People often laugh when they hear that my house is only 750 sq ft. It would probably fit in the closet of some McMansion. There are definite drawbacks to the lack of space, like when Mr M is hogging the one bathroom and I need to use it NOW! But there are advantages as well, economic advantages. If your quest is to live more simply, try downsizing.
The Cost of Upkeep
As a homeowner, I see several advantages to a smaller size. The cost to replace a roof, redo the floors or update the systems is directly proportional to the size of the house. A smaller house has smaller maintenance and upkeep costs. There are fewer walls to paint, less electrical outlets to fix and not as many windows to leak. It also takes less time to clean and organize, so I’m not tempted to hire help.
Making Full Use of Space
While the average new home is over 2500 sq ft, most families only use a few rooms every day. Formal living rooms and dining rooms are wonderful, but they only get used once or twice a year. There is a cost to heat and cool that empty space. In a tiny house, every room is in use and no square footage goes to waste. This translates into lower utility bills. Take the Extreme Home Makeover homes, which go for grandeur in scope and scale. The families who have been forced to sell or who have ended up in foreclosure point to high utility costs and the huge burden of maintenance among the reasons.
Forced Simplification
Downsizing forces you to take stock of the stuff in your life, do you really need it? Is it worth the space it takes up? Any time I want something new I have to stop and ask myself, where will I keep it? Since my space is limited, it’s easy to walk away. Gone are my piles of rarely used cosmetics, I only have room for things I need every day. I have no use for knick-knacks, an object needs to have both function and form for me to take it home.
Living with Less
Living in America, consumerism is pushed as a form of patriotism. Telling people they can be happy with less is near heretical. I bought in to that idea, to the tune of $20,000 in credit card debt. I didn’t change my mindset until I bought this tiny house. The ideas of simplicity and frugality were born from necessity. I’ve learned to appreciate more the things that I have and to covet less the things that I don’t.
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13 comments:
I think Mr. Dog & I could live in 750 sq. ft. if we didn't have a home business. Oh, and if we didn't have so many clothes.
I think layout matters a lot. Our rented condo is 1,500 sq. ft. but it has an awkward 70s layout with a huge, useless entry and lot of square footage wasted on hallways, poorly shaped closets, baths, so on.
The reduction of utility bills and clutter is a huge selling point of a smaller space to my mind. Of course, I am thinking in terms of splitting the household into two apartment sized homes, so I'm forever thinking of ways to reduce clutter.
As you say, though, it can be a bit crowded, under certain circumstances. It's hard to hide from relatives in a one bedroom apartment. :)
We live in a 1400 square foot house and sometimes I think it's too big for us. We really only use the back part of the house (living room, master bed & bath) and the kitchen. I do LOVE my basement though, and even though it's not finished, the extra square footage for storage and hanging clothes to dry is awesome. That is wonderful you live out of 750 square feet!
We lived in a condo once in Colorado and it was 600 square feet and was fine with the two of us. If it had better storage, we probably wouldn't have moved out of it! ;)
I live in a house that is only 476 square feet, no basement, attic or garage. I try to live by the William Morris quote of "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
My only wish is that I had a better floor plan and at least one additional closet.
I would rather have a small house. My boyfriend has a house that's more than we need and I hate to keep it clean. It's just more room to hold junk. I like simple and clean!
As you point out, smaller house = less sq. footage to clean, which is a winner for me. Do you ever watch Small Space, Big Style on HGTV? It's amazing how many people use small spaces so efficiently!
I live in a 500 sq ft studio apartment/condo with a GREAT layout, and I love it! I just don't like having a lot of stuff. In fact, when I move in 3 months, one of the things I'm looking forward to is the opportunity to throw out all the junk I've piled up in the backs of my largely-unused closets. Of course, I'm not-so-secretly hoping that business will be consistent and strong enough over the next few months that I won't have to move at all. Seriously, this is the most spacious 500 sq ft you'll find!
@Dog - closets are a definite issue, mine are too small and poorly designed. I'm still trying to figure out a better solution.
@Revanche - it is difficult to hide in a small house!
@Mrs Money - we do have a basement which helps with storage, but most of it is taken up by props and things Mr M uses for work. I have almost nothing down there, except for the chest freezer.
@BB - we moved from a 400 sq ft studio apt so this house is actually spacious in comparison.
@MOU - I hate cleaning! I have no idea how my mom kept a 3000 sq ft house clean. I know I couldn't do it.
@Kat - no, we don't have cable! I haven't had cable since college, I do miss some things but I definitely don't miss the bill.
@Kate - I knew when I wrote it that a NYer would think my house is huge! A good layout is key, we lived in a 400 sq ft studio before this that I really liked. I sometimes miss that apt.
My current flat is 37 sq m which just less than 400 sq ft. Since I've been here I've been minimising everything I own and am still sorting through various boxes that have stayed closed for a while.
It's been a tremendous experience just simplifying and downsizing my life and I feel much better for it too :-)
Three years living in a 254 square feet for me. It actually seems to get more convenient as time goes by. It is amazing how easy it is to keep from accumulating junk in an apartment this small. Entertaining is of course limited to a rather small number.
I live in a ~350 sqft apartment. Other problems aside, the layout is okay for the living room and the kitchen but the bedroom is awkwardly set up and I could really use another room for an office (or at least a computer/study nook somewhere).
So I would like something a bit bigger with a bit better layout. But not super huge. Over 1000 sqft and I'm not actually sure what I could do with the space except buy furniture to fill up rooms I don't need.
Those comments aside, do you ever have the problem of your house or apartment not being good enough for people? My girlfriend just got an apartment over twice the size of mine and all of a sudden my home isn't good enough for her to spend time in. Kind of makes me feel bad since I do the best I can with the space I have and I'm not really in a position to move up to something bigger and better yet. Furthermore, things like this make me wonder if I'm going to be required to get some 4 bedroom ubera-partment just to be respected by my peers in the future.
@Retire - it does feel good to simplify and downsize. I think you don't realize it though until you try it, many people automatically dismiss any idea of living smaller.
@lacadaz - wow that's hardcore. We moved from a studio that was about 400 sq ft, 250 would have been tough. I really liked my studio, it was well laid out. You definitely can't accumulate junk when you have no room to store it.
@Alex - well when we have kids some day a bigger place will be in the works. Though with the housing market that may not be possible. So far no one has said anything to my face ridiculing my place, maybe they do it behind my back! I think it is sad you would be judged by the size of your abode and tell your girlfriend to suck it up. Mr M lived in a garage for a year and I went and spent every weekend down there. Don't let other's opinions dictate your financial decisions, they don't have to pay your bills or debts.
We have a smaller home too and I completely agree with your list. It is much easier for me to keep it tidy too, which I love.
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