I love the word tiny.  It conjures all manner of cozy, innocent, beloved, cherished, untarnished.  It’s fitting that the tiny house movement is dubbed just that.  There is a simplicity to it all that defies the complications of actually making it happen.  One must, I think, approach it like a small child might – without giving too much consideration to all that could go wrong, to the hurdles that will surely be erected to halt your progress, crush your dream, ensure conformity.

tiny cottages:  Top. Case de Sabine . Denmark. Below Left, Pink Cottage . Carolinacostt.tumblr.com. Middle, CA Cottage. Right, Cottages of Nantucket (available for rent)

Ah conformity – look where that’s gotten us.  1/3 to 1/2 of all our income goes to pay for the home in which we live.  And those homes have grown over the decades while the number of people that live within those “four walls” have decreased.  No one said anything that was adult was going to make very much sense.  15 years of your life – just to pay for the place in which you lay your head.  It’s a “tiny” bit crazy, don’t you think?

UK Tiny on the Sea

I’ve talked a lot about my fascination with small spaces.  My Cape Cod upbringing gave me early exposure to the interior of a boat cabin.  I’ll admit the allure is enhanced by the lapping waves against the hull, the bobbing of the cabin lantern strung from a cord that spans the cozy interior.  A little bit of a pot bellied stove, tea kettle whistling.  Back in the womb.  Totally protected.  Appealing, no?  Well it is to me, and I am certain that it is a significant contributing factor to my sense of ease in small spaces, and my fascination with this movement.

Provincetown . Cape Cod – Christopher Seifert via Flickr

It reminds me a bit of the Prius – a social statement that made trading your Range Rover totally acceptable.  It’s hard to imagine living in a 2600SF home – the average size of a dwelling in the states.  I, like a child desperate to feel loved –  need boundaries I can touch.

Now I have made it clear that I am not a builder, and I am not a designer – though I design my own homes as I attempt to flip-flop my way into retirement.  Still many years away, none-the-less, a dogged pursuit.  BUT – the tiny house movement has captured my attention for reasons beyond my fondness for the petite.  I think I could actually learn to build one.  Now I know that is not where my passion lies, but I know too that understanding how things come together, how they work, and being apart of the process of creation, from a construction standpoint, would be both edifying, and incrediblably gratifying.

Stay tuned as I hatch a plan……