Living small

Living in a small house all by myself like a hermit has always appealed to me. I believe I've done so ever since I saw trailer homes and recreational vehicle ads in old Popular Science magazines when I was small. And now with the Internet, I would pore over architecture/floor plan websites trying to pick up ideas for a dream tiny house. Then I would sketch a few floor plans on paper and then create a floor plan using my Broderbund Home Architect software. Studio-type apartments, vacation homes, one or two-bedroom carriage or "drive under" houses or else narrow lot houses were often my main inspirations.

That is, until the other day when I came upon these really cute teeny-weeny houses produced by one designer at the Tumbleweeds Tiny House Company. All have the most basic amenities: a bedroom (a cozy ventilated loft in nearly all cases), kitchen and bathroom. Many can be easily transported by pulling one along with a truck/van or would make nice backyard retreats. There are many other small house projects mentioned here but they're just not as quaint as the Tumbleweed ones.

Would I actually manage to live in one? I own quite a lot of stuff here right now but I've noticed that I can get along without most of it. In fact, I've hardly touched or used most of the things here in my bedroom except for the basics like my toiletries, beddings and clothes. I've also managed to survive in Singapore in a shared apartment where my eating/cooking stuff filled just two kitchen cabinets and I used just a fourth of refrigerator space. Everything else (aside from my clothes and toiletries) was books and papers (accumulated because of my studies/research). So, I think I'd be totally contented living in a Tumbleweed tiny house as long as there's room for my books, piano books/pieces, audio CD collection, laptop, TV, digital camera and Yamaha P-80 keyboard. Hmm... maybe a not-so-tiny tiny house.