little house

I've just recently finished reading this quite excellent book. 

In fact, very excellent. You should go and borrow it from your local library, and read it. If you're inclined that way. 

It's Little House on a Small Planet. And, it's about exactly what it sounds like it's about. About the small house movement, co-housing, community living.....

In reality, people have been living in small houses since house began. In caves and under ferns or bamboo or leaves to keep off the weather and protect from the animals. And on this small planet of ours, many many people still do live in little houses. People share one room with extended families - living, cooking, sleeping altogether.

I imagine that these people are happier and more content than anyone who lives in a big house can ever be. Can a mansion bring you happiness?

There are endless reasons why small houses are ideal living. Let's start at one that makes a difference to your daily routines - less rooms means less cleaning; who wants to clean 3+ bathrooms, 5 bedrooms, a formal living / dining room, and a family room every week. Think about all the extra time you'd have if there was only one bathroom, 2-3 smallish bedrooms, and one beautiful living / dining space. IN my experience, with kids, it doesn't matter how much space they have - they keep on making it messy; they'll fill one room, then move to the next. And, they also will not stay in their own rooms, but will hover around you, under your feet, on top of you. 

Yes, okay - my kids are still young, and you may be right in thinking that as they get older they'll want the space of their own. But I didn't; as teenagers my siblings and I did our homework in the lounge room {we didn't have a dining table to sit at - being floor livers}, around the family. Part of family life.

Other reasons, which are more thoughtfully environment and financial are the heating and cooling costs associated with a larger or smaller home. To air condition a big house costs a lot - a lot to your pocket, but more importantly, a lot to the environment. Mostly you're cooling rooms that you don't actually spend much time in. {But the workings of A/C mean that you need to keep it on to regulate the temperature, in case you want to walk into the room for a few minutes}.

Heating costs are the same. It's so easy to turn on your gas or electric heater and crank it up to warm the whole house, isn't it. And the electricity/gas bill comes and you get a bit of a shock - but pay it anyway, and forget come next Winter. {Again, I think I barely need to mention the environmental costs, and I don't figures to quote to you anyway. Common sense tells me that it's too much}.

Then there's the cost of actually building your home - regardless of if you build it yourself, pay someone to build it, or buy an old home already built a long time ago {you'll want to renovate that one, won't you}. The materials that go into building large houses can be expensive and costly to the environment, not to mention your mortgage. {Do you know what mortgage means - it's from old French & English, and means 'death pledge'. Lovely, hey!}. And then there's the extra furnishings you need to make all those rooms look like a proper home. 

Also, bigger houses means you have less land around you. Less earth and soil under your toes. Less space to plant trees or veges, or sit in the sun, or run around exploring with your children. 

Little House on a Small Planet is a book that shares stories with people who live in some of the smallest homes (in the USA). It's not a design book, or an architecture book, rather a viewpoint into how you can live, how you can change your life (your current home or your future home) to learn to live and love a small home.
{The one disappointing thing about the book is that all the zoning and planning rules are for USA, and don't apply to Australia - so other research material is necessary; my dad, I'm suspecting!!}.

It's not all touchy feely; it also has many interesting and eye-opening facts and figures and information. But it's the families and the stories that I loved the most. The ideas and ideals; but the ease with which it is a natural way of living - no heroics, just life.

Yesterday we looked at some land {and I left my camera in the car, so no photos or the beautiful trees and moss and fairy homes}. Perhaps it's our land. We are still talking and thinking and deciding and planning. So, of course, I am back to the drawing and planning of our home. Thinking of the spaces we need - what we really need, not what we might want. How do we use our space, can we use the same space for different things. 

We are lucky to live in a part of this Earth where the Winters are fairly mild, and outdoor living happens for most of the year. So vast open verandahs, and easy constant access to outside is essential, practical, expected. A fireplace for those few cold Winter months, where everyone settles in one room to keep warm, and huddles under the blankets and jumpers instead of "turning up the heat".

I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings on the small house. How big is your home, how do you use your space, does your home have any exciting design features, how do you feel your family would go living in a small house (less than 100metres square, I think).

Just a few other small house reading ::
Small Home Style
Cohousing, Small Home Movement
Tiny House Blog
House of Fallen Timbers

*images are, from top - bottom: realestate.com.au; little house on a small planet (middle two b/w images); revelations architect EDGE house (bottom two).