However, that term may soon come to a halt for a while as tiny homes are on the move. As many people lose their homes to foreclosure or the bad economy, they are downsizing into much smaller homes of less than 1000 square feet. Some of the homes in the tiny home movement are actually less than 100 square feet. 
The picture below looks like a house where i grew up, small and tidy. There is a whole new meaning to up close and personal for a family in a home of less than 1000 square feet or even a single person in a 100 square foot home. However, many people are opting for these homes because they are energy efficient, easy to maintain and cost less to purchase. For these very reasons, there has been a 20% increase in construction in these types of homes in the last year. A growing number of people in the U.S. are downsizing their homes in response to the collapse of the housing market, rising energy prices and concern for the environment. And besides do you really need a big house? REALLY?
Status has been acquired by trading up and moving up. But in my opinion, the new status symbol is not how you display it but how you do it responsibly. The best way to be a responsible environmental citizen is to stay in a smaller house or go to a small house because you are automatically consuming less.
There are small-house blogs, websites and organizations such as the Small House Society. There are books like Little House on a Small Planet (Lyons Press) by carpenter and designer Shay Salomon and The Not So Big House (Taunton) by architect Sarah Susanka, and a growing number of mainstream resources teaching people they can live in less space and have more time to enjoy it.
Then big became the norm. Listen to the song 'Big Time' by Peter Gabriel. We like big cars, big homes, big televisions, big churches, even 'Super Sized' meals, which cause us to become big." Johnson lives in a 140-square-foot home dubbed the "The Mobile Hermitage" designed by Shafer's Tumbleweed Tiny House Company in Sebastopol, California, and wrote of the life lessons he learned there in the book Put Your Life on a Diet (Gibbs Smith). His Iowa City home features cedar siding, a metal roof, double-pane windows and a small deck. The walls, floors and cabinets are made of thick pine.
The picture below looks like a house where i grew up, small and tidy. There is a whole new meaning to up close and personal for a family in a home of less than 1000 square feet or even a single person in a 100 square foot home. However, many people are opting for these homes because they are energy efficient, easy to maintain and cost less to purchase. For these very reasons, there has been a 20% increase in construction in these types of homes in the last year. A growing number of people in the U.S. are downsizing their homes in response to the collapse of the housing market, rising energy prices and concern for the environment. And besides do you really need a big house? REALLY?Status has been acquired by trading up and moving up. But in my opinion, the new status symbol is not how you display it but how you do it responsibly. The best way to be a responsible environmental citizen is to stay in a smaller house or go to a small house because you are automatically consuming less.
There are small-house blogs, websites and organizations such as the Small House Society. There are books like Little House on a Small Planet (Lyons Press) by carpenter and designer Shay Salomon and The Not So Big House (Taunton) by architect Sarah Susanka, and a growing number of mainstream resources teaching people they can live in less space and have more time to enjoy it.
Then big became the norm. Listen to the song 'Big Time' by Peter Gabriel. We like big cars, big homes, big televisions, big churches, even 'Super Sized' meals, which cause us to become big." Johnson lives in a 140-square-foot home dubbed the "The Mobile Hermitage" designed by Shafer's Tumbleweed Tiny House Company in Sebastopol, California, and wrote of the life lessons he learned there in the book Put Your Life on a Diet (Gibbs Smith). His Iowa City home features cedar siding, a metal roof, double-pane windows and a small deck. The walls, floors and cabinets are made of thick pine.
If McMansions were the trademark of the overindulgent '80s and '90s, the not-so-big house may be the symbol of a generation that is slowing down, considering the earth's resources and doing what it can to preserve them. Consider this: a 2008 survey by the National Association of Home Builders shows that more than 60% of potential home buyers would rather have a smaller house with more amenities than the other way around. http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ Living small is nothing new. During the 1800s, Henry David Thoreau's cabin on Walden Pond measured 10' by 15', and cost roughly $28 to build. Furnished with a bed, a table, a small desk, a lamp and three chairs, he lived there for two years, two weeks and two days, according to Tiny House Design, which has a motto of "live light, live small, be free." After World War II, 1,000-square-foot homes were the norm for returning soldiers and their families. But as folks tried to "keep up with the Joneses," the average size of a home grew from roughly 1,600 square feet in the 1970s to about 2,500 square feet today.
When we first moved into our home I thought it was going to be too small, I'm not sure why I thought this since I grew up in a tiny apartment. But i guess i let everyone's opinions get to me. Now I realize I have sooo much space at just below 1200 sq feet. And it's my processions that are too large. Now I realize I didn't need more space, I just need to know what I need and how to organize it. A lot of people tell me ,"wait till your kids get older..." I say bla bla bla, I love my kids and we will I'm sure continue to cuddle well into their teen years. (laugh all you want, i cuddled my Mom in my teen years) And they each have their own room so. Who cares. Now I think I too live in a mansion. We have plenty of space and no wasted long hall ways making up all that extra sq feet we just don't need. Oh and out electric bills are very cheap. And we don't need an air conditioner since our house is so small. It stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I do love my house. Both my father and Pats father have HUGE ass homes, I can not understand the appeal. I would be lonely in a place that takes so long to get to the other side, and all the furniture you have to buy, and the dusting and oh the toilets! because if your house is big you most certainly have a bunch of toilets. We have 2 and it is hard to keep them clean. If i was a kid I could see the appeal, racing through he house on your big wheel. Or roller skates. My kids would love that. But they can go outside and use the side walk. I guess.
1 comments:
Amen, sister. Preach. I'm really into small homes too. This house we're selling is plenty big for us and it's on the "small scale" of new homes around here. I also find that a big yard, however lovely, is a pain to maintain. It takes hours of your life to keep it going--why?
The high-end housing tract down the street from us has HUGE custom homes and BIG front yards (tiny back yards though and the houses are all close together). Every time I walk around there (which is a lovely maze-like walk) I can't help thinking about gutter maintenance, roof moss, heating bills, multiple rooms to clean--especially bathrooms, etc. etc. It's TOO BIG, people. WAY too big.
Post a Comment