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Hubs and I currently live in a 1300 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. We bought it as a "fixer upper" at a pretty good price with the intention of fixing it up. We have learned that it had a lot more problems than we thought. We have ALSO learned that we don't need nearly this much space. We do not use 2 of our bedrooms or one of our bathrooms at all. We only use about half of our kitchen area. We don't even use all of our bedroom space. It's just the two of us and our pets, but our pets are always as close to us as possible anyway.
So...we have decided to embark on something of a tiny house journey. Of course, we aren't going to be cramped into 100 square feet, nor are we going to be living without plumbing, electricity or any of the other necessary (in our opinions) modern conveniences. So, even though I suppose it's something of a tiny house project, I don't think it's quite what most people think of when they think about tiny houses. It's more of a small cabin or cottage, I think.
We did buy a 1/2 acre lot less than a mile outside of town (no longer will we be tied to the overpriced municipal power nor the 2x property taxes). We are in the works of buying a 14x40 wooden cabin that we are going to finish out ourselves. We're going to have around 500 square feet of living space, and I think it will fit us beautifully! When we first got together, I lived in a one bedroom apartment of a similar size, and now-hubby stayed with me probably 3/4 of the time, and it worked just fine. As we got more space, we tended to accumulate more crap that we don't need. It's all just a huge waste. With this project, everything is going to be completely brand new (we are so fed up with the whole "fixer upper" thing), and we're going to have just the right amount of space with no extra. We do plan on creating a nice outdoor space to give us more "room."
For those who are interested, this is the type of floor plan that we are interested in. This is actually a mobile home, but it's the same size as the cabin, and I think the floor plan is perfect...it really maximizes the space (much better than my one-bedroom apartment did). This is pretty much what we are shooting for:
We are pretty excited. It's going to be great to downsize. We are also going to save so much money...our place will be paid for completely in cash, so no mortgage, and our utility bills, etc. are sure to go down significantly as well.
Congratulations! That should be a fun project. We could comfortably live in a 500 square feet small home. Going with 14' wide will make the rooms of normal size. That's a good floorplan. The only thing I'd have to change is to do a tiny bit of reconfiguring by putting up more of a wall between the bath and kitchen. Hubby has lots of G.I. issues. It would cut the light from one side but would make my nose very happy. By doing it yourself, the beauty of it is that you can change anything you want. Enjoy!
I lost every thing I owned in a forest fire. (It is a blessing to be set free) So I bought some land in another state and had portable buildings constructed to my specifications, brought to the site and porches the same size as the buildings built on. The kitchen is outside on the porch. The building on the side of the porch is the utility/bathroom with the miracle of indoor plumbing. There is also a matching two horse barn with porch. Total cost for the buildings less than 20Gs. Its 480 sq ft total living space and everything is paid for.
We looked into tiny homes, we'd want the 14x48 footer with two bedrooms instead. We did live in a 14x 65 trailer, called 70 feet, but the box was Actually 65' long.
We ended up buying a 750 sqft 2 br 1 bath house instead.
We are looking at the same for a retirement get away in the south.
If I can find a link, I'll post about architectures students in the south who build low cost houses 1 or 2 br for under $20k, and work with banks to write mortgages for those who can't afford to pay cash. They are simple structures but well worth a look.
You could Google it, might give you some ideas. Not sure if they build 2 br or not, but they are at least 1 br.
I have found that the smallest you can go and still be comfortable is around 1600 sq ft. We have one house that is 1561 sq ft and another that is 1678 sq ft. We notice the difference. Any smaller and it would get crowded real fast.
I have found that the smallest you can go and still be comfortable is around 1600 sq ft. We have one house that is 1561 sq ft and another that is 1678 sq ft. We notice the difference. Any smaller and it would get crowded real fast.
Can I say this for the next 20 people that would also?
That's ridiculous and only said to be inciteful.
I have found that the smallest you can go and still be comfortable is around 1600 sq ft. We have one house that is 1561 sq ft and another that is 1678 sq ft. We notice the difference. Any smaller and it would get crowded real fast.
That is not my experience at all. We don't even use over half of our 1300 sq ft house. Everyone is different, though.
Congratulations! That should be a fun project. We could comfortably live in a 500 square feet small home. Going with 14' wide will make the rooms of normal size. That's a good floorplan. The only thing I'd have to change is to do a tiny bit of reconfiguring by putting up more of a wall between the bath and kitchen. Hubby has lots of G.I. issues. It would cut the light from one side but would make my nose very happy. By doing it yourself, the beauty of it is that you can change anything you want. Enjoy!
Thank you! We are super excited. Thanks for the tip about the bathroom. Not a bad idea!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nurse Bishop
I lost every thing I owned in a forest fire. (It is a blessing to be set free) So I bought some land in another state and had portable buildings constructed to my specifications, brought to the site and porches the same size as the buildings built on. The kitchen is outside on the porch. The building on the side of the porch is the utility/bathroom with the miracle of indoor plumbing. There is also a matching two horse barn with porch. Total cost for the buildings less than 20Gs. Its 480 sq ft total living space and everything is paid for.
I'm sorry to hear about you losing everything, but it sounds like it may have truly been a blessing. I love your spot. Having everything paid for has to be a wonderful feeling. I'm very excited!
Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi
Ikmax, congrats!
We looked into tiny homes, we'd want the 14x48 footer with two bedrooms instead. We did live in a 14x 65 trailer, called 70 feet, but the box was Actually 65' long.
We ended up buying a 750 sqft 2 br 1 bath house instead.
We are looking at the same for a retirement get away in the south.
If I can find a link, I'll post about architectures students in the south who build low cost houses 1 or 2 br for under $20k, and work with banks to write mortgages for those who can't afford to pay cash. They are simple structures but well worth a look.
You could Google it, might give you some ideas. Not sure if they build 2 br or not, but they are at least 1 br.
That sounds really cool! I'm glad there is something of a movement that is going in the opposite direction of the whole McMansion thing.
Congratulations! That should be a fun project. We could comfortably live in a 500 square feet small home. Going with 14' wide will make the rooms of normal size. That's a good floorplan. The only thing I'd have to change is to do a tiny bit of reconfiguring by putting up more of a wall between the bath and kitchen. Hubby has lots of G.I. issues. It would cut the light from one side but would make my nose very happy. By doing it yourself, the beauty of it is that you can change anything you want. Enjoy!
I'd go one step further. Flip the bath & utility room and have the bath accessible from the bedroom OR the kitchen. Just move the closet. Unless you don't have many guests, then just make it an ensuite with no kitchen access.
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It would cut the light from one side but would make my nose very happy. By doing it yourself, the beauty of it is that you can change anything you want. Enjoy!
