5 Perks of Living Little

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Unexpected Benefits of Tiny House Living

While I don’t really consider myself to be a member of the tiny house movement, our family does happen to live in a pretty small space.  We were going for the Alaskan cabin experience, which usually means small. So we get to enjoy some unlooked-for benefits of tiny house living without even trying!

The 576-square foot cabin we’re renting is a good size for our family at this point, but as kids get bigger (and possibly more numerous), private bedrooms would be appreciated!

That’s a ways down the road, however, and for now we are perfectly satisfied with our 2-room place.  I am particularly excited that one of the two rooms is a bathroom with running water, which is a huge improvement on our last cabin, if you ask me!

Dry cabin living requires a lot more effort for basic things like bathing, washing dishes, and doing laundry. In fact, it can seem like those tasks make up your entire life. It was rewarding, but I’m not sure I would happily return to a house without plumbing.

Anyway, as I said before, we are saving up to buy a place with actual bedrooms. But I really do like the idea—and the actual experience—of living in a small space.  Here are a few of the benefits of tiny house living:

1. It brings your family closer—literally!

This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at what a positive difference it can make in family dynamics. If you have the option of shutting a door, you can isolate yourself from others even within your own house. If not, you’re forced to learn how to get along with those closest to you. It’s amazing how much your sense of family unity grows merely as a result of being in close proximity to one another. Even my husband commented on the difference after staying in a “normal-size” house for a few days: he said it’s too easy to lose people in a house that size. Being an introvert myself, it took me a bit longer to appreciate the constant company, but I do now see the value of it for family relationships.

2. It keeps you from accumulating too much stuff.

If you don’t enjoy wading through a morass of belongings on your way to bed, you simply live with less stuff. While this can be true for any size of home, a smaller space inevitably means less storage space—and believe me, you realize this quickly if you’re transitioning to a smaller home than you lived in previously! Nobody wants to live with cardboard boxes stacked against every wall, and that eyesore can be a wonderful incentive to declutter your life. Furthermore, it’s easy to refrain from buying unnecessary stuff if you know you don’t have anywhere to put it! Or to politely decline gifts from well-meaning relatives and friends. If they’ve seen your small house, they should understand.

3. It makes you appreciate what you do have.

This one goes along with the previous reason. If you don’t have a lot of storage space, you begin to realize which items are more important or useful than others. When you realize this, you appreciate the really useful items more. To give you a small example, we own one plastic sippy cup.  Our toddler loves it. That’s HIS cup. If he had three to choose from, none of them would be as special as this one.  Of course, this concept applies to more than just dishes.  Kitchen appliances, bedding, books, music, craft supplies, holiday decorations… the list goes on and on.  We only have so much space, and sometime it’s hard to let go of things, but it is very freeing when you no longer feel stifled by all of your stuff!

4. It encourages you to spend more time outside.

Okay, so this depends to some extent on what type of area you live in: urban, suburban, or rural. We’re lucky enough to have several acres of woods around our cabin, and a decent neighborhood to walk through. However, I’d wager that even if you live smack-dab in the middle of a city, a small apartment would still be an incentive to get out more.  Remember what I said about a small space meaning constant company?  As a mother and an introvert, I find it quite a relief to send that “constant company” outside when it gets too loud.  I also appreciate my daily walks—both for the exercise and for the chance to clear my mind. Fresh air does wonders for mind and body alike!

5. When you lose something, there aren’t too many places for it to hide! 

I don’t know how many times we’ve turned the house topsy-turvy looking for car keys, backpacking gear, a can of clams… The point is, it doesn’t take very long to thoroughly search our house and find what we’re looking for.  There are only so many pieces of furniture to look underneath, and only one closet to ransack.

(By the way, having closet space at all is a huge benefit! Remember this when you’re looking at different tiny houses or cabins. You don’t realize what a difference it makes until you have to hang your clothes on a rack next to your bed!)

I remember when I was growing up, things would just go missing and never be found again—or at least not until months or years later.  That doesn’t happen in our tiny cabin!  (Except with socks, occasionally…) This is one perk that may sound funny, but really comes in handy.

I could go on, but I think those are the main things I’ve come to appreciate about our small-scale abodes over the last 2+ years.

What about you? What makes you excited about living little? Have you learned any lessons along the way? Leave a comment below! I would love to hear from you!

For more on simple living, check out this post on making a simple meal plan!