Tips and Tricks for Living Small
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 73
Tips and Tricks for Living in Small Spaces
I mentioned in E67 that our homes account for approximately 30% of our ecological impact. I have also mentioned before that most of us can live on much less than what we do. Helping you to accomplish just that is the focus of this three part series on the art of living small.
There are unique challenges to living in a small space. I know this from personal experience. But, there are also numerous ways to make the most of the space that you have and that is the focus of this episode. So, stay tuned for Tips and Tricks for Living in Small Spaces.
Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick. I want to start out this episode by saying that I’ve been at this podcast for well over a year now. I have produced episodes on a wide variety of topics. However, I want to say that if any of my listeners have a particular concern or a subject you would like to to hear me discuss, you can contact me via email. My email associated with the podcast is [email protected]. Again that is [email protected] Just please put something in the subject line that will get my attention so that I don’t think it is spam mail.
Okay that said, let’s get to it. This is E 73 which is called Tips and Tricks for Living in Small Spaces.
America has always been a place that is defined by bigness. From the size of our country, to the size of our automobiles, the size of our waistlines, and the size of our homes. In the 1950s the average size of the American home was about 980 square feet. In 1970, it was about 1,500 square feet. Today, the average size of our homes is about 2,400 square feet despite the fact that the average size of the family is decreasing.
All this extra space comes with added expense from the cost of construction, to repairs and maintenance, insurance, and of course all the added personal possessions that we are driven to fill it with.
I have admitted before that I am also guilty of falling into the trap of more is better. But I can tell you that during that time in my life I lived only to work, was neck deep in debt, had very little personal time, and practically never took a vacation. At this point, the opposite is true. I downsized, made improvements at the cabin, installed full solar capability, and am now debt free. In many ways, that is the end result of living in a small place.
Despite the challenges is living in a small place, a recent survey by Business Insider, revealed that more than half of Americans stated they would consider living in a tiny home. Furthermore, of those who were not yet home owners, 86% said they would consider purchasing a tiny home as their first home.
Affordability, efficiency, eco-friendliness, and minimalism were mentioned in that order as the four most attractive factors that a tiny home lifestyle has to offer. 65% of those surveyed listed that the most enticing factor of all was affordability. This is because the median price of a tiny home is between $30K and $60K while the median price of a traditional home is almost $240K.
Now the art of living small as I like to say, or minimalism, basic living, and now it is called tiny home living, however, you choose to look at it, actually has a long history. But the so called tiny home movement has a much more recent history with the first writings of the benefits of such living appearing in the 1980s, and gained some traction in the 1990s. This is when construction companies started getting involved, people started to write blogs and books, appear on television, and this all helped to get the word out regarding the possibilities of living small.
But a man named Jay Shafer is largely credited with jumpstarting the tiny house movement when he published his first article in 1999 about the merits of simple living. But it was not until around 2014 to 2017 that some states started changing their rules and zoning to make it more favorable for tiny homes. In 2016 the International Code Council announced that a specific tiny home index would be added to the 2018 International Residential Code. And in 2017 the state of Idaho became the first US state to embrace the relaxed code regulations for tiny homes.
So if this is something that you are considering, then at least things are starting to change in you favor. But, as I did say before, there are some unique challenges to living in a small space, which I have done now for 25 years.
So, what I’d like to do at this point is simply give you some tips and tricks to help you manage living in such a small space.
Embrace the great outdoors
One of my favorite things about living in a small space is that the outdoors truly becomes an extension of my living space. When I am at the cabin and the weather is nice, all doors are open. When I am away from home and living in the travel trailer, once it is above 40 degrees I have the door and all the windows open.
If you tiny home is stationary, consider adding a deck to effectively increase your living space. That is one of the first things I did once the inside of the new cabin was complete. Additionally, my big project for this year is to add on a sun room which will give us another 200 square feet of living space.
Declutter
First and foremost, if you truly want to downsize you existence, I would suggest that you declutter your life. I know from personal experience that when you live in a small space, there is little room for extra stuff.
A great start is to get rid of unused items. If you are unsure about this, then place things in a box, tape it closed and put it in storage. After a few months if you have not missed it and never thought to use it, then you don’t need it. Clothes are a great example. Most of us only wear about 25% of the wardrobe that we have.
You can get a good start by taking what I call the 12-12-12 challenge. Find 12 items to get rid of, perhaps by recycling. Find 12 items to donate. Find another 12 items that can be put away in its proper place.
Another thing to try is the four box method. Get four boxes and label them trash, give away, keep, and put away.
Bottom line here is that if you are going to live small, you are going to have to learn to be a neat-nik.
Take advantage of modern technology
One of the best parts to our age of technology, is that most things in our lives can now be paperless. Digitizing your life can go a long way to helping you to downsize. Instead of constantly dealing with a giant pile of junk mail that sits on your desk, kitchen counter or dining room table, go completely paperless. Access all the accounts and pay bills online. Instead of buying a printed book, go for the digital version. I now have well over 200 books on my iPad.
Maximize natural lighting
One thing to consider when building or purchasing a small home, is to make sure you have plenty of windows to maximize your natural light. When I built the second cabin, I made the windows more than twice as large as the ones that were in the log cabin.This is truly helpful when the weather is bad for several days and your are trapped indoors.
In addition to natural lighting, make sure you choose lighter colors when painting the inside. This will give your small space a much more open feeling. Also, light colors tend to reflect natural light much better and will also help the place to feel much more open.
Take advantage of storage space that is under furniture.
Using furniture that has exposed legs gives you additional space that can be utilized. For example, our laundry basket sits under our table. I put a small shelf under my desk for additional storage. When the dog bed is not in use, it is pushed under the futon couch.
Take advantage of vertical spaces
You can also take full advantage of vertical spaces. For example I made our cabinets in the kitchen are extra tall for additional storage. I also made the counters in the kitchen area deeper than normal so that we would have extra space.
Take advantage of corners and low ceilings
One other thing we do it take full advantage of corners by hanging things from the ceiling or putting in extra cabinets and shelves. Both sides of our sleeping loft has ceilings that are too low to utilizing for anything so I build cabinets and are used to clothes storage. Also, instead of placing a table in the middle of the room, push it into a corner. This is what we do and the corner of the table that is next to the wall has a collection of plants.
Take a hard look at your kitchen equipment
If you are like me and you enjoy cooking, then you may have a collection of kitchen gadgets. Do you really need a rice cooker, a slow cooker, a pressure cooker, and an air fryer? Most likely not. Since our place is run completely off of solar energy, I would never consider using a slow cooker that stays on for 12 hours. Instead, I use a pressure cooker that cooks most things in less than 30 minutes. That pressure cooker can also be used to cook beans, rice, veggies, and can even be used as a canner. So, I have one piece of kitchen equipment with multiple functions. And we do no even own a microwave.
Take advantage of outside storage
One other tip that I’ve used extensively at the cabin is to take advantage of additional storage. I have a shed where I keep all of my tools and a wood shed where I store firewood. When I am living in the travel trailer, I have 3 storage boxes fit underneath the trailer. This truly helps me to take advantage of buying food a bulk from a warehouse type store.
Always keep things tidy
This probably goes without saying but when you live in a small space, you have to keep things tidy and put away. Two or three things laying around quickly turns the place into a tornado zone. So, when you pull something out to use it, then put it away.
Choose furniture that has multiple functions
Another really easy tip is to choose furniture that has multiple functions. This can be as easy a using a trunk for a coffee table that is also used for storage, a kitchen island that doubles as a dining table. Sleeper sofas and fold out desks are also highly functional options.
Get creative with kitchen storage
If you are an avid cook as I am, it may be hard to find space for all of your kitchen gadgets. But, you can also do creative things such as tilt out garbage cans, over-the-door storage racks, drawer dividers, put small storage shelves in the back splash area.
There are two things that I did in our kitchen area that helped us to maximize out space. The area over the kitchen window was too small for a cabinet so I put in the shelf. Also, the shower stall buts up next to the end of the kitchen counter. Because of the way the shower stall was shaped, when I framed it in, it left a small open pocket. Instead of framing over that, I built a small recessed shelving unit, put a door on it and it is now used as a spice rack.
Get creative with your bed
I mentioned before about using a sleeper sofa. But another idea, especially if you have children, is to use bunk beds and foldable cots for sleeping. We use folding camping cots a lot when we have guests that stay over night and it works out great.
Summary
Now to kind of summarize things here, over the last three episodes I have covered the pros and cons of living small, the things that no one tells you about living small, and now this episode that has covered tips and tricks for living in a small space. The bottom line is that this is a lifestyle choice which has many advantages and disadvantages. I have to admit though that I find it somewhat amusing that I was living in a 100 square foot cabin long before the tiny home movement became popular.
But after living in a small cabin for most of the last 25 years, I do have to admit that the art of living small and dramatically downsizing my life is what got me completely out of debt and is the very reason I now have a tremendous amount of personal freedom. I distinctly remember years ago when I was living in the log cabin I had some friends that would come up regularly. These friends of mine lived in a huge home, had 2 kids, new vehicles, and their family income was three times greater than mine. Yet, they lived pay check to pay check and wonder how it was that I was able to take so much time off.
The top fours reasons in descending order that people choose to live in a smaller home is affordability, efficiency, eco-friendliness, and minimalism. Again, I want to emphasize that the very reason I have as much personal freedom as I do is that I live a minimalistic, debt free life.
Did you know that 56% of Americans have $5,000 or less in their savings account while one third have less than $1,000. Personally, I think this is the direct result of our consumer culture and how we are convinced that more is better. Furthermore, we are influenced so strongly by advertising and convinced that we need big vehicles and big homes full of lots of stuff, while nothing could be further from the truth.
As it turns out, living on less is not only good for your bank account it is also good for the environment. You are utilizing fewer resources, producing less waste, spending less, and you will also end up with more time to spend doing the things you love. If you are truly serious about reducing your environmental impact, then consider the art of living small.
But in the end, voluntary simplicity is truly nothing new. It has in fact been practiced and encouraged for thousands of years. It is only our highly pressurized consumer culture that convinces us that we need things that do not actually bring added value to our lives.
Okay folks to start wrapping up this episode, I would like to remind you that if you enjoy the content that I have been producing, then please take the time to leave me with a review. I would greatly appreciate that. You can also subscribe to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast as well as my companion blog Off Grid Living News. Also, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or if that is a particular topic you would really like me to discuss, then you can email me at [email protected], again, that is [email protected].
To end this episode I want to leave you will a couple of things to think about.
There are two ways to be rich: One is by acquiring much, and the other is by desiring little. Jackie French Koller said that in 1948.
The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less. Socrates said that in 469 BCE.
This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.
Patrick
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Patrick
