Living happily in a tiny house requires designing life so the dwelling serves as a home base while community resources extend functional living space. Like college dorm living, tiny house residents sleep, eat, and relax at home while outsourcing other activities to community venues. This approach makes small spaces feel spacious by treating the neighborhood as additional square footage.
Community Extension Strategies
- Exercise: Gyms, sports leagues, walking/cycling routes
- Dining: Restaurants, cafes, farmers markets
- Recreation: Parks, nature areas, bookstores
- Work: Libraries, coffee shops with wifi
- Social: Community centers, volunteer organizations
Community as Extended Living Space
Exercise and Movement
- Walk or bike to destinations: Combine transportation with exercise by choosing walkable/bikeable routes
- Join a gym: Access equipment and space impossible in tiny homes; bonus if walkable
- Play team sports: YMCA leagues, pickup games at parks combine fitness with social connection
Eating and Entertainment
- Eating out strategically: Restaurants avoid cramped kitchen cooking and cleanup
- Enjoy nature: Parks provide free outdoor living rooms
- Visit farmers markets: Fresh local food plus community atmosphere
- Browse bookstores: Reading space without storing books at home
- Work from coffee shops: Office space with wifi and social energy
Growth and Contribution
- Volunteer or start a business: Contribute skills to community while getting out of small spaces
- Use the library: Reading, research, laptop work, and learning without storage requirements
Lessons from Community-Extended Living
- Tiny Homes Function as Base Camps: Sleep, store essentials, and recharge at home; live in the community
- Walkable Locations Multiply Benefits: Choosing locations near amenities enables car-free community access
- Free Resources Abound: Parks, libraries, and nature provide space without cost
- Social Connection Increases: Community-based living naturally creates more human interaction
- Practice Before Moving: Current residents can test community-extended living before downsizing
Related Simple Living Topics
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Alex
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Lots of good tips, but I want to address #4. Having a tiny kitchen doesn’t mean you can’t cook lovely meals from scratch!
Not only do you save money and packaging when you prepare your own meals, but you’re also eating much better because you control the ingredients. Learning how to cook, regardless of the size of your kitchen, is one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself.
If you need tips on cooking with limited space, just browse the websites for people who live on boats or in RVs fulltime.
I have to agree with the nice Lady above. Sometimes eating out is NOT a possible option. I’ve learned to put together very decent meals with very limited resources and an even more limited ‘kitchen’.
Claudia those are great points.
I bet there are some good websites/blogs out there about cooking and preparing meals in small kitchens. Thanks for bringing this up!
Cooking is about organization, but it can be done in a tiny kitchen. Might even be easier, without the clutter. What do you cook first, then grab a minute to wash the cooking utensils–then what?
Oh, and here’s a couple of things: in the middle east, there’s these things called ‘poufs’, which can be stuffed with clothes, blankets, things like that—and then you use them for seating. I have two long rectangular ones and I set up against the wall on its narrow side, then put the other flat in front of it—and the result is storage space, a comfortable place to sit, and lots of color. One could conceivably put two of them end to end for a guest to sleep on. And some bolsters at either end—also used for storage—and you have quite the nice set up.
In the movie “Pandorum” there’s a scene where a character reaches down, pulls up a ring in the floor and a hinged, built-in seat came up from the floor! More of that kind of thing would be awesome.
Oh, and E-readers! That’s a great way to store lots of books. And you can store your movies on a portable hard drive, and most of those are about the size of a pack of cards.
A great way to prepare for reducing your cooking space and utensils, (IMHO) is to stick to one small, but good quality saute pan, and one pot – mix and match so that the pot lit also fits the saute pan – you’ll be so happy for it in the long run. If you live within walking or bicycling distance to farmer’s markets and/or a food co-op that sells local organic produce – or even farm stands – then you’ll want to buy no more than 2 days food at a time any way. I’ve been doing this for the largest part of a year. It really cuts down on mess and I’ve found that I eat much more healthily since I rarely use the microwave. My goal is to be able to manage without one completely. I see no reason why I cannot live very well on a small two burner set up and a tank of kerosene such as we buy for the BBQ grill. Of course, that will not work for every one. I’ve done away with my coffee maker and switched to the old fashioned french press. This is perfect for 2 large cups per day, and easy to compost the grounds afterwards. I use extra virgin coconut oil for my cooking, skin, and dental hygiene – multi-use product are important. When I eventually get my tiny house, I may get one of those induction counter top, portable low energy use, baker, broiler, griller things that are advertised on tv. or not – I may have gone totally gluten free by then, and have no use for cooking large. After all, if you are planning a large get together – chances are that you will be cooking outside and eating outside, and taking advantage of the wonderful idea of the ‘pot-luck’ system.