog.
 
I only really understand it when people want a tiny house they can tow so they can travel around. That kind of makes sense to me. It would be like a house on wheels instead of a caravan. But just as a regular house, especially with a family it wouldn't be for me :)

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nietis said:
I'd say that would be similar to staying in an apartment?
We currently stay in a 2-bedrooms apartment, 77sqm, with one kitchen and one bathroom. Living room and dining room are basically in the same space. Would you call that tiny? I am not sure what's the average size of houses there, though. But, compare to the houses in Bali, this apartment is tiny for me.
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Yeah no, this is more like your kitchen/living/bath are all one room and your "bedroom" is a tiny loft up above you can barely sit up in. Or my favorite, the dinette is also your bed. :D

Adam and I spent 6 months in a small one bedroom apartment when our first home was being built and we've both said never again. We almost killed each other. :D

I'd be up for road tripping around the country which is what a lot of them want to do. But I wouldn't buy a tiny house, I'd buy an actual camping trailer with slide outs and such that's designed to be mobile. I don't understand these people wanting to tow a boxy tiny house around - the gas mileage would be have to be horrible.
 
I would LOVE to do it! It's a dream of mine but realistically, it won't happen (at least with my 3 kids). I do have friends that just sold their 4,000 sq ft dream home and bought at 400 sq ft trailer and are traveling the US. He's able to work remotely and she homeschools their 3 kids. Her stories are amazing.


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I could probably manage it, but would I want to? No way. I enjoy having a large home, decorating it, having space for the kids to spread out (although the kids keep nagging me to share a bedroom lol), etc. I often host big gatherings as well and they have a habit of making my large house feel small as it is.

But we survived renovations last year when we were living out of one of our loungerooms (the rest of the house was mostly demolished on the inside, right back to the frames) and while it was fun to begin with, I almost cried happy tears when I got the rest of my house back.

I love the camper idea for travel though - my husband and I want to get one eventually. :)
 
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britaneejean said:
I would LOVE to do it! It's a dream of mine but realistically, it won't happen (at least with my 3 kids). I do have friends that just sold their 4,000 sq ft dream home and bought at 400 sq ft trailer and are traveling the US. He's able to work remotely and she homeschools their 3 kids. Her stories are amazing.
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I cannot imagine being in that tiny of a space with 5 people! That's 80 sq feet per person. I couldn't. And to homeschool!! I homeschool two of my three, but I cherish being able to send them away to special activities and we currently have our own space. Where do you send your kids when you need quiet time. And I'd hate to ask....how do you do it with three kids sharing the same sleeping quarters?
 
Nettio said:
Yeah no, this is more like your kitchen/living/bath are all one room and your "bedroom" is a tiny loft up above you can barely sit up in. Or my favorite, the dinette is also your bed. :D
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OMG! We would definitely kill each other if we were in any smaller place than we are right now. We spent our first 4 years of marriage in a university studio with tiny kitchen and bathroom. Even then, we had to have separate desks! I don't think we can do it again now with Michael. We'll definitely go crazy! :p
 
nietis said:
OMG! We would definitely kill each other if we were in any smaller place than we are right now. We spent our first 4 years of marriage in a university studio with tiny kitchen and bathroom. Even then, we had to have separate desks! I don't think we can do it again now with Michael. We'll definitely go crazy! :p
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The last one I saw the guy wanted to write from the road and his "desk" was also doubling as their dining table and kitchen counter top. And it was maybe 3-4 feet wide. :D
 
I don't think so. But I do watch it to feel appreciative of every bit of space I do have and to try to learn ideas of where I might save space.

One of the "worst" ones I watched was a family of 5 that had to set up seating and a table any time they wanted to eat and then they had to dismantle the seating and table in order to even leave the "house". I'm sorry, but I think that would get pretty old fast to have to put together a table and take it apart multiple times a day. Every. Day.
 
I'd love to know how long people who buy these end up living in them - do they end up with buyers remorse?
 
Nettio said:
I'd love to know how long people who buy these end up living in them - do they end up with buyers remorse?
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Oh yes! I would love to watch a follow up show 1, 3 & 5 years out. It would be interesting to see what they may have changed to the original design.
 
So I did a quick Google search and one story that popped up said a couple left their tiny home after a year because she got pregnant and it was too difficult to navigate the tiny spaces. :D I could see that being a problem. :D
 
I lived in Army barracks for the first 10 years of service. Those were tiny rooms. Granted we had separate shower/toilets, and a communal lounge, but all our living was essentially in our little rooms. I COULD do it, but wouldn't these days. I've gotten used to lots of space in my house.
 
scrap2day said:
One of the "worst" ones I watched was a family of 5 that had to set up seating and a table any time they wanted to eat and then they had to dismantle the seating and table in order to even leave the "house". I'm sorry, but I think that would get pretty old fast to have to put together a table and take it apart multiple times a day. Every. Day.
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This is exactly my problem with it. Sure, some of the ways they come up with to save space are quite clever, but when you're talking about dealing it with it ALL THE TIME, it stops feeling clever pretty quickly. I don't need a ton of space, but I do want things like a bed, a toilet, and a table to just be there without having to play real-life Tetris to get them.
 
Nettio said:
So I did a quick Google search and one story that popped up said a couple left their tiny home after a year because she got pregnant and it was too difficult to navigate the tiny spaces. :D I could see that being a problem. :D
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I couldn't imagine being pregnant having to deal with the lack of space.

I also don't know how people do it with more than one child. Where do you put the baby to sleep? I couldn't put a baby/toddler up in a loft.
 
Neverland Scraps said:
I cannot imagine being in that tiny of a space with 5 people! That's 80 sq feet per person. I couldn't. And to homeschool!! I homeschool two of my three, but I cherish being able to send them away to special activities and we currently have our own space. Where do you send your kids when you need quiet time. And I'd hate to ask....how do you do it with three kids sharing the same sleeping quarters?
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The kids are in bunks and I think it's one on top of one and the other is a loft bed with storage underneath (of some sort). And the parents have a bedroom with locking door. (And they currently have her grandma traveling with them for the next 6 weeks too!) But I agree, i love my kids but I like some my time as well. My friend seems to really balance it well and I give her major praise and applause for it. I love hearing their adventures and dream about it but I know it'd never work for my family.


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Someone wrote a blog post recently about living in a tiny house for a weekend. She said the biggest issue was how quickly it got messy, especially the counter space. And the other issue was bugs. They had a fly that moved so fast they couldn't get it, and it would zoom from end to end all day long - until she trapped it in the bathroom. I never thought about that!

I could never do it now, mainly because I have too many heirloom-type things from my family that I could never part with. And I definitely need my own space to get away from my family. If I couldn't do that I'm sure I'd just run far, far away...
 
We live in a small 3 bdrm, 2 bath condo in California. Because we cant afford a house just yet. And its so small. With 4 kids and a (seems like never leaving) brother In law living in the living room (why im never home). I am going NUTS!!!..I need a yard. A balcony is not enough when its full of stuff.

I just cant imagine something smaller.
 
I could probably do it by myself as long as it was in a climate where I could spend plenty of time outside... basically I would sleep in it and spend time in it when it was raining. I'm pretty minimalist now and I hate clutter and I don't buy something unless it really has a purpose. Having spent a lot of time in RVs I'm used to my dinette being my bed :D
 
I would love to do that... if I was not married with no kids. :D

I wouldn't be able to even handle having a cat or dog in that small of a space.
 
i think i could life in just such a tiny little home i love how cozy they are if i can make it in a tiny studio for 3 years with my boyfriend i can do it alone in a tiny house for sure
 
Sasha said:
We live in a small 3 bdrm, 2 bath condo in California. Because we cant afford a house just yet. And its so small. With 4 kids and a (seems like never leaving) brother In law living in the living room (why im never home). I am going NUTS!!!..I need a yard. A balcony is not enough when its full of stuff.



I just cant imagine something smaller.
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We just moved from a 3 bed/2 bath condo (with 3 kids) and all I wanted was a backyard and attached garage! I didn't care if it was bigger but a backyard would save me...and it has. Hoping you get yours soon! And that your BIL moves out soon too ;)


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britaneejean said:
We just moved from a 3 bed/2 bath condo (with 3 kids) and all I wanted was a backyard and attached garage! I didn't care if it was bigger but a backyard would save me...and it has. Hoping you get yours soon! And that your BIL moves out soon too ;)


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Yes we are working on it. I'm the same. The house could be small but give me some land and I'll be happy :)
 
As an introvert who needs alone time to recharge, I don't think that I could do this unless I lived alone.

The ones that really get me are the 20-something single guys who say they don't need an oven or a stove...just a mini fridge and a microwave. Do they plan on ditching the tiny house when they wind up in a relationship? Because I can't see too many women wanting to move into a home without the means to cook a real meal. Honestly can't see too many men thinking that way either.

I watched one episode where a family was moving cross-country, and wanted a home with less than 600 sq ft, and they had 4 kids (I think it was 4). All I could think of was that if I was one of their kids, the first thing I did when I turned 18 would be to move away. Having no privacy would have been SO difficult for me.
 
No. I think my 1300 sq foot house is too small for 5 people and a dog. :D I wouldn't mind one of those tiny houses for a she-shed though; then it won't matter if there's no stove or indoor toilet.
 
pewtertm said:
As an introvert who needs alone time to recharge, I don't think that I could do this unless I lived alone.

The ones that really get me are the 20-something single guys who say they don't need an oven or a stove...just a mini fridge and a microwave. Do they plan on ditching the tiny house when they wind up in a relationship? Because I can't see too many women wanting to move into a home without the means to cook a real meal. Honestly can't see too many men thinking that way either.

I watched one episode where a family was moving cross-country, and wanted a home with less than 600 sq ft, and they had 4 kids (I think it was 4). All I could think of was that if I was one of their kids, the first thing I did when I turned 18 would be to move away. Having no privacy would have been SO difficult for me.
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I saw that one, too! All kids in one room. Didn't they give the kids the ONE room and they took that weird looking loft space?
 
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