There’s a lot of buzz around the country these days about tiny houses. A quick internet search reveals countless photos of these micro abodes, and numerous reality shows such as Tiny House Nation, and Tiny House Hunters. People of all ages and walks of life are taking the step to drastically downsize and simplify their lives, thereby greatly reducing their stress levels and their carbon footprint. Many people today are choosing not to be tied down with a 30-year mortgage and a lawn to maintain – and are freer and happier as a result.
While some owners embed sustainable features into their houses from the beginning (for example, solar panels and rainwater storage), the sustainability of these structures is often a result of the minimal amount of building materials needed to construct them, many of which are repurposed. Many tiny house owners are not going back to reading by kerosene lanterns, but they do enjoy getting back to basics.
Tiny houses are charming (and they are easy on the environment as well as your pocketbook), but the tiny house movement is bigger than that. It’s a movement of people coming together as a community. They are tired of glorifying the “busy” and the importance of material possessions. They are taking back time for themselves to spend with their family and friends, to travel, to pursue hobbies, and to get out of their house and back into their community.
The process of downsizing – which is more far-reaching than decluttering – is an exercise in self-awareness and self-actualization. It’s peeling off those layers to get down to the essence of what really makes you happy and what you need to be fulfilled. Do you need six wooden spoons and a formal dining room that you use twice a year? Sure, the wooden spoons don’t take up much space, but they create mental clutter. If you clear out all that extra stuff that you aren’t using, your head will be clearer.
Has reading this article challenged you to rethink the number of your possessions and the space you call home, even a little bit? Tiny houses are not for everyone, I know that. But if the answer is yes, then our time together has been well spent.
B.A. Norrgard of A Bed Over My Head is a tiny house luminary. In 2012, after 26 years in a downtown Dallas high-rise, she overhauled her life to find out what really made her happy. She shed her paralegal costume and hand-built her own 112 square foot tiny house on wheels to be her full-time permanent residence. She is a passionate advocate for others following their dream of letting go of societal conditioning and being free to live a larger life in a smaller space. B.A. is a doer. She lives by example and loves to travel in her tiny house. She blogs regularly at aBedOverMyHead.com/blog
Feature Image Courtesy of B.A. Norrgard
Other Images Courtesy of HGTV
