The first Tumbleweed Tiny House model, Elm, designed in 1999

In the 1990s,  the Tumbleweed Tiny House company popularized the tiny house of 400 SF or less. Initially designed to be mobile and built on trailers, tiny houses are also installed on permanent foundations or concrete slabs. They have also been built in cohousing-like, self-governed villages and in RV parks as vacation rentals. Tiny houses and micro-apartments are inspirations for living simply starting with space we inhabit however big. What is true for tiny is likely to be true for designing and living in smaller-but-not-quite-tiny homes.

The movement has produced many excellent resources for designing and building comfortable small spaces: kits, blogs, books, websites, construction companies, and very complete and useful plans for DYI projects. These also provide information and practical advice about living this more sustainable and affordable lifestyle. The Tiny House Movement is not about living in barren or impersonal spaces. On the contrary, the attention to design and ornament has led to criticisms of being too cute to take seriously. But don’t be fooled.