Tiny Houses

Have you ever imagined your life as something completely different than it is today?  I don’t mean doing different things or changing jobs or whatever — I mean, living in a home that is a completely different type of home than you’ve been accustomed to living in all your life.

Tiny houses.

I’d never thought about living in a tiny house — not me personally, anyway.  I’ve thought about what it might be like for someone to live in a tiny house — I mean, I do love browsing Pinterest, you know. But lots of what I see, and pin, on Pinterest is simply pin interest — ideas that seem pretty cool — and, yes, sincere dream interests.   Since my husband has taken up an interest in exploring types of homes people might construct or styles that might be added to existing homes, I’ve seen lots of images of tiny houses and have listened to the different ideas for small homes –tiny houses– and clusters of tiny houses.  I haven’t wished it, but I’ve wondered what it would be like to live in a tiny house.

My husband had a little “getaway” planned a couple of days ago… yes, he once again completely surprised me with another unusual idea. I wonder if he will ever run out surprises.

As we drove he mentioned he didn’t exactly have an address for what he was looking for and so I actually assumed it was a pool job we were stopping to check on and that we’d soon continue on to the place we’d be staying.  But, then he turned down a lane and said, yes, this must be it.  Soon we were walking up to the tiny house that would be “our place” for a couple of days.  I didn’t realize that I’d be testing out what it would be like to live in a tiny house.  I’ve learned to adapt to all sorts of things in my life and so, through the evening I imagined all sorts of scenarios of what it would be like to actually live in a tiny house.  And it soon became very obvious to me (and to Wes) that we aren’t tiny house people.  Don’t get me wrong — it’s a very enjoyable experience, it just became obvious that logistically, for us, it wouldn’t be good in the long term.  And it’s totally unrealistic.

But… it’s a cool experiment.  And it would be such a cool thing to have as a part of a property or house — someplace to go, someplace for guests or family to stay, someplace to have an office or a studio.  So, the tiny house idea is not totally off the table, it’s just not on the drawing board.

Which brings me to why I wanted to take a moment to write about this experience.  More than simply a delightful time together, it’s been so instructive. I’ve seen it as a marvelous exercise in defining what we really like/need/want in a home.  That, and I’ve seen very clearly that a home really tells us a lot about ourselves and what’s important to us and what’s not.  I don’t mean the stuff necessarily, but the home and what it’s used for.  A tiny house isn’t a family home.  It’s not a gathering place and it’s not an industry or hospitality center.  That’s pretty important to realize if you’re considering a dramatic life change or lifestyle change.

And if you’re not real clear on what you wish for in life or what you might be able to do or not do, then I see a great advantage of going to the sort of place you’re imagining and spend a couple of days there and get a feel for it.  All that, as well as try to imagine all your favourite activities or traditions or whatever in that location.  Would they work there?  Would they fit there?  Would they even be possible there?  What would you necessarily have to give up were you to change your life?  What would you have to leave behind or stop doing?  What would you have to say “no” to?

An easier way might just be to ask yourself what’s important to you today.   What have you been imagining? And then you might ask yourself for today or in the future, how do you see your home being used or what’s important in a home or in a life or in a location.  Once you define those things, you might find that you don’t really want a different life after all and that when all is said and done, you really are living the life you want but you simply have some housekeeping to do or some reorganizing to do.  Downsizing may simply mean decluttering your home, your belongings, your schedule, your budget and/or your thoughts.

And if you ever thought you wanted to live in a tiny house, I’d suggest that you spend a couple of nights in one.   Here’s a tiny house. Pictures just don’t do justice to the amazing planning, craftsmanship and more — all neatly packed into about  8′  by 20 feet!!

More “Tiny House” ideas and plans here.