Small Living

[flyfishnevada]

We saw a video today on You Tube about a guy that lives in a house that is less than 100 square feet. He has for 12 years and now designs and build small homes for others. Search for tumbleweed houses on YT.

It got us to talking about our future plans and downsizing and all that. Our plan (today) is when the kids move on to college and such we get a motorhome and see the country and take the opportunity to travel internationally while we don't have a stick house and a stick house mortgage. We can afford a mortgage or we can afford to take a lot of long trips to Europe, Australia and Asia, but likely not both at the same time. And why would we want to?

We also talked about park models, condo and such. We both agreed 100 square feet is a little small, but that an 800 sf motorhome or 1000 sf condo would do. Our current travel trailer goes about 400 sf and that would be tough for two of us, storage being the biggest issue. How small a house could you live in? Especially, if it meant FIRE instead of working. Does anyone live in something really small now? Just an interesting idea and I was getting sick of the DVD and book threads

 

[FIREd]

I lived for 4 year in a 152 sq. ft. apartment in France. It was just fine for me. I had a small hallway (with a coat closet), a bathroom (with sink, toilet and shower), a kitchenette (with sink, fridge, stove, toaster oven, and a small table and chairs for 2) and a small living room with enough room for a sofa-bed, coffee table, bookshelves and a large desk. I liked it a lot and would consider living in such small space if I was single again. The only "extra" I would require this time around would be a small washer and dryer (probably the stackable kind to keep the square footage down).

 

[bbbamI]

I guess the smallest amount of space I'd need if I were very naughty would be a jail cell.

Otherwise, at least 600 sq ft. Add another person and the sq ft would need to double.

 

[youbet]

I lived for 4 year in a 152 sq. ft. apartment in France. It was just fine for me. I had a small hallway (with a coat closet), a bathroom (with sink, toilet and shower), a kitchenette (with sink, fridge, stove, toaster oven, and a small table and chairs for 2) and a small living room with enough room for a sofa-bed, coffee table, bookshelves and a large desk. I liked it a lot and would consider living in such small space if I was single again. The only "extra" I would require this time around would be a small washer and dryer (probably the stackable kind to keep the square footage down).

Wow! That sounds like a lot of stuff for 152 sq ft. Back in my MegaCorp days, I was in a 10 x 15 office and all it held was a L shaped desk, a credenza, my chair and 4 guest chairs. Oh yeah, there was a book case too. I can't imagine fitting a bath, kitchenette, living room, etc in there.

Efficiency apartments in the Chicago area have similar features to what you describe but they are in the 300 - 400 sq ft range.

Typo?

 

[FIREd]

Wow! That sounds like a lot of stuff for 152 sq ft. Back in my MegaCorp days, I was in a 10 x 15 office and all it held was a L shaped desk, a credenza, my chair and 4 guest chairs. Oh yeah, there was a book case too. I can't imagine fitting a bath, kitchenette, living room, etc in there.

Efficiency apartments in the Chicago area have similar features to what you describe but they are in the 400 sq ft range.

Typo?

It's not a typo. In my current house, the library is about 190 sq. ft. and it is definitely larger than my entire apartment used to be. I am certain I could fit everything I described above in my library with room to spare.

Of course, you have to keep in mind that my furnishing was scaled to fit European-size apartments (IKEA stuff mostly). My kitchen table for example was at the most 2ft x 2ft. The table and chairs could be folded to conserve space. The kitchenette looked like what you would find in a class B RV: a small European fridge (under the counter with small freezer) with a 2-burner stove on top. Virtually no counter space (I used to kitchen table for prepping). The bathroom was very compact as well, 20 sq. ft. at the most. Come to think of it, it was like living in an RV.

Edit: it looks like my old apartment is now renting for 350 euros per month!

 

[youbet]

my furnishing was scaled to fit European-size apartments ........... The kitchenette looked like what you would find in a class B RV........ The bathroom was very compact as well, 20 sq. ft. at the most.

Thanks for the explanation. A very impressive use of space to say the least.

 

[haha]

My apartment is 500 sqft, and I have a pretty good sized storeroom in the basement, as well as a shared bike room for my bicycle. My storeroom is about 30 sqft I think.

My kitchen is large enough, but the fridge is not full size- it isn't one of those tiny hotel fridges, just a bit smaller in all dimensions than a normal refrigerator. I would do better with a larger one. Socially, my current apartment is fine for a cocktail party, but the LR is pretty small if I am going to feed 6 or more people.

I get by, but if I buy something it will be larger-at least 650 and maybe bigger.

I think those tiny bungalows are .

Ha

 

[Westernskies]

If I had to live in >1000ft2 to ER, I'd probably work a bit longer...at 100ft2, a lot longer. But, maybe that's just me...to each his own.

 

[FIREd]

I guess it depends what you are used to. Until I moved to the US, I had never lived in a dwelling larger than 1,000 sq.ft. I would think that the average European condo is somewhere around 500-700 sq. ft. My mom lives in what is considered a large condo and hers barely tops 900 sq. ft. When my European relatives learned that we were buying a house with 2,500 sq. ft. of living space, they were picturing Southfork in their minds!

 

[haha]

You can get a lot of sqft for your money in the burbs, fewer in a nice building in the city center in an expensive city. It's a matter of taste. I'm not certain, but I would think that 500 sqft in midtown Manhatten in a non RC building might take $3500 or more.

Ha

 

[aaronc879]

My current condo is 860 sqft and I don't use half of it. I really want out of this condo and may take a look at a house closer to work that is 462 sqft. That doesn't include a small attached garage or the basement. Should be more than big enough for me.

 

[W2R]

Even at this stage in life I would be perfectly fine with 600 square feet, like BbbamI suggested, or 500 square feet plus storage downstairs, such as Ha described. About 400 square feet to live in, plus 60 square feet for a bathroom, and the rest would be closet/storage space.

This is assuming that I don't need square footage as a sound buffer between me and the neighbors, a huge and unwarranted assumption.

When I was younger, it was easy to live in much less space but then I didn't have much at that age and spent most of my time away, either working or out having fun.

 

[Major Tom]

When I bought my first house, I moved from a small studio into a 1500 sq ft 3 bedroom house. It looked empty, and I didn't know what to do with all the space. In the next few years, I acquired all kinds of stuff to fill the space, and have spent the years since I sold it trying to get rid of things so I can move into successively smaller places. I'm currently living very comfortably in a 300 sq ft room, am looking around for slightly smaller and cheaper digs, and am fervently getting rid of still more stuff.

One advantage of the room I'm in now is that it has 10 ft high ceilings, giving me lots of room for shelving up near the ceiling.

I think I could live pretty comfortably in a 200 sq foot living space - especially if it had a shared kitchen and/or bathroom.

 

[Cattusbabe]

I saw that video and said to each his own. That would drive me bonkers. Can't live closed in like that. DH and I rattle around in 3300sq ft. I lived here alone for many years before I married. Granted we do not use all the space.......yet, but it was cheap when I bought it in 1992 and is cheap to maintain.
My dream home would have been a loft with loads of floor to ceiling windows. This home has high ceilings and tons of windows and I do not feel closed in here.

 

[brewer12345]

Well, the 4 of us and two dogs just spent 3 days in 7X16 feet, and we plan on doing so for an 8 day stretch next month. How is that for small?

Our condo was about 750 sq ft with some extra storage space. It was perfectly fine space wise. When we moved into our 1950 sq ft house BC (before children) there were rooms we did not go into for weeks at a time. I've little doubt that we will eventually downsize, but my youngest is 4 so it will be a while.

 

[NW-Bound]

We also talked about park models, condo and such. We both agreed 100 square feet is a little small, but that an 800 sf motorhome or 1000 sf condo would do. Our current travel trailer goes about 400 sf and that would be tough for two of us, storage being the biggest issue.

I read that RVs are limited to 8'6" in width and 41' in length. This works out to less than 350 sf, not including wall thickness. No doubt, slide-outs would gain some square footage, but it is still not that much. I have read of double-decker class As, but my, that's more expensive than most homes!

Anyway, for most couples, a space of around 1000 sf would be sufficient I think. We have way too much space now, but selling and moving is a chore we cannot contemplate in the foreseeable future.

 

[Walt34]

If I was single I could do it but I doubt DW would have the patience. But wow, I'd have to get rid of a lot of stuff! Come to think of it, a lot of that is tools I use to maintain the house. And since I'm no longer building big R/C airplanes I wouldn't want a big workshop either.

So if I didn't have much maintenance to do I wouldn't need the tools....

But I'd still want a large shed to keep the boat, motorcycle, etc. in, and a garage makes a huge difference in how long a car lasts.

 

[NW-Bound]

...I'd have to get rid of a lot of stuff! Come to think of it, a lot of that is tools I use to maintain the house...

Tell me about it. Stuff begets stuff. Sigh...

 

[RonBoyd]

Tell me about it. Stuff begets stuff. Sigh...

Here it is again:

YouTube - George Carlin Talks About "Stuff"

 

[NW-Bound]

"That's all your house is: a pile of stuff with a cover on it" - George Carlin.

My cover had a leak! In another thread, I have described the ordeal we went through recently because of it, with the drywall repair in addition to the roof.

That used RV that I bought, I discovered it also had a leak and I had to fix it. This has also been described here.

That's it! Covers are overrated. I am moving to a place where all one needs is a hammock strung between two coconut trees. The Puget Sound is out!

 

[audreyh1]

We also talked about park models, condo and such. We both agreed 100 square feet is a little small, but that an 800 sf motorhome or 1000 sf condo would do. Our current travel trailer goes about 400 sf and that would be tough for two of us, storage being the biggest issue. How small a house could you live in? Especially, if it meant FIRE instead of working. Does anyone live in something really small now? Just an interesting idea and I was getting sick of the DVD and book threads

What do you mean 800sf motorhome? Ours is way less than 400sf - probably closer to 300. I KNOW because our new house is 1100sf, and it definitely has at least 3x the space compared to our motorhome, if not 4x.

Anyway - 300sf for 2 people - 5 years - no problem for us!

1100sf seems like a castle.....

Audrey

 

[audreyh1]

I read that RVs are limited to 8'6" in width and 41' in length. This works out to less than 350 sf, not including wall thickness. No doubt, slide-outs would gain some square footage, but it is still not that much. I have read of double-decker class As, but my, that's more expensive than most homes!

Yes, I think our inside dimensions are closer to 8' by 35' and only two shallow slides that are full of closets/cabinets and add little to the living space. So for our 37" motorhome, I think you are looking at like 280sf living area which still includes internal walls, etc.

I have read several times that RVs are limited to 400sf total.

Audrey

 

[REWahoo]

What do you mean 800sf motorhome? Ours is way less than 400sf - probably closer to 300.

Yep. Our MH is 8' x 40', which yields 320 sf. The two slides add another 60 sf for a total of 380.

As Audrey points out, actual living space is substantially less than that.

 

[REWahoo]

I read that RVs are limited to 8'6" in width and 41' in length.

I think the maximum length is 45 feet - at least in the sampling of states I looked at here. Not a lot of 45s on the road but 42' models are available from several different manufacturers.

 

[RonBoyd]

To test that theory, you should ask Jeff Probst for a slot on "Survivor." I would enjoy hearing about it.