Thinking Of Downsizing For A Tiny House?
I’ve got to admit it. The Tiny House movement has me intrigued. I read blogs, watch HGTV shows, attend events that feature them, and yes, I even find myself daydreaming about tiny house living. As I look around my home office, I quickly realize it is larger than most tiny houses and I have to ask myself, could I live in one and why am I so fascinated by tiny houses? So I decided to learn more about myself to see if I can muster up the courage to take a step into this world of less is more living. Having met several tiny house living people, I realized the key to successful tiny house living is to learn to live without the clutter of material things.
Finding Your Tiny House Needs
So I started by considering what things I couldn’t live without. My list soon became longer than a five-year old’s Christmas list to Santa and I realized this was going to be more difficult than it appeared. So I took another stab at it by listing 5-6 things in each room of my house that I would want to take with me into the world of tiny house living.
Here’s my list by room:
- The bathroom includes all in one shampoo and body wash, deodorant, towel, washcloth, toothbrush, toothpaste. There is more I want but I am limiting myself in keeping with the self-imposed rules.
- Bedroom includes my favorite sheets and blanket, pillow, a bed, my nighttime devotion reading and comfy pajamas. Oh, how I will miss my king size Therapeutic Mattress.
- Living room includes; our family portrait, sofa, ottoman, television. I’m now negotiating with myself. If I only pick four items from this room, does that mean I can add 2 to others? You can see where this is going, right?
- Kitchen items I plan to take; plates, silverware, cookware, Keurig coffee maker, linens. If only I can add two more from the living room extras, I might this Tiny House Living think work.
- Dining room, wait a minute. I guess there won’t be a dining room in my Tiny House. And it wouldn’t be fair to count all three bathrooms and 5 bedrooms would it? What about the closets, pantries, basement, attic?
- On to clothes…only 5-6 items, hmmm. I guess now is the time to go commando and braless. Let’s start with my reefs. If I can only have one pair of shoes, it will be them. Now I’m going to add a pair of jeans, three, shirts, and a jacket. Lord, this isn’t enough so I’ve decided you get more than six clothing items and I’ll pare it down as the move draws near.
Living with Your Essentials
Then I began to realize I was missing some very important items. What about my iPad, iPod, iPhone, laptop and all the gadgets I use every day. This led me to my magazines and books. Where will I store these treasures? My heart started racing when I realized most of my plants, treasured art, board games, and other earthly possessions were destined for the local thrift store. It all came crashing down when I realized our huge family get-togethers on Sundays, holidays and special occasions will soon be a thing of the past. I could barely breathe at the thought of this!
