Tiny Home, Big Living

By Patrick Hamilton

Motlow Buzz Reporter

 

                There is a new trend in American housing, tiny homes. The movement is aimed at living simpler, financial freedom, and decreasing environmental impact. The social movement chooses to downsize the space needed to live. An average American home is around 2,600 square feet, whereas the typical tiny home is between 100 and 400 square feet.

 Few Americans desire to live inside a 300 square-foot home. However, a solid number of people have decided to embrace this simple living. In Tennessee, the demand for tiny homes is scarce. People like David Latimer with New Frontier tiny homes are embracing the movement making its way to Nashville. One of his tiny homes has been featured on HGTV’s “Tiny House, Big Living”. The virtual tour of the home is incredible. Here is the link. https://www.newfrontiertinyhomes.com/tiny-house.

 

Tiny houses became popular when Jay Shafer designed a house on wheels in the late nineties. He never set out to build a tiny home. Shafer wanted to build an efficient home. When all the unnecessary parts of the house are taken away, you’re left with a very small home. Shafer fathered tiny homes and made a way for the revolutionary movement today. Companies today are designing and building custom tiny homes for business. Tumbleweed Tiny Homes is one of the original Tiny Home builders, which operates in Canada. The link below is   http://affordablehousingdesigns.com/TumbleweedTinyHouses.

Companies all over the nation are embracing the movement because of the outstanding benefits. The benefits of building a Tiny Home are economical and personal to the buyer.

 1. You can travel with it. Not all tiny homes are portable. The ones with potential mobility have huge benefits. With mobility, you have the benefit of transporting everything you own in a short amount of time. All you need is a trailer hitch. Permanence is not an issue if you don’t buy a plot of land. Here is a link for building portable tiny home trailers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQFk2eVgi4A

 2. It is very cheap. Over a period of 30 years, most American homes double in price when you include the taxes, maintenance, interest, principal, and down payment. The damage for a typical single family home is costly and most likely the reason majority of Americans battle with debt. If you play your cards right, you could pay for the house up front. After evaluating the cost of living in Tennessee, it only makes sense to invest in a tiny home.

 3. It is extremely environmentally friendly. The clear majority of tiny homes are made of recycled, re-purposed, and salvaged materials. Each home is unique and easily powered by solar or wind resources. The required energy of a tiny home is much less than a traditional home. Building a tiny home is a great start to decreasing your environmental footprint. Also, if your Tiny Home is built in a rural area, nature becomes an easier priority. Most tiny home owners say they appreciate nature more than they did before living in a tiny home. Building a tiny home generates a new-found relationship with the environment. Tennessee offers vast country for building tiny homes.

4. Your life is less cluttered. Tiny homes are aimed at living a minimalistic lifestyle. Your limited space allows you to store what is necessary. Many people own too much stuff. Decluttering your life could possibly bless somebody in return with the materials you don’t need. This experience could be very humbling. I know what it is like to sort through possessions, only to find that I have more than enough. Donating your possessions is extremely hard, but it adds appreciation to the stuff you need.

Tiny home living is remarkably efficient. I plan to build a tiny home soon. The research I have done proves that building your own tiny home is cheaper. I highly recommend designing and customizing your own. Living in a home this size demands little maintenance. The greatest demand is adapting to small living. You have less junk, less room, and less time to stay inside. Living in a tiny home is ideal. Moving into a 400 square-foot home after living in a 2,000 square-foot home is grueling. Most people realize this way of living makes the most sense after making the 1,600 square-foot jump.