I can't believe no one else has commented. I like old, traditional houses, so those aren't my cup of tea, but they are thought-provoking and well photographed. Does the book show floor plans or interiors? There might be some good ideas for 'living small'.

I haven't commented either because I really don't like those types of "Tiny Houses". I love my Small House. Tiny living seems to be trendy (and the trend is about over as far as I'm concerned) and attempts to prove a point in too much of an extreme way...in my opinion.

No offense Dilly Dally. Nothing meant toward you or your link.

No problem! I hope people aren't afraid to say "I hate it". It all up for discussion.

The simple, clean lined tiny home, with a well conceived floorplan and storage, are my fantasy dream home. I would love to live in a little tiny dome home with enough land around it for a flower and vegetable garden. I am a modernist at heart. I titled the thread "Eye Candy" as I do realize that some of the ones in the slideshow where not practical for anything but vacation living.

My current home is a tiny, post war bungalow 1000sq/ft. I hate how they tried to make it styled like a larger home. What's up with a 45x46" tiled "foyer". Wasted space. Why have a room so tiny that it serves no purpose other than having a door swing into it? A 6x8' dining room? Why bother? The place already has an eat-in kitchen and the minuscule dining room could not hold a decent dinner party. Its just a room to walk through to get to the living room or the hallway. I could go on and on about the horrid design of the place.

Thanks for responding to the thread though.

That does seem to be a design flaw in smaller houses. I've gone bleary-eyed searching the net for a small house design for empty-nesters. I don't need or want 4 bedrooms crammed into a 1200 sq ft house! My own design, by contrast only has one real bedroom, and the kitchen and dining area are all one large room. It is around 1200 sq ft. I realize it's probably a poor design for resale, but I don't care. There will be 'bonus space' in the basement, and there may be a room upstairs, finances permitting, so it's an easily expandable design, but I'll only be heating (and paying taxes) on the main floor.

dilly dally, you are so right and it isn't just limited to older homes. I've been indulging in HGTV while on vacation this week, and I keep seeing small 2 bedroom homes and condos being 'designed' and staged to have an eat-in kitchen, breakfast bar, and dining room all within 15 feet of each other! They must just be symbolic of "more space", without actually adding any functionality. We've got six people in our family and one table to sit and eat at, and it works just fine, somehow.

My husband and I always look at tiny houses and wonder how we could make them work. We don't know if we could, but I liked seeing the pictures from the new book - thanks!
Our home is 480 square feet. It seems just right. Here are some pictures if you're interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: our small - but by no means tiny - home

Cool looking place Katie. Good job! Just out of curiousity and becasue I have never been overseas and have no frame of reference, how does your apartment compare with your neighbors? Are they the same size? Are they similarly tidy? How many people (per unit) usually live in that size space in your area? I saw a study recently that said the average size of a new home in the US at the time of this study was about 2100 sf while in the UK at the same time it was 850 sf.

I agree with you Dilly. We should be free to disagree. There is a size and shape for everyone.

I too dream of a day when I can start from scratch and build my perfect little nest. I'm in a 1950's 3/1 at about 1000 sf and it's okay but has many flaws and could use a total re-do. However, the neighborhood won't support the investment.

We do have three local builders experimenting with smaller, detached homes. One builder is building 850 sf for $85,000. The only problem I see is like Dilly described, this builder is dividing that small space into a 3 bedroom home. I don't see that as practical. One or even two bedrooms maybe, but three?

I haven't commented because I've been busy and then on vacation. I like to look but I can't imagine living in anything that small. I totally agree about the wasted space in small houses that are styled after large ones. We have a larger entry but it is totally wasted space. My next house will be smaller than this one, but energy efficient and more functional.

katie I loved looking around your site. We live in a 300sqft house, so your apartment is bigger than our place LOL. I could live with 480 sqft and make it comfortable so i can really understand when you say "just right", it really is amazing what you can do with a small space but it needs to be done well to work I think.

"I saw a study recently that said the average size of a new home in the US at the time of this study was about 2100 sf while in the UK at the same time it was 850 sf."

this is the first time Ive seen anyone make this type of comment, and it's really insightful. in the years Ive been reading gardenweb Ive just been blown away by the size of people's houses, it took me a while to realise these aren't mansions but regular houses in the US.

Here in oz, a 600 sqft house would be considered a small house although very liveable, but a 1200 sqft or more would be considered a large house here, whereas even on this forum people consider that a small house so there's definitely a different perception of small IMO.

Our next house very likely will be a one bedroom- built and designed by me, however. Some people do use all four burners at once- me, for instance. My wife and I are both good cooks, and it is an important hobby to us. Our kitchen will have two sinks as well. On the other hand, I know people that could get by just fine with a microwave and a coffee pot.

I realize the house I'm designing won't have strong appeal for resale, and I don't care. I plan to live out my days there, and our investment will be small, since I'm going to do most of it myself. We also won't have a mortgage, so I don't have to worry about ever being 'underwater' in the event of another financial disaster (personal or world wide).

We've agonized about having enough room for entertaining, and final realized that we rarely do entertain, and it's always very small groups. Most of our company is family, and, sadly, many of them have passed away, so the get-togethers are getting smaller and smaller. We had one big party years ago, and we entertained 25 people in our 800 sq ft house. There were separate parties going on in the living room, kitchen, porch, and garage!

many years ago, 1970's there was a trend toward really tiny homes..i mean really really tiny homes..people would put in for very little money..they might have been great but they were never really nice looking or comfortable.

i've seen some beautiful tiny tiny homes..but 9 times out of 10 they were traditional.

The remind me of tree houses or club houses for adults. I'm attracted to the idea of living in one for a getaway----I don't know how I'd fare long term. Maybe when I'm older and living alone. Less is more...

My sister has a 700 sq ft co-op in NYC, and it's virtually empty. As she says, "I'm not a collector of things." She has just enough furniture to get by, and that's it. I have way too much stuff to live that way.

I just sold a 750 sq. ft. house a year ago. I bought it because it was next door to my mother's home and since the little house had fallen into disrepair, was afraid that it would be snatched up by an absentee landlord and rented out to a problem.

It had a nice, full, dry basement with high ceilings, and that was its saving grace. It was well over a hundred years old, and whomever designed the floor plan had their head on straight. Small homes are like the traditional mobile home, they're most comfortable when forethought is put into making the best use of space. Better to have fewer bedrooms, an eat-in kitchen, open arches than trying to squeeze an expected number of rooms in by making them tiny where standard size furniture doesn't even fit.

My daughter and I did all the clean-up and repairs ourselves. It was a joy to be able to work in a scale where scaffolding wasn't necessary, and we could pick out higher end material since we didn't need large amounts of it. I didn't have any problems selling it, either because it was sane size for a single person, a newly married couple with no children or one child, or an empty nester. I am flabberghasted when I watch HGTV and see a couple about to be married telling a realtor they 'NEED' five bedrooms or making snide remarks about a two hundred square foot kitchen being so small.

My DD and husband lived there several years after having moved here from a semi-detached in the U.K. Like said, it was a comparable size to their home in england and they seemed to be comfortable in it.

" For instance if one lives alone or as part of a couple, you do not really need a four burner cooktop."

that'd be me I've lived for yrs w/ a hot plate and counter size oven and a mw. I know i don't need a 4 burner stove but it's cheaper to get that w/oven than to get a 2 burner cooktop and separate oven so it's probably what i'll do. unless i find a great bargain on cooktop and oven!

i'd really be living large to use 2 burners at one time - lol!

I think those little homes would be great for a wkend home or even me w/o my 'stuff' and dogs!

i have too much stuff. I'm in about 750 sqft now and can't move because of 'stuff', my dog often has to walk backwards and i have stuff in storage yet. i'll soon be moving to about 1400 sq ft - 4 bdrm/2 baths. BUT, only 1 bedroom will be a bedroom - mine. the other 3 are small and will have other uses like crafts/exerciser and storage. one will be desk, bookshelves, a chair or 2 and file cabinet and possible dog room. and one is straight across the back hall from my kitchen (which is all open on that side) so I'm knocking out that wall to make it open to my kitchen. it'll be my tv/computer room. so it'll all be in use of some kind. i decided recently that it's been so long since I had a stay over guest I wouldn't even put up the spare room bed etc. anyone stays over they can sleep on the sofa!
and I want room to keep my dogs separate at times.

I'm hoping it'll be easier to keep clean when there is a place to put everything. at least closets to stuff things...

katie - your place is lovely! and i love the 'man cave'. great way to separate.

desertsteph, I'm living in a 4K square foot house now, and I can tell you from experience, that the 'stuff' expands magically to fill the rooms. It expands or breeds or something. My rooms are still filled with stuff. LOLOL.