Making Tiny Living Spaces Work

Posted by Rolf Joho on March 8th, 2010 filed in Global Warming

Sure, there was a time when only royalty built and lived in homes of enormous scale. But, in today’s world, some of the largest homes in the history of mankind are occupied by average citizens. At the same time however, there are more and more people who occupy incredibly tiny homes and, not only out of necessity but by choice.

And, it is not only in urban areas like Tokyo or New York City, where people are forced to sometimes live in smaller places, you can find tiny homes all around nowadays. Yes, it is not always a choice, especially, as I mentioned, if you live in big cities like the ones mentioned but, more and more people are making the choice to live in tiny houses for various reasons like being more green.

A Yale grad student is currently living in his van to save money while in school. A company that makes and sells tiny homes called Tumbleweed Tiny House Company is doing very well selling homes ranging in size from as large as 837 square feet to as small as 65 square feet. In urban areas, you can find people choosing to live in apartments ever smaller and smaller.

You may be wondering why someone would elect to live in a home that small. Well, benefits include, saving the environment, simply maintenance and upkeep and, the biggest reason may be money. Cleaning your home, for example, is much cheaper and quicker. Spend a bit more at first by purchasing the best equipment for the job like a Dyson upright vacuum cleaner for instance and you’ll probably never have to buy another. The wear and tear will be very minimal.

There are many ways to make your tiny home more comfortable and even seem larger than it is. Many interior designers will make use of every inch of space and, there are websites and books dedicated to helping you do this yourself as well. You can contract a carpenter to make furniture that is multi-purpose like a sofa that has book shelves in the back. Also, save money on central heating because if you get a small top of the line heater like the Delonghi space heater, you will heat your whole home quite easily.

You don’t necessarily have to buy the best all the time. In fact, there are things you should not spend too much on. How many dinner parties do you think you’ll hold in a tiny home. Not many, right? So, why spend on the best steel cook wear when you can get a nice anodized cookware set that works for any occasion for less money?

No, not all people are cut out for tiny home living. In fact, many would go crazy without their precious space. But, if you do fit the mold and the home, you can save quite a bit of money and even save the environment. Plus, you may actually find it quite a refreshing change.