Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Teeny Tiny Love

I spent a good portion of Sunday surfing the net.  It all started when I was looking for rehabbed RVs.  I found some great examples of really well done RV rehabs (more on this another time).  But looking for these things led me to so many interesting people, websites and topics!   This could easily spin off into 12 separate blog posts.   The things that kept coming up in my RV home surfing were topics like living off the grid and eventually I got into tiny homes

The type of house I'm most attracted to personally, is a smaller home.  Who doesn't love a charming little cottage?  Or a studio apartment in New York City?  Our house right now is only about 1200 square feet.

Have you all seen the tiny Tumbleweed Houses?  I'm sure you have, they're huge right now (Ha)!  Jay Shafer, the owner of the company was on Oprah a year or two ago and I've been fascinated ever since.  Jay lives in an 89 square foot home that he built himself.  Here is a video of Jay's home:


 

Jay's designs start at about 65 square feet:

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and go up to 874 square feet:


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I don't think I could live in 89 square feet, but the last two are darling and I dream of having one plopped in the middle of the woods or on a clear-watered lake.  I wish there were some interior photos of larger two houses, but I can't find any that I can copy.  Just click on 'source' below the photos and you can see floor plans and computer mock-ups of the the interiors.  The first photo has actual interior photos.

As I was playing "follow the link" to all of these little homes and the people who live in them, I found a site called Little House on the Trailer.  The builder of these homes envisions them as a "care cottage" for either a person who needs care but wants the independence of living alone or a care giver who needs their own space but wants/needs to be very near the person they are caring for.

The really cool thing about these homes is they aren't so extreme like the 89 square foot tiny houses.  While those super-tiny houses are cool, I can't imagine lounging around in one and being comfortable for very long. These are homes that are more....."heirloom" is the word the builder uses. You can have a real sofa in them and there are sweet little details built into these homes, like mini fireplace mantles:





 Here's the kitchen in this house:





Here's another one of the Little House on the Trailer homes.  It has a bedroom and a loft area for sleeping:







And yet another!  This one was built as a guest house:




Aren't these adorable?

Here's a video of the builder talking about his cottages:



So.
How small could you go?

6 comments:

Gina said...

I'm always amazed at how well they can get the most out of these tiny homes. I don't think I could live in one. Not that my house is huge, but I think I'd be claustrophobic in one of these!

Your new blog design looks great! Cute header too.

Michelle said...

Those tiny houses are adorable! We're trying to downsize our stuff to fit more comfortably into our 600 square foot apartment. I think we could stay in a place this size long-term if we had more outdoor space and a shed/workshop to have more space for hobbies. Going any smaller would be a huge challenge to my packrat tendencies, which would probably be really good for me!

Thirkellgirl said...

If it was laid out properly, I could live in 650' I think. Our house is pretty small, and the lack of closet space drives me crazy sometimes. But I like cozy rooms.

BaMorgado said...

I love it...
Ond day i will live in INE jóias lime it...

SeaWorthy said...

welllllllll..we, being a family of 5 cohabitate very well in 975 square feet (when we are out at the Coastal NEst Cottage) I crave it sooooo much, our house we live in is over 2000 square feet, we are all in different rooms, doing different things and making different messes. I LOVE being in a smallll space with the other McElliotts, #1 because we are TOGETHER..#2 we use less..we are all watching one television, we are all using the light from the lamps..heat, ect..I think its sMART..and the family unit, it takes a while for everyone to cozy in, but they do!

Unknown said...

Thanks for featuring us on your blog! We love the videos and pics that you found of us! We're honored.
- The Little House on the Trailer team