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More to Gain than Give Up When Living in a Tiny House?


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Tiny houses were featured on the HuffPost Live today on a segment called Honey, I Shrunk Our House.

Dan Louche of Tiny Home Builders was on the show along with Logan Smith.

Also Gregory Johnson of The Small House Society and Ryan Mitchell of The Tiny Life.

Watch the video, interviews and tiny house tours live on the show below:

huff-post-tiny-houses

Click or scroll below to watch:

Original article here.

If you enjoyed the interviews “Like” and share and join the conversation in the comments below. Do you agree that there’s more to gain than to give up when living in a tiny house, are you not sure, or do you disagree? Thanks!

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 10 comments… add one }
  • Lindig Harris
    May 30, 2013, 8:18 pm

    For me, moving into a tiny home of 200-300sf would be moving up. I live fulltime in a vintage RV and have about 100sf of actual living space. The main thing is to be able to distinguish between “need” and “want” and “like to have.” I wasn’t willing to give up about 200 books but they’re neatly contained. And it’s just me, no pets. But I have a kitchen, a bathroom, a couch, a large desk, and a sleeping loft. That’ll do until I get my tiny home.

  • LaMar
    May 30, 2013, 8:32 pm

    Well, like many reports of this kind the video depicts very tiny houses on wheels and that may turn people off to a small house because they do not want to live in what they consider a “trailer home”.

    I wish they would focus more on permanent living small houses with sustainable features like solar and wind power, passive heating and cooling and more conventional living spaces with bedrooms etc.

    That is where the country is heading especially with a need for senior living and single living residences that are smaller in my opinion.

    When the guy says he wanted to see how tough it was to live in 140 sqft and he only made it 6 years it gives the wrong impression and while I have nothing against houses on wheels they are very limited in space and difficult for people with disabilities and seniors to live in comfortably.

    So hopefully hufpost will do a follow up on permanent small homes so people can see the many options out there!

    LaMar

    • kim
      May 30, 2013, 10:19 pm

      I agree with LaMar. I would like to see more on small homes. Mabey 400 to 600sf.

    • 2BarA
      May 30, 2013, 10:54 pm

      I do own a property where I could put a tiny house and live off-grid, and I hope to build there this summer. However, I doubt if I could live there year-round as I am a senior widow and I would be isolated from my family and the activities I enjoy. I might not be able to manage sleeping in a loft as I had a hip replacement last summer. On the other
      hand, if I were to down-size to that extent, my fixed income would go farther and I could afford to travel, attend concerts and give more to church & charity. I would have to spend more on gas to shop for groceries more often and I wouldn’t be able to indulge my hobbies, like
      sewing, for lack of room. I have wanted to build a tiny house since 1997, long before I heard about the movement. It’s on my bucket list.
      Ideally, I could stay in my city house of 45 years and do the tiny-house
      thing on weekends.

      • LaMar
        May 30, 2013, 11:12 pm

        I hear you and it is going to require cities to change their building codes to allow smaller homes that seniors want and can afford so they can still be close to family and services they need.

        We need the AARP and other senior organizations to get active in promoting more independent living communities and smaller homes for seniors and disabled people and that would help.

        Until building codes are changed for cities we are stuck trying to live in rural areas that still allow us to build small homes.

        • rich
          May 30, 2013, 11:40 pm

          I agree that the Huffpost program would have been better if it included other options as LaMar suggests and we in the US are waaaay behind the rest of the world re: energy, consumption et al. There have been many reports on various news outlets re the tiny house movement and they are getting rather repetitive using the same video footage and interviewees etc. We won’t see much progress until zoning codes change.

      • alice h
        May 31, 2013, 9:05 am

        2BarA – My 8×20 tiny house plan includes a sewing area with pullout and flipout extensions and a large cutting table that folds up small and tucks underneath the built-in sewing desk, can also be used as a dining table when there are several guests. I also have a treadle sewing machine that fits in the house. The loft becomes storage for a lot of my fabric collection, out of season clothing, etc. I’ll be using a pulldown attic access type stair/ladder which isn’t hard to manage as occasional access. Sleeping is on the main floor on a daybed. I have one TKR, going for my second this fall.

      • Gwen
        May 31, 2013, 11:48 am

        I live in an 86 sq ft home with a loft in the woods. I found that by buying a double fold down table(Ikea has them with drawers) that I am able to do my sewing. I do store my machine on a shelf in the loft so you would also have to find a place to store your machine. Also a murphy bed could be an alternative to a loft. I love my tuny house and the freedom it has given me. I am going into my foirth year in my home

  • Jerry
    May 31, 2013, 2:15 am

    Excellent piece! I love the way the interviewer approached it all with a sense of humor, yet still getting across the idea that a tiny house is liveable. I thought all of the interviewees did an excellent job, showing the tiny house movement is made up of regular folks!

  • January 16, 2015, 10:40 am

    Affordable Housing love it

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