In a world where the paper’s headlines scream at us about the cost of housing in our largest cities, and many of us are still trying to pay back our 10-year-old student loans, a new solution is coming to the forefront.
The tiny house movement is still in its relative infancy in the USA, so its little wonder it is fairly underground in New Zealand, and you may not have heard of it at all. So…
What is a tiny house, exactly?
It’s an entire house that’s about 30m2. Not to be confused with a small house, which is around 60m2, the tiny houses are usually portable, to avoid local building size restrictions.
Council imposing size restrictions on property make a lot of sense for an apartment, where there is no garden (or even just a nice view) to extend the home beyond physical floor space. Moreso in cities like Auckland where, in my opinion, money has overruled design and aesthetic in the apartment market for the last 20 years. Tiny houses are usually surrounded by land, and personal space is not really an issue.
Tiny houses have some fairly standard characteristics: A “Great Room” which makes up about half the house, usually comprising of a living/dining area and maybe a small porch; A loft, where you’ll find a queen-sized mattress and not a lot else; A tiny kitchen loosely based off a galley-style (although some times the kitchen is part of the Great Room); and a bathroom/wetroom featuring either a movable composting or an incinerating toilet, and a shower.
Costing between $40,000 and $60,000 to build and furnish, you can see why the tiny house movement has started to pick up steam. But it’s not just about living in a tiny house. It’s about the tiny house lifestyle – and the mindset required to live that lifestyle.
Modern principles of consumerism demand that we are in a constant state of upgrade. Somehow we have created a world where a two-year-old TV is out of date, and many of us no longer want to play that game.
It is about conscious curation
The tiny house movement is about reorganisation and downsizing. It is about recognising the difference between what you need and what you want. It is about how much you waste you create, and what impact you have on our planet. It is about putting you back in charge of your own life.
Just think about all the things you own, that you haven’t touched or looked at in the last year. Think about all the things you’ve bought, but don’t love. All that stuff hanging around, bogging you down, and for what?
Once you’ve started cleaning out your mind, and your belongings, you’re ready to seriously look at living in a tiny house.
Some of my favourites
Living big in a tiny house
Auckland couple Bryce and Melissa are building their own tiny house, and are documenting it. Not only that, but they travel across New Zealand to check out other tiny homes to gain inspiration.
Bryce is passionate about protecting the Earth.
“I love the concept of marrying tiny architecture and permaculture to create a wonderfully sustainable living concept that is simple for others to follow.”
Here’s one of my favourite videos of theirs
If you want to find out more about tiny houses around New Zealand, .
Tiny houses. Big concepts.
I want to live in a castle truck!!