At about 730 square feet, our house is small but not tiny. My long-term goal is to retire to a tiny house in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico. To that end, I spend a lot of time getting rid of things I don’t use, experimenting with various storage methods and trying to figure out how to cram my life into half my current square footage.
Even if you’re not planning to downsize to 350 square feet or less, you can draw a lot of inspiration from good design. With their multipurpose furnishings and clever hidden storage spaces, RVs are masterpieces of practical design. DIY campers are even better, as people design or modify spaces to suit their own personal needs.
Whether you’re trying to shrink your environmental footprint, simplify your lifestyle or just make your current house more presentable and less cluttered, it’s worth spending a few hours surfing websites for inspiration. Here are a few I’ve found recently that delight me to no end:
Hank Bought A Bus — A grad student wrapped up his master’s degree with a hands-on architecture project in which he converted an old school bus to living quarters, a la Bob Waldmire. (Bob’s still got one up on Hank, though. Hank’s bus doesn’t have a sauna.)
Tiny House, Giant Journey — A young couple travel the country, towing their Tumbleweed house behind them, meeting other tiny-house aficionados and documenting their adventures online.
Tumbleweed Tiny House Company — Speaking of Tumbleweeds, don’t miss the company website, which is loaded with pictures and floorplans sure to inspire a few daydreams.
Tiny House Talk — What it says on the tin: Blog devoted to tiny houses and the people who love them.
Small House Bliss — Another blog, this one focused primarily on small-house architecture.
Go explore some of these links and see what takes shape in your imagination. Feel free to share your daydreams in the comments.
Emily
Red Fork Hippie 