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If you’re considering a tiny house like Tiffany, you’ve already likely looked into the advantages and benefits. A tiny house affords you enormous freedom. Tired of your surroundings? You can just hitch your home to a truck and move in a matter of hours. Instantly everything’s the same except that it’s totally different. Get a new job or a new career opportunity? The process of moving used to be costly and agonizing… not with a tiny home. You’re afforded a wonderful combination of permanence and almost perpetual change. Tiny homes are incredibly energy efficient and can be run in a far more environmentally friendly way than a conventional home. They’re quick and easy to clean, tidy, and decorate yet still afford you a plethora of opportunities to make the place your own.

Many people who consider investing in tiny homes, however, hit the same wall. “Sure, it looks great,” they think, “but I could never fit all of my stuff in there.” The prospect of moving our many and varied belongings into such a small place may seem like an impossibility… And for most of us, it is. But if you’re concerned about trying to cram a tiny home with stuff… You’re kind of missing the point of what a tiny home is all about. Here we’ll look at why a tiny home and a minimalist attitude make a likely and satisfying pairing as well as (hopefully) making the case that those essentials we’ve come to rely on in the modern world aren’t quite as essential as we may have thought...

Minimalism… So much more than less stuff

When you read the word minimalism what comes to mind? Sparsely decorated rooms? A living space devoid of charm and character? Lots of people have unfairly misleading preconceptions of minimalism. Minimalism isn’t just the process of getting rid of stuff (although there is an element of that). It’s a change in perception and a shifting of priorities. Minimalism seeks to shift the balance of life towards the accumulation of experiences and memories rather than material possessions. To learn more, check out the documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things. We ascribe importance to material objects wither because of their value as status symbols or because we believe that they will bring us fulfillment. But many of the things that we accumulate in the pursuit of fulfillment don’t bring us the joy we expect from them. When you live in a tiny home you learn to live without the following trappings of modern life and find creative alternatives...

The TV

The TV is in many ways the ultimate status symbol of the past half a century. As technology has evolved, it seems as though people’s personal worth has been measured by the size and resolution of their TV. It’s likely that you won’t be able to wrestle your 65” 4K UHD TV into a tiny home (and even if you did you’d likely have to crane your neck up to see it) but… So what?

Of course, there’s joy to be found in movies and TV shows but we don’t have to go to such ostentatious ends to enjoy it. Often a laptop or a tablet will work just as well if you and your significant other want to snuggle down for a movie night or a Game of Thrones marathon. Going without a big TV reminds us that what really matters is the enjoyment of the content we see on it and the time spent with the people we enjoy it with… Not the size or resolution of the TV itself.

The sofa

Like the TV, the sofa has become the defining statement of most living rooms. Lots of people use their sofa to say something to guests and visitors about who they are and where their personal tastes and proclivities may lie… But what is a sofa about, really? It’s primarily about comfort. It’s about relaxing with the people you care about the most in a place where you can feel completely relaxed and yourself… And you don’t need a fancy sofa with heat, vibration, and a built-in drinks cooler to do that. In fact, you could have just as much fun with a large bean bag. Seriously, go to SackDaddy.com and browse their collection.  

Your clothes

The devout fashionista may feel that she or he has no business living in a tiny home. They’ll likely assume that they’d fill at least 60% of it with shoes. But looking good needn’t necessarily require an enormous wardrobe filled with items that you may just wear once or twice before forgetting about them completely. If you’re looking for inspiration just take a look at what Bea Johnson, author of Zero Waste Home has accomplished. She has created 50 looks using just 15 items of clothing (which is literally all she owns).

The bed

Surely, everyone needs a bed, right? We can’t possibly get a good night’s sleep without a bed, right? Wrong. Not only do you not need a bed, eschewing a bed for a simple mattress has some potential health benefits including less back and neck pain, better spinal and bodily alignment and (especially at this time of year) a better night’s sleep as you have more access to cooler air.

Books and media

Lots of us could live without a TV when a laptop or tablet will do the same job just as well. Many would also be happy to get rid of their DVDs and Blu-rays, especially when there’s so much space-saving digital content available out there. But a lot of people draw the line at their books. They insist that an e-reader singularly fails to capture the humble majesty of snuggling up with a good book.

There may well be a handful of books that you can’t live without… So take those. Take those worn and foxed tomes that have steered you through childhood and helped to shade who you are. Take that first edition that your grandmother bought you. Take the books that mean the most to you. They likely won’t amount to more than a dozen or so. The rest, the ones you’re only casually in love with, you can pick up digitally.

Just because you want to move into a tiny home, doesn’t mean that you can’t get huge enjoyment. It may simply involve a realignment of your priorities.

Did this article help you? Got any questions or concerns? Comment below!

-Sam