Ode to a Small House

I vacuumed the house last night. Woohoo! But that’s not the spectacular part. Are you ready for it? I vacuumed the entire house last night – the bedrooms, bathroom, hallway, living room, dining room, and kitchen - and never even had to unplug the machine! That is just how small our house is. And it’s one of the numerous reasons why I love it here. Many people can’t believe it when I tell them we live in a 1000 square foot house with three children and only two bedrooms. I probably wouldn’t have believed it myself just two short years ago. I know that compared to much of the world, we live like kings. However, in America, where the average home size has more than doubled since the 1950s while the number of people living in the house has decreased, I think we’re seen by some as oddballs. We initially moved here out of necessity, not choice. But we have now made a conscious decision to stay here, and while it may not be for everyone, we are confident this is where we need to be for our family.

So, in no official order, I give you just a few of the awesome things about living in a small house:

• See above. Cleaning, while still not my favorite thing in the world, is a relative snap – and not near as time consuming as it used to be.
  
• Less money spent on upkeep for the house. i.e. There is only one toilet to fix instead of three or four.
• Three words: Smallest...Mortgage…Ever!
• Lower utility bills – Electric was $40 in May & $71 in June – our previous house (2250 sq ft) had bills of $190 & $275, respectively.
• Our property taxes here are $4,000 less than our old house, and we’ve only moved one mile away.
• We always know where the kids are, and know they can hear us when we call them out of their bedroom. Now, getting them to respond is another issue, but at least they don’t have the “But I didn’t hear you!” excuse at their disposal.
• Smaller lot = less upkeep on the landscape.
• Less clutter. While I sometimes look around and don’t feel this way, we have drastically reduced the amount of “stuff” we own. Moving from 2250 square feet, to 1500 (for only a few months), down to 1000, we had no choice but to hold numerous garage sales to get rid of items we knew we wouldn’t have the room for. Not only did we make a bit of money, but we are free of the weight of all of those frivolous items. Now most things in our house have a definite purpose and are used on a mostly daily basis. It’s also easier to find what you’re looking for if you’re not having to search in the basement, the garage attic, the house attic, and under every bed and in every closet for a single item.

While we do plan on being here for a while, I’ve already set my sights on an even smaller abode, such as the 'B-53' - a 743 square foot vision of beauty from Tumbleweed Tiny House Company shown below.


Now 743 square feet may sound tiny to some, but in reality it is a monster! Jay Shafer, at Tumbleweed, has house plans as small as 67 square feet available for purchase. Seriously! For more small house inspiration try www.tinyhousedesign.com or www.tinyhouseblog.com.

While I don’t see us moving to a house this small until the kids are in college, I look forward to trying to convince Jason that this is where we need to be in our retirement years! He’s still not quite on board, but I have some tricks up my sleeves! –Carrie