WebStamp May 30, 2018

Living In A Tiny House

Many are intrigued with the Tiny House Movement even though they feel that they would feel cramped by living in a smaller space. Living tiny actually comes in many forms, from tiny to small, and even includes mid-size houses. Many already are living tiny in homes that are less than 1000 ft² in apartments, condos, trailer parks, and small houses. Living tiny can be quite comfortable as long as one doesn’t shrink too small.

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Common Room  in 400 ft²  1 Bdrm Tiny House

Tiny usually refers to trailerable homes up to 250 ft² but could include ones just over 320 ft². Tiny could also be a module home or building erected on a foundation. Small structures are larger than 250 ft² and are usually modular units placed on a pad or buildings built on a foundation including those up to around 700 ft². Mid-size houses are normally above 600 ft² up to 1000 ft². Anyways you look at living tiny denotes living in a footprint that is half to less than a quarter the size of the average North American home.

I have lived in several tiny homes. The smallest place I lived in was a 190 ft² structure atop of a building with a separate bathroom and a large deck. I managed quite comfortably living on my own, with a small fridge, hot plate, TV, and a double bed. I must admit, it would have been nice to have had a sitting area though. I also lived contentedly in a 280 ft² barn-shaped house that had two sleeping lofts, living room, kitchen and bathroom with 3 people.

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Bedroom & Bathroom in 400 ft² Tiny House

 

Living tiny leans towards minimalistic living by removing the many burdensome belongings that we rarely, or never use.  You can still retain many of today’s luxuries, including a few of your inspiring interests.  Selecting the right type of tiny house has to do with how small is comfortable and how much space is needed to maintain your comfort and enjoyment. With innovative design, a tiny home can be very comfortable as can be seen by these 400 to 650 ft² Park Models by West Coast Homes.

A tiny house, the trailerable and under 320 ft², are best suited for those that are single, a couple, and even a small family. I know of families of up to 8 people living comfortably in a 620 ft² house. For people needing a bit of breathing room a house in the 600-800 ft² range, 1/3 of a normal sized house, would provide enough room to live comfortably. To accommodate the need for affordable housing in the near future people need to trim down the size of the average home. The social concept of living needs to change to provide a more sustainable affordable way of living.

Living on a smaller scale also reduces much stress and gives many families more time for enjoying life. Many tiny homeowners have either very small mortgages or are living mortgage free saving thousands in interest. It also costs a lot less to build a tiny house, along with heating and cooling one. Having housing costs at about a ¼ the cost one won’t be spending most of their income on accommodations.

A smaller space also means there is less cleaning and maintenance. When they allow for tiny house lots there will also be a lot less yard work. Less house cleaning and yard work means more time to enjoy life. With more finances available would make it easier to tackle that bucket list. Go on that trip overseas, explore ancient civilizations, or shop at all the in places. You can reject that overtime, or even work less, and not having to worry about affording a place to live.

Join the M.A.D. Tiny House Movement and Make A Difference to the way you and society lives. Move towards living with less stress and enjoying your favourite activities. We all can also help improve our ecological footprint saving the planet for future generations to enjoy. Stop being a slave to your residence by reducing your burdens by going tiny.

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Tiny House Community

 

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Kitchen in 400 ft²  Main Floor Tiny House with Optional 250 ft² BedroomLoft

 

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Articles in this Issue
In the search for the good life, consumerism was created to provide an abundance of items to make life easier. This has caused a residual effect of an overabundance of things that are quickly discarded when they fail or are out of fashion and are replaced with new ones.
Many are intrigued with the Tiny House Movement even though they feel that they would feel cramped by living in a smaller space. Living tiny actually comes in many forms, from tiny, too small, and even includes mid-size houses.
We explore another Calgary public art project by the renowned Canadian Artist Roy Leadbeater; Balancing Act is a playful welded utilitarian sculpture in bright primary colours.
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Marinus (René) Verschuren
Marinus (René) Verschuren
Founder of WebStamp
René has been involved in the publishing and printing industry since the 1970s. He has published and distributed a successful 24-page weekly news advertiser with a circulation of 4400 copies. Also for the last 20 years, he has been a printer, plotter, scanner and 3D printer technician and installer. Since High School, he also has worked as a janitor, cabinet maker, building construction, landscaper/designer, computer operator producing microfiche, graphic artist, and webmaster, among many other professions. This qualifies him as a Jack-of-All-Trades with plenty of knowledge in many subjects.

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