In 2014, the “tiny house” trend swept the nation’s DIY, green living, and hipster communities, even inspiring a reality show called “Tiny House Nation.” And if you were a green living, Doing-It-Yourself hipster, the tiny house trend was like a dream house come true.
Generally, a tiny house is defined as a single-unit family home less than 1,000 square feet, often much less. While some people claimed that so-called tiny houses were actually just really fancy mobile homes for hipsters, proponents touted this trend as the next big thing in green living.
So what’s it like to live in a house the size of most people’s garages and sheds? In a development that should surprise absolutely no one, it’s actually not that great. In fact, many of the individuals and couples living in these overstuffed garages and sheds barely lasted a year before fleeing to traditional, people-sized homes.
Business Insider tracked down five tiny home dwellers this year, and found that none of them were still living in their tiny homes. Their houses ranged from Amish shed-style buildings to custom made “mini-mansions” with luxury amenities and appliances. Others used custom shed designs to construct their own tiny home. What do all of them have in common? They hated their tiny home.
“The house just became this thing that we were [literally] hauling from place to place,” said frustrated tiny home owner Collin Gibson.
He and his wife’s cramped living space would look familiar to anyone who’s seen a wooden Amish built shed or rustic-style Amish buildings. But when the Gibson’s found out they were going to have a baby, they suddenly had an epiphany: living in a shed is a terrible idea!
Then there’s husband and wife team Kristin Moeller and David Cottrell, who were actually featured on the TV show “Tiny Home Nation.” They decided to make their tiny dream home in a remote mountain town, but their tiny home came at a huge cost. In total, they ended up paying more than $250,000 to build a practically unlivable miniature home.
So while we would certainly recommend picking up garages and sheds to use as, well, garages and sheds, don’t try moving in your wife.
