How Small/Simple Can You Go?
By Christa TerryEvery now and then I run across something like this, the story of a man living simply in a clever dwelling of only 258 square feet. How’s it possible? A transformer-like space with many of the necessities of daily living hidden away in the walls, only coming out as needed. Like the kitchen. And the bed. It’s small, but would you call it simple? That small space has been optimized for a serviceable amount of *stuff*. Oh, and style, too.
Simple living or simply living?
But what about super SIMPLE living? A bedroom, sans accessories, with a wee kitchen. The basics, without a lot of style. A home base without most of the comforts of home… I could swing living in Christian Schallert’s pad, provided I was single. But could I embrace the extremes of simple living, a la this book? I don’t really know – part of what keeps me sane is surrounding myself with beauty and fun. Not expensive beauty and fun, or new fun and old beauty (which tends to be the more expensive sort). But beauty and fun, nonetheless. How about you? Could you go small AND simple?
June 9th, 2011 at 10:09 am
That apartment is fantastic! I’m always intrigued by this sort of thing — have you seen the TinyHouse products? I’d love to believe that I could live that simply, and it’s very appealing….but I’d almost want to figure out a way to do a trial run first, to make sure it wouldn’t drive me nuts to be in such a small space….
June 9th, 2011 at 11:21 am
I have! And I so want one for a workspace in my backyard because they are just fantastic! I think that if The Beard and I didn’t have a kid and five cats, we could do a tiny house. Provided we got out of the house often enough!
June 12th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
I couldn’t do it. I’d feel too confined. Also I like an occasional “change of scenery,” so I don’t even like open floor plans. (I like to be able to sit in the living room, and when I get bored of that, I move to the dining room, and then to the spare room, etc. What would I do in a teeny one-room tiny house? I guess I could just rotate my chair to face different directions, but I don’t know.)
June 13th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
I think a lot of the people who live in tiny spaces, marvel, must spend a lot of time NOT in those tiny spaces. Like they’re great for extreme social butterflies, who are clubbing until they collapse, go to work in the a.m., then are out of the house until the next collapse. Crash pad people.