Friday Feature: Tiny House

I first became enamored with tiny houses after reading this San Francisco Gate article. It seems that this is a trend that might be growing a bit, and actually encompasses a lot of issues confronting us socially and politically. Oddly, the trend might be boosted from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the popularity of (probably ill-named) Katrina Cottages, as blogged about over on Consumerist. Sometimes necessity in crisis brings about a shift in thinking. First thought upon seeing the photos of these tiny habitats was..."Yeah I could never do that." Then I got to thinking...I lived through 4.5 years of college in various dorm rooms of differing sizes. My sophomore year, I lived in the smallest room in a collective apartment...the room which my roommates affectionately termed "The Closet." (And here I always wondered why people were trying to hang their coats on my stuff.) I am currently living in a studio apartment, which is more than enough room for me and my collection of things. In fact I've recently taken to mentally paring down my belongings even more. While I do keep quite a bit of memorabilia like photos and mementos of cool things I've done, I absolutely abhor knickknacks and touristy crap that people buy just to prove they've stood on a beach in Hawaii. (Or maybe they didn't, and they just bought it at a thrift store because someone ELSE stood on a beach in Hawaii, bought the thing, flew it back home, and decided that instead of being a marker of ultimate culture and coolness, it was dust magnet. But I digress and maybe I am a curmudgeon). I do realize that choosing a lifestyle such as that of a touring artist means...I will be living in a cramped space for a while. I have also decided that there is really no need to acquire a lot of stuff, like perhaps an armoire or an entertainment center, if I will be spending more time in a vehicle than in a house for a few years. Maybe deep down I hope I'll just adapt to the Life of Less and be able to graduate to a more permanent Tiny House. How cool would that be? They're aesthetically gorgeous, they're cheap ($5 a month for utilities? No way. Yes way. Dude.), and they're still mobile. You basically park your house. If you feel like living in Montana one summer and Santa Fe in the winter, you just pack your house. Brilliant. Who knows where I will be living in 9 months and 9 months after that (maybe on your couch...yes, YOU)...but it's always nice to have several plans in place, eh? In the meantime...check out how Dee does it in this cool little vid: Technorati Tags: tinyhouse, sustainability, consumerist, katrina, living, noimpact, songwriter Powered by ScribeFire.