I recently asked my own Facebook community for some inspiration about topics for the various blogs I write.
One question that intrigued me was this one:
“I’d be curious to know where folks think “tiny” ends and “small” begins. I dream of downsizing to a smaller space, but I don’t think I could live in a tiny house for an extended period.”
This is an interesting question so I thought I might look into it a little more.
Photo by J. Andrew Flenniken
Read below for more thoughts on small versus tiny.
“Tiny” and “Small” are pretty arbitrary concepts. What one person considers tiny others might think is small. For instance, Matt and I live in a house that is 120 square feet which we find delightful but other tiny house couples prefer a house that is over 200 square feet which strikes me as being on the big side, even though I know better. Here is an additional bit of trivia for you – Matt and I have not been staying at our tiny house for the winter. We’ve found ourselves in a 1940s bungalow on the north edge of Asheville proper. The small house is 700 square feet. I know several people who find that way too small to be livable but for us as a conventional house goes it is just about perfect. As a small aside, there were many factors that went into the decision to live in the city for the winter, but I am aching to get back to the tiny house.
Photo by Laura M. LaVoie
So what is Tiny and what is Small?
At its inception the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, with Jay Shafer still at the helm, offered two “types” of tiny house plans. On the website today they are listed as “House to Go”™ and Cottages. The largest “house to go” is 172 square feet. The smallest of the cottages is 261 and they up as large as 884.
When we were looking for a place to live in the city for the winter we were pretty flexible. We looked at one small basement apartment that was about 250 square feet. We looked at a 1000 square foot apartment which seemed expansive to us but had everything we needed and then some. Finally we found this little house that was absolutely perfect for our lifestyle. At 700 square feet I consider it firmly in the small house category.
As I mentioned, the assignment of these categories are somewhat arbitrary and I think there are several factors in place. Most people think of the 100+ square foot houses on trailers when they think “tiny house.” While this is the case the majority of the time it is not always true, especially considering our own 120 square foot house is on a foundation. However, a “small house” can be typically between 300 and 900 square feet and are probably not movable. A small home in that range can be anything from a cabin in the woods to a turn of the century bungalow or apartment in the city. They don’t have to be DIY like many tiny houses.
Photo by Laura M. LaVoie
If you are thinking about downsizing your life but can’t quite imagine living in something less than 200 square feet I think there are still plenty of options for smaller living. You can build a small house, like one of the Tumbleweed cabin designs, or find a gem of a home in your local real-estate market. Remember, if you’re looking for small you might be able to get a great deal because many conventional home buyers are passing up small houses for something with more space.
What do you think about the differences between Tiny and Small houses? How small could you go?
Laura LaVoie
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I think in terms of my family. We are a family of three so I think anything below 400 sq ft is tiny and below 800 sq ft is small. I came about these measures by way of vacations. We stayed in a 430 sq ft hotel room and we managed ok but I was sure if it had been smaller we would have not fared well. we live in a 700 sq ft apartment and it seems spacious for us.
I do believe the definitions for a tiny and small house are very personal. Some people learn to live in smaller places than others. Some people are unwilling to live with less. You have to know and work with those involved to get to the mid-ground.
So I’ve been thinking about your comment since it was posted. And while I do believe that tiny and small are arbitrary definitions I came to the conclusion for myself that the number of people in the house doesn’t change the category. Just because four people are in a 400 square foot house doesn’t mean it is a tiny house.
I respectfully disagree but am fine with your own assessment.
My opinion is just that; my opinion. Before I had my own family and home I thought that anything less than 1000 sq ft was small. I moved out after college into an apartment that was 150 sq ft and I thought it was fine because the whole space was mine. When I started tending to my own home and had a family my ideals changed considerably. This is why I said my comment was based on my family of three.
Our experiences change how we see things and we all have different points of view.
I have spent the last 6 1/2 years living in a wonderful 12′ X 16′ cabin with a half loft in the Yukon Territory of Canada. This past September I moved into town (Whitehorse), sharing a condo with a friend. I discovered that I really missed the personal space of my little cabin on a lake, and that I had created a place for everything in my little 288 sq. ft. domain. And I had such a pride place, that almost every weekend, that little cabin had dinner guests, or was the location for great parties, whether it was +70 F in summer, or -30 F in winter.
6 weeks ago, my partner and I were presented with the opportunity to buy a 2/3s finished 1200 sq. ft. house that was built on the same property, and to also own the little cabin, so we’ll be back on the lake by June 1. It will be interesting to see how big or small 1200 sq. ft. feels for two, compared to the 288 sq. ft. cabin for one. I guess, by the above article’s definition, our new house will be bigger than “small”, but I think it may be perfect and luxurious… big enough to feel very spacious after the 288 sq. ft. cabin, but small enough that we can afford to make it a little jewel in terms of building details. I can’t wait to get back to the lake! Cheers!
I think people will forever want to specifically sort and classify the square footage of homes into the various categories of “tininess”, but I don’t think its really possible, seeing as there are so many variables, and I’m not so certain there’s a true need to do so either. Its always an interesting debate though, and I think its just human nature to assign labels to things….and this is the No. 1 question journalists seem to ask….I’ll be curious to see what people have to say. ‘Hope you’re well Laura!
-Deek
My 13′ Boler trailer is too tiny, even with a partly covered deck. Partly it’s the tiny amount of open space left after the built-ins, partly the low ceiling, partly the amount of stuff you have to move or reconfigure for everyday living, partly the lack of space to pursue various hobbies. My 300 sq ft apartment in my son’s basement is luxuriously spacious, with 9 ft ceilings and well thought out storage. The only drawback is not having enough windows. Eventually I’ll move into a yet to be built 8×20 tiny house on wheels that will replace the Boler and that should be just about right for a single grandmother of 2 with a craft habit. The Boler will make a great guest house/art project.
I have considered anything above 400 sf to be small rather than tiny. But having lived in less than 800 sf all but 6 years of my life, I tend to consider houses under 600 sf small for one person and 800 for a small family. For me it’s very much a matter of perspective… and location. In my area, there are many houses for sale between 700-900 sf, so I consider them normal.
For me tiny vs small vs large is a variable concept and depends mainly on how many people and pets are occupying the space. And also on the layout of the house. Bad layout can make a big home feel tiny and awkward and good design can have the opposite effect.
Good article, Laura L. I like cutting tiny off at 400 sq ft & labeling small up to 1,000 sq ft. I prefer small, single story, & on-grid because of my disability.
I’ve lived in a duplex of 866 (livable) sq ft for 20+ yrs. With a properly designed floor plan, I could decrease to 576-600 sq ft. My dream master bedroom is 12′ x 12′, not counting the closet area.
To me, it depends on weather or not it could be on a trailer. So, if it’s no more than 8 feet wide, it’s tiny. If it’s no more than 400 Sq ft, I consider it small. A micro woukd be 64 Sq ft or less.
The 400 / 1000 concept fits my thoughts as well. A tiny house on wheel can be up to 12 wide by 32 feet long on a readily available trailer. You would have to be permitted to move it and it would not be a RV substitute but it would be an easily moveable home. So at 384 sq ft this is the upper end of a non foundation tiny homes. Looking at the 400 sq ft house 20 x 20 you would have a 10 x 10 kit a 10 x 10 bedroom a 10 x 12 living room a 6×8 bathroom and a 3×4 pantry/mechanical closet and a 3×4 clothes closet. Any additional bedroom needs for additional family members would require another 100 sq ft bedroom each. These additional bedroom needs would move you almost immediatly into the small house catagory. This next move would be in the 400+ to 1000 sq ft relm.
Definitions for house size are arbitrary and cultural. If you go to other countries they would think any house over a few hundred square feet is massively huge.
Americans used to have modest standards and a huose under 2000 sqft was consudered normal and around 1200-1500 was very common.
Then we hit the McMansion era and house sizes zoomed up as peoples income went u and everybody had to have one.
Now people are downsizing and choosing comfort and liveability over size and staying out of debt has become fashionable again.
IMO any house under 1200 sqft is considered small, under 400 sqft is a cabin or bungallow and under 200 sqft is tiny.
5 years ago my wife, twin 4 year old boys and I moved out of a 2000 sq.ft house I had built. We had been camping in Baja for 4 month and on our return moved into a 500 sq.ft cob house. The camping made the transition easier. After 2 years in the small cob, we moved up to a 800 sq.ft cob house with 2 bedrooms in the upstairs. The bath house was separate with shower, composting toilet and outdoor tub and was on its own grey water system. They key to successful living in a small space is storage. When I am designing a small space for a client, I take a trip to Ikea to get fresh ideas on storage. I am planning a new house for my family and 800 sq.ft. would be the maximum. The boy will be teenagers soon and will need more space. Friends ask about this and I tell them that they will be able to build their own tiny home by them.
Patrick
I currently live in an under 900 square foot home with my family of four, with four dogs. I LOVE it. We have lived in it for 16 years. Since my kids are getting older, my husband and I are talking of selling in a few years and moving to where my parents are. We are still debating about a tiny house, or small cabin, but either way, I would like to downsize even farther. In my mind, there is no reason to build another house of 900 square feet when we will have fewer people in the house. I am yearning to create a house with better storage, and that is more intimate and has better flow (and will be easier to clean). In our current house, I never set foot in my son’s room. I am only in the bedroom, except to sleep. I want to capitalize on using the living space!
Definition of tiny is “very small”, so whatever you base small on, tiny is the lower subset of that. I believe the majority of media stories about tiny houses have been based on those built on trailers. That leads many to associate “tiny house” with trailer built models no more than 8.5′ wide and 13.5′ tall. It’s not an accurate way to separate the terms, but it’s what appears to be becoming the accepted slang.
The only reason I can think of to care about the difference if any, is for building, ownership, or maintenance purposes, ie: tiny houses on trailers do not have to comply with most codes. This may also support the idea of trailer built tiny houses having their own term, or being associated with the term “tiny house”, with small house referring to the rest.
I just think of things in terms of “small” in general. :)
We like living in under 500 sq ft. I don’t care whether it’s “tiny” or “small” to someone else, but we really love it.
We are a family of 3, but I feel confident that we could go up to 4 or 5. We’d just have to create loft/bunks for the kiddos in the bedroom (they’d have to share). And keep up with minimalism. ;) Perhaps it’s more like functionalism. :) Anyway. . . labels. . . fun game.
What about self-sufficiency and off-grid systems in Tiny homes, and the new challenges posed by the lack of storage and square footage/surface area? I bet that most tiny house people are at least interested in self-sufficiency or living off-the-grid, and I know that in my own tiny house project I’ve met with the limitations that 100 square feet can impose in terms of being energy/fuel independent. Rainwater collection, photovoltaic systems, etc. require surface area. Water, Off-grid battery banks and food preservation/storage takes up storage space not necessarily available in a “tiny” 100 sq. ft. house, but certainly available in a smart house that is 200 or 300 (or even 400) sq. ft….there’s no need to be “tinier than thou”, and maybe in the long run it’s smart to think about the needs of the future, when we are all producing (collecting and storing!) our own food, energy, fuel, and other resources. Just something to think about!
I live very happily in my tiny home of 100 square feet, but sometimes I wish I would collect more rainwater off of it and store more preserved food in it….
I had to smile at the comment “no need to be “tinier-than-thou”,” because I sometimes think that’s where I tend to head. I own nothing but my computer (a desktop, not a laptop), some very few clothes, and a canvas bag full of wonderful literature. I truly can live in something very tiny; right now, until I know where I’m going to be living long-term, I’m staying in a motel. The room is far too large for me at something around 300 s.f.; I’d really love to try living in a tiny (under 200 s.f.) house or apartment if the opportunity ever presents itself.