As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
Henry David Thoreau
A common misconception is that bigger is better, and when it comes to living, people frequently want to move only in one direction: up. More space, more stuff. Ostensibly, more space and more stuff provides more freedom and more options, but in reality, the reverse is often true.
More space means more costs and you got to earn that money — continuously. And more stuff means more clutter that bogs you down and prevents you from actually doing something.
So I take a different view.
One of my first postings was about removing unnecessary stuff (= clutter) and I have already written about Susanka’s two books: “Not So Big House” and “creating the not so big house”, which focus on using space smartly (e.g., rooms that fulfill multiple functions).
But it’s possible to live with even less than a “not so big house” — voluntarily, and well. There are a lot of interesting websites about the “Tiny House Movement”, e.g., Tiny House blog, Tiny House Design, or Tiny House Talk. You can also find interesting videos on YouTube (search for “tiny house”). And there are a couple of interesting books, among others two beautiful and inspiring books by Lloyd Kahn: “Tiny Homes – Simple Shelter” and “Tiny Homes on the Move” (click on image to zoom).
“Tiny Homes – Simple Shelter” by Lloyd Kahn
  |
  |
“Tiny Homes on the Move” by Lloyd Kahn
  |
  |
The first book focuses mostly on fixed houses, including tiny homes that are designed for temporary use (e.g., writers’ shacks) and treehouses (you can live in!) and the like. The second one only addresses movable homes (among others, vans, pickup trucks, buses, trailers, and boats). Both books do not really provide advice on how to build a tiny home (there are other books for that), but provide some idea how it is possible to live with limited space — for almost unlimited freedom.
And they sure got me thinking. 🙂
