Tiny Homes I’d Like to Live In

At ~1,500 square feet, our family’s townhouse is like my jeans: although not tight, a little extra room wouldn’t hurt. I don’t want a bigger home for status. I’d just like more room to store skis and bikes. (We live in Vancouver, and spend a lot of time playing in the mountains.)

But, I’m of two minds. Another part of me wants to get rid of our house, buy a camperized Sprinter, and explore the country. In ways, these two desires are similar. I want our living arrangement to help facilitate more outdoor activity for our family. This is a common topic of discussion, for me—and I often find others share these sentiments.

For example, Mark and I had a conversation on Twitter about how to make our homes and workspaces smaller. Later, he pointed me to Tiny House Swoon: a microblog that showcases very small homes. Treehouses, bunkers, yurts, movable homes—so many possibilities!

Japanese Forest House
Japanese Forest House
Jenny and Michael’s Tiny House
Jenny and Michael’s Tiny House
Denver Treehouse
Denver Treehouse
Spindrift Cabin
Spindrift Cabin
Malibu Yurt
Malibu Yurt
My favorite: A Small Life Airstream
My favorite: A Small Life Airstream

Comments

  1. So with ya, Karj, not least on the tension. J. and I dream about downsizing to the point of drifting often, _most_ often following checking the latest from Our Open Road (http://ouropenroad.com/) or Bruce Kirkby’s recent family trip on the Insta. But, given that’s not possible in our situation, instead it’s how we’d design our home. The way I see it, as you hint at, ~800 square feet would be perfect…

    …but then I’d want a 200 square foot office shed and a 2000 square foot gear garage.

    Cake. Eat it. Too.

    1. The nomadic life is a tough one to sort out. I thought we were pretty close about two years ago. Then we tested working remotely for a month, and it didn’t go as I had hoped. (I spent so much time trying to get decent wifi that I felt like that was all I did.)

      As I currently see our situation, we have a few options. The first is to pick a year, save money until then, and rent out our place, so we can cover the mortgage payments—and have something to return to. The second is to stay in our current place, and just take month-long trips whenever possible (i.e. work is slow). The third is to move to a place where real estate is less expensive, and buy something outright—and then save all our income for longer trips.

      One of the challenges I’ve struggled with is trying to determine what will work best for our kids. Although I know we’d all love to travel more, they also like being at home—with their friends. As such, having some sort of a home base seems important.

      As for gear: I’m giving away all of my suits and ties (I haven’t worn them in years, anyway) so I have more room for skis in my closet.

      And thanks for the link—it’ll be my weekend reading! (Damn they take great photos!)

      1. So on-point with all you’ve said here, Karj. (Including you prompting me to consider clearing out my suit inventory.) I hear especially the point about balancing values and opportunities for the kids. I’ve read a fair bit about this, one article in particular tickling the netheregions of my mind…if I can get it to resurface I’ll pass it along.

        Sorta related: damn I miss easy access to XC skiing.

        1. I feel that. The prospect of having Otway only 15 minutes away results in Amea and I talking about moving to Prince George.

          Cypress is pretty close (30 – 40 minutes) for us. That said, the past couple of years have been pretty bad (OK, awful) for snow.

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