Five Reasons Tiny Houses Rule
10 years ago, if someone had told us that the route to a more fulfilling home life was to pack up and give away 80% of our things and move to a house a fraction of the size of our current dwelling, we would have laughed in their faces. After all, our parent’s generation have been subversively fed the message that our ultimate life goals are supposed to involve us working our asses off to secure ourselves a palatial abode that rivals Versailles for decades. But the skewed money + success = bigger houses and better lives equation just isn’t ringing true anymore. For thousands of millennials, smaller, simpler lifestyles and dwellings are the thing du jour.
It makes sense, really. As we try and expand our world view and put more emphasis on experiences rather than the accumulation of wealth and property, the we lose interest in the standard material hallmarks of ‘success’. Our homes are the stages we play out our lives on, not a museum of impressive artifacts that we buff up and proudly display. When we spend less time filling up our lives with the so-called “must haves” that we don’t really want or need – and put more effort into selecting only the items that speak to us the most, choosing the occasional little luxury over a mass of flotsam and junk – we free ourselves from the collect-consume lifestyle. Released from the burden of striving for bigger properties and possessions, we focus instead on creating a bigger, more meaningful life.
For the past two years my boyfriend and I have lived in a series of tiny apartments, none of them bigger than 40 square metres. Although we both come from the UK, a country where space is limited and the average family home would probably be mistaken for a garden shed in the U.S, it took us a little time to get used to the dramatic downsizing. However, once we accepted that we would never be able to have more than a mattress and a wardrobe in our bedroom, we began to embrace the positive lifestyle changes that come with living in a teensy abode. Here’s why:
001: It Cuts Out The Clutter
Most of us can accumulate a stunning amount of crap over the course of a year, but how much of it is actually worth the space it takes up in your home? So many of our must-have purchases eventually end up in a garbage bag, ready for donation or landfill. Living in a tiny house forces you to really consider what you need, whether you have the space for something new, and when it’s best to leave something on the shelf.
002: It Breeds Innovative Design Solutions
Think you need 1,400 square metres and wall-to-wall windows to create your dream home? Nuh-uh. Yes, a tiny home means you need to be a bit more creative about your decor scheme, but figuring out where to put 10 million books and ornaments in a room the width of your arm span can lead you to some seriously awesome design solutions.
003: It’s Cheap As HELL
Let’s not forget one hugely important point – the smaller the house, the less you pay to live there. Who wants to spend 90% of their disposable income on a palatial apartment, when the alternative is to save major dolla and brunch like a champ with friends every day of the week?
004: You’ll Have Less Cleaning!
I’ll admit that I’m a clean freak, and am more finicky than most about household chores. But I still only spend a maximum of three hours a week cleaning my teeny-tiny pad. Three hours! Bear in mind that this includes a weekly deep clean. In a smaller home, there simply isn’t enough space for dust bunnies to hide…
005: You Can Let Your Mind Run Free
By eliminating the constant pressing urge to clean, monthly worries about rent payments and nagging feeling that you really should clean out that junk closet, you automatically lift a huge weight off your mind. But tiny houses are more than just a quick-fix solution to the situational problems in life. Living in a tiny home sparks the realisation that not everything in life is a search for bigger and better, that actually, it is possible to live a fulfilling and happy life in an apartment the size of your childhood bedroom. It’s a reminder that not everything has to be an announcement to the world of your own achievements, a benchmark of your success. A tiny house is somewhere you can retreat when the world is doing your nut in. It’s a tiny space of cosiness and calm for you and you alone.
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