People Have Been Living in Tiny Houses Since We Moved Out of Caves
Today my friend Jay Shafer is featured in a video on Yahoo today talking about the benefits of living simply and in small spaces. If the idea of living in less than 100 square feet sounds crazy, I’d like to point out that McMansions are the fad; people have been living in tiny houses since we moved out of caves.
As Jay points out in the video, a lifestyle of simplicity frees up our time and money. Taking on large mortgages and vast amounts of unused square footage doesn’t typically pay us back in the way we had hoped. Many of us who have traveled down that path, are instead left with a bit of an odd sense of loss and the weight of debt.
For those who aren’t ready for extreme downsizing, or who are stuck where they are, I hope that you can still take away the idea that Tiny Houses are Icons of Freedom. They are low cost and attainable. As you visit the pages on my blog you’ll find many stories of people literally building their own secure futures with their own hands on very limited budgets.
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- Small House Book by Jay Shafer – I also highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Jay’s book. You’re in luck because they are running a promotion right now and giving away set of free tiny house plans when you buy the book. Visit the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company for complete details.
- Tiny House Blog – Another great blog on Tiny Houses.
Below is a sample floor plan from the Popomo Tiny House Plans.
Tumbleweed House Plans – Free with Book Purchase
Jay & Steve over at Tumbleweed Tiny House Company sent me a copy of these plans to preview a few days ago and I must say… I’m extremely impressed with the professional quality of the plans and design. They are really taking their small house plans to the next level in terms of detail and overall presentation by including step-by-step 3D illustrations as well as all the framing and finish details.
The specific design is the Popomo, a tiny modern home built on an 8′ by 20′ trailer. It differs from the traditional style of many Tumbleweed tiny houses while retaining the clever interior space design. Inside the house you’ll find a bed nook on the main level (no loft), a tiny functional kitchen, and a bathroom with toilet and shower. There’s also a main living room with big glass doors that provides a lot of light and helps connect the interior living spaces with the home’s surroundings.
For a limited time you can get a free copy of Popomo Plans when you buy the Small House Book by Jay Shafer. Visit the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company website for details about the free Popomo Plans offer.
The book is 196 pages and contains 22 designs that range in size from 64 to 840 square feet. For those wanting to design their own tiny house, Jay describes 7 organizing principles and 42 design elements for efficient tiny house design.
Small House Book and the Free Popomo Plans
The book will also explain which 14 tools you’ll need to build your house, many of which you probably already own, and how to build a house for less than $20,000.
Below are just a few sample images from the 42 pages of the Popomo Plans themselves.
Struggling home owners find inspiration in Tiny Houses
Jay Shafer is featured on the cover of the current issue of Parade Magazine, which has about 70 million readers each week and can be found inside many Sunday papers. The article is titled, Help for Struggling Homeowners.
Many of us have already learned the hard lesson that committing to too much house in just too risky. Tiny houses represent an interesting extreme solution that some find to be the ideal solution. But I suspect for most people tiny houses are simply an icon of freedom, a symbol that illustrates the true value of a home. Shouldn’t the true value of a home be measured by the happiness and security it brings instead of its size and cost?
Photo credit to Parade Magazine.
Jay Shafer was onto this fact years before the housing crash and was living in a tiny home of his own design and construction. In fact it was an early version of his Small House Book that inspired me to reflect on my own housing choices and start blogging on Tiny House Design.
The most valuable lesson I’ve learned from the tiny house movement is that less is more sustainable… and I don’t just mean square feet.
Life can be complicated. The more irons we have in the fire the busier we’ll be tending to our commitments, which also adds more risk and chaos to life. By choosing to move toward a simpler life, each step we take moves us closer to increasing our personal freedom and happiness. This freedom can come in the form of reducing debt, paring down on possessions, cutting back on commitments, and of course… downsizing.
