What makes tiny homes special?

They are the support animal of homes. If you’ve ever seen someone’s tour through their tiny home, chances are, you noticed something special – tiny home dwellers have a unique and wonderful relationship with their home that shines through in everything they say.

While tiny homes are undeniably cute and can make very good financial and practical sense, it’s the enthusiasm of their owners that gives them the magical aura and popularity that they enjoy. 

At first glance, there is an almost monastic level of discipline required to maintain sanity in such a small space. Yet, tiny home owners are able to achieve not only sanity, but bliss in their adorable dwellings. What is it about this lifestyle that seems to encourage mindfulness, gratitude, and meaning?

No one stumbles into a tiny home

OK, someone might stumble over one. Haha, sorry about the dad joke. But seriously, tiny homes are still quite rare, especially in Canada. 

Anyone buying or building a tiny home in Canada is making a very considered choice, some would say a rebellious one. They are choosing a lifestyle that rejects some of the mainstream values of accumulating possessions and moving into progressively bigger houses. In fact, the decision to move into a tiny home usually involves getting rid of a lot of stuff. It’s a big step.

Photo: Seller

Tiny home living is based on personal values

Photo by Nick Martin on Unsplash

Speaking of values and big steps… Choosing to live in a tiny home is typically supported by very strong personal values, such as financial freedom and the lifestyle freedom that comes with it, a minimal ecological footprint, and anti-consumerism. 

The tiny home lifestyle is a way to live the values every day. Unlike a standard house, the tiny home is infused with meaning about the owner’s values and a sense of purpose. 

The tiny home building process puts you on a pedestal

Imagine you get to create a home, designed just for you, with everything you love, considering every little move you make in your everyday life. The perfect spot to make your tea, the perfect spot to watch the sunbeam reach across the room in the morning. Now, imagine you are not a billionaire hiring an architect to design your uniquely perfect home.

From what we can see, only billionaires and tiny home dwellers get to really choose their home. Many people come to tiny homes after a big change in their life, like a separation or an illness. Many people come because they are unsatisfied with the choices that life offers them – whether in trying to buy their first home, or working every hour of every day to try to afford the one they currently own.

Tiny homes bring a whole new set of choices to people who may not have been asked, “what do you want?” in a really, really long time.

Photo: Minimaliste

Every little detail is considered and purposeful

Photo: Robert

Moving into a tiny home involves a careful consideration and parsing of each detail in the owner’s life, involving trade-offs like, “If we don’t need a TV, we can have a dining table. If we cut our wardrobe in half, we can get a full bathtub.” Living in conventional homes, we are rarely faced with choices quite as dramatic and therefore are rarely afforded the opportunity to evaluate what really matters to us. 

While we go through this experience of evaluating every activity and every possession we want to bring to the tiny house, the tiny house itself is going through a similar process. The building journey of a tiny home involves careful planning of every square inch of space. Every hook, handle, shelf, drawer, and nook have to be tightly matched to the owner’s needs. 

The relationship between home and owner is filled with meaning

Photo: Artelle Tiny Homes

Many people name their tiny homes and that says a lot. The journey towards owning the tiny home is so meaningful and the resulting home so customized to the owner in every dimension, detail, and finishing touch, that the tiny home becomes a kind of sidekick to its owner. 

Like a “support animal”, the home is inseparable from its “person” and they make up a large part of each other’s identity. More than a standard-built conventional home, the tiny home can feel like a safe personal cocoon, a shelter against the elements of nature and also the elements of life.