The Small House Society, “a voice for the Small House Movement”, adds more fine-grained definition to the idea of tiny home living. It identifies the Movement as “the result of concerns about what we are doing to the environment, and what the environment is doing to us (wild fires, flooding, hurricanes), as well as a shifting economy. Some people just desire to live simply so that others can simply live.” Cool.
They have a motto…
“Better Living Through Simplicity.”
…and a clearly stated mission:
“Our desire is to support the research, development, and use of smaller living spaces that foster sustainable living for individuals, families, and communities worldwide.”
There’s quite a bit to check out. I’m on it, clicking through the Small House Society site… :) SHS is part of Resources for Life, which I’m checking out as well!
The small house movement article in Wikipedia was started in March, 2009, and describes it as “an architectural and social movement that advocates living in small homes.” Pretty straightforward! It also points to a founder: “Sarah Susanka has been credited with starting the countermovement toward smaller houses when she published The Not So Big House in 1997.” The “financial crisis of 2007-2010″ (glad that’s over with) is given props for generating increased interest in tiny homes and the Movement…
This little video tour gave me a bit of a feel for extreme tiny living. The house is around 100 sq. ft. (not sure if that includes the attic sleeping-storage space). The tour guide is Jay Shafer, founder of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. He’s been living in, designing, building, and selling plans for tiny houses for over a decade. When you start thinking “tiny home,” Jay’s name seems to pop up everywhere, he’s definitely a leader in the North American tiny house scene… I could adapt to 100 sq. ft., but I think it’d be intense.
What to do with the bed when you’re up and about? If you have room for a loft or sleeping niche set up high and out of the way, that’s cool. Otherwise, the bed just lies there all day, taking up space in an unhelpful way. I’m going the folding futon sofa bed route for now, but the opening and closing’s a bit offputting, I’m always expecting the frame to collapse. Folding up against a wall is something to think about. You can get a folding (Murphy) bed hardware kit and DIY. Meanwhile, this is it for now.
taking up space in an unhelpful way. I’m going the