Brainwashing

What I can't understand is how they think a teensy place will mean less maintenance. Anyone who has lived in a small apartment knows that it is just as much dirt, just concentrated in a smaller space, requiring more frequent cleaning. Also, not having adequate storage space is maddening. You spend so much time trying to cull your possessions and find spots to stash things. The closets they show in these places are jokes.

I really enjoy these tiny house shows, in the same way I like watching any given train wreck on TV.

Between the over-the-top over-enthusiastic hosts and the constant claims that this is a "movement" and the "next big thing", it all smacks of cheap propaganda. The show's narrative is that you won't be happy if you aren't downsizing and that you're more "free" if you're living in a small space.

It doesn't help that many of these people aren't living in these things more than part time as a second home or weekend getaway. A number of them have mentioned having storage lockers elsewhere. How is that downsizing if you're just piling your stuff in a place you might not go to more than a few times a year?


With some of these places "freedom" means:
-You can't actually host any number of people over at your house, no matter what some episodes claim is possible. It is hard enough to have more than 4 guests in the house my fiance and I live in, and it's a small duplex.
-Absolutely no privacy, especially for people with children that will quickly outgrow their 6x7 jail cell room they have to share with their sibling(s).
-Enjoy pooping in sawdust.
-If you're lucky enough to not have to have a composting toilet, you'll have to find a place to either travel to often dump *your* waste otherwise you have to find a place to permanently park it that has electricity, water and perhaps gas/propane hookups. Basically, you're going to be living in a campground or a trailer park.
-Enjoy wearing the same 3 sets of clothes. Also, enjoy having to drive some place to clean them or enjoy learning to wash your clothes by hand from now on!


These people could save a lot of money and just get a modular/trailer home that costs less than 6k. As well made? Perhaps not, but they at least provide enough space for normal humans.

No, not the mind probe!

I get a kick out of these shows. My first thought was the same as someone wrote above, why not just buy a cheap small trailer? I suppose they don't because there's a social stigma associated with living in a trailer whereas they buy a much more expensive "tiny house" and it's cool.

What really bothers me about these shows is how many people are willing to put their very small children in lofts that must be reached by ladders. Some don't even have railings. That's just an accident waiting to happen.

I see this movement as being a push back toward the McMansions of the last decade or so. That's not such a bad thing. It's just that I think some are going a little overboard thinking they can go from a spacious home to a tiny space and be happy. It's the old pendulum theory at work. It would be good to see follow-up shows in a year or two to see how many remain in the really tiny homes.

I guess it depends on why you're watching the show. I have no interest in one of these homes. BUT, I am trying to get rid of stuff that I really don't use, but can't seem to let go of. I am also interested in finding innovative storage and re-purposing.

Sprinkled in among the hype, I have found many useful tips, and that Zach is simply a marvel of ingenuity and innovation.



"Arguing with idiots is like trying to play chess with a pigeon..."