When Size Does Matter: The Rise of the Tiny House Movement

For a growing number of people, green building is no longer only about the materials that are used in building a house, or the energy a house consumes. For many, building a truly green house comes down to something arguably more fundamental: the size of the house itself.

Over the last few years, a loose collection of people interested in smaller and more minimal living spaces have started to come together as something of a movement –– the Tiny House Movement.

The Tiny House Movement is not about living in deliberately tiny spaces. Instead, it’s about creating living spaces in which you have room for everything you really need –– and no more. It’s about simplified, cheaper living, self-sufficiency and social consciousness.

Tiny houses are, as you might expect, much smaller than their regular counterparts: where the average American home is usually around 2400 square meters, tiny homes are typically no bigger than 400 square meters.

A new breed of builders have taken up the challenge of turning small spaces into cosy, innovative and totally livable homes. Austin builder Louis R Burns is one of them. Burns recently completed an elegant, wonderfully simple 80-square meter tiny house, building the entire thing on a 16-foot trailer. Check it out in the video below:

‘Austin Tiny House was born out of necessity,’ Burns says. ‘That’s not a global climate change necessity, though it helps with that too. It was born out of the idea that I needed a place to live and wasn’t interested in flushing more rent money down the tubes. That necessity led me to a small but growing movement of people seeking greater simplicity and freedom in their lives.’

Because of their diminutive size, Tiny Houses are far cheaper than their conventional counterparts: Burns’ Austin Tiny House was built for $8500, and was put up for sale for just $10000.

Another amazing tiny house was recently featured by PBS. Its owner, Dee, moved from a large, regular house into a truly tiny 84-square-meter home that was smaller than her previous bathroom. As you’ll see, Dee has no regrets: she loves the simplicity of her new space  –– and the fact it only costs eight dollars in utilities to run each month doesn’t hurt.

For more inspiring tiny houses, visit the Tiny House Blog.

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