This post is in response to Lauren Modery’s post, “Dear People Who Live in Fancy Tiny Houses” in which she reference a picture of our home. (It would make most sense to read hers before reading mine.) I thought it only polite to write back!
Dear People Who Live in Fancy Giant Houses,
Do you actually love living in a fancy giant house?
You look so freakin’ happy in that gated community with the pools in every back yard, but c’mon, you can’t tell me that you don’t lie awake at night, your bedroom four floors from your childrens’ for fear of them overhearing your incredibly loud boinking, and think, How am I going to pay my mortgage?
Oh, geez. Seriously, though! It’s all in fun. The questions you ask in your blog post are, in fact, the questions that everyone asks. Everyone!
As a Mom in a Family of Four living in a Tiny House, I can tell you from 10 months of experience that the Tiny Life is quite wonderful and freeing. It’s a mix between completely normal and a vacation.
We are normal people. Nnnnnnorrrrrmalll. We even have cell phones, real ones, with email, facebook, and instagram (a highschooler asked me that once, I think he thought maybe we were Amish?.) Living a real, live, life. Farts and everything. (Really, not a problem. We have 11 windows in under 300 square feet. The airflow is pretty breezy.) The equivalent annoyance would be the sound of chewing. I cannot tolerate it. But I can remember this irritating me in the “Big House,” too (we downsized from 2000 square feet), and like most “How do you _____ in a Tiny House?” questions the answer is tagged along by, “but you experience a very similar or identical scenario in any living arrangement. AmIright?”
My house is definitely not clean all the time. This place gets pretty messy fast. The photo you used in your post was of our house the day we first saw it, before we moved in. Here is a picture of our house the day you posted your questions, ten months after the original pic was taken:
More stuff! More homey, though. We’ve rearranged things a few times, continued to downsize to needs and favorites. No “just in case” items, they just represent fear. Our home is fearless! It is filled with joy and welcome! Though it is definitely not tour-ready all the time. The average American can invite someone to step inside without the risk of sharing immediate view of the dirty laundry basket, a sink full of dishes, and whatever project is laying out. That’s real life! So I guess we’re just really real.
Right now our kids love the Tiny House. However they choose their dwellings in the future it’ll be shaped, like all children, by what we chose for their childhoods. We choose maximum life experiences over maximum storage for possessions. We choose financial freedom and gifting our time and resources to helping others rather than maintaining a large building and bills. We choose to use our home as a cozy place to relax and unwind after long days of playing outside, experiencing culture, and spending time out with family and friends rather than space to arrange electronics, collectibles, and decorations. Whatever form their homes take, this is their firm foundation.
Thank you for your well wishes of happiness! Years ago when we began planning for Tiny Living we only addressed the numbers. We didn’t realize it was so much more than that. God has a better! Bigger! plan for you than to have a big house and fill it with stuff! We’ve found that we’re really content with these contents. And I think that when you find contentment tiny things bring you Great Joy. 🙂
I must add, I wish happiness to all the Giant Housers of the world! I hope your mortgage is easy-peasy to pay off and your pool is often filled with joyful, swimming guests! Asking questions creates understanding and acceptance. Lets accept all kinds of safe, happy, joy-filled homes and pray that their dwellers achieve their goals and find their bliss.
9 Comments
I love it! I wish I could convince my spouse!
Thanks Valerie! 🙂
We just downsized from living in about 1600 sqft to around 200 sqft. We put stuff that we really wanted into storage (10×10) and got rid of the rest. Ive learned how to maximize space in our new dwelling which happens to be an efficiency hotel which runs way cheaper than when we were renting. My plan is to stay here for about a year and then either buy a nice, used mobile home or camper and put it on a lot.
Not only are we saving money, but we have extra money to get out and do things. It has been liberating to let go of “stuff” and being here just made me realize how much stuff we didn’t really need. Instead of spending what seemed to be every waking hour constantly cleaning and yard work, Im not focusing on stuff that I love doing. I wish I had done this much sooner.
I sooo love your tiny house…
I need to get better after proof reading before I hit send…lol. * Im not focusing* should read: I’m NOW focusing…
Well said! I am so happy things are going well for you and look forward to spending more time at museums, galleries, seminars etc. It is funny that people get offended by tiny living. It’s almost as if it is a defense mechanism but I agree with you that it is about each individual and what works firs them and their family. I personally can’t stand the upkeep of a house and updates and mortgage. Our house sod in 5 days and we are now mortgage free. I can be a stay at home mom with out the guilt of money troubles. So excited to join the tiny house movement with you soon!
Well said, with Spirit-led restraint ;). With less grace, I often also point out how they are being big, fat whiners and that most people in the world and through out time have lived in small spaces. And she must not have kids. They are *very* sound sleepers.
Very interesting. I’m not so brave. We just downsized from 2000 feet to 1000 feet and I feel claustrophobic at times but am enjoying the new environment. We had three dumpster loads and many trips to Salvation Army in our downsizing and one huge garage sale.
I’m grateful to have a roof over head and no debt. I’ve thought the tiny homes are great but wouldn’t even know where to put it. Hats off to both of you.
Good and fair response, though I don’t think the original article was supposed to be entirely critical. We’ve been living in 250 sq ft for the last eighteen months. And it has not been without it’s challenges. We work from home, and at this point don’t have kids, and it is starting to feel too overwhelming to have ours desks also be our kitchen table to also be our living room. There just isn’t space to take a break! We’re currently planning a small expansion to try and mediate this a bit. A small expansion which wont’ break the bank, won’t send us spiraling into debt, but will increase our quality of life. It is still quality over quantity. What I don’t like about the Tiny movement is that it either has to be tiny or else it’s considered gigantic. Why can’t we just go back to normal? What happened to moderation?
Hello. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope to be a tiny house owner soon. I would love the opportunity to talk with you further on the tiny house lifestyle. How you were able to find a place for your tiny home here in mn? I recently read that zoning doesn’t allow permanent living in home on wheels. I have so many questions and am excited to know that a tiny house is here close to home. God Bless and again thank you.