I’m often asked why I want to live in a tiny house, and it’s a completely understandable question, because it’s still quite an unusual way of living (which is a mystery to me!). I often come up with new answers (because there are endless reasons why everyone should live in a tiny house on wheels), but the answers usually fall into four categories that I will go through here. Hopefully, some of this can inspire you who are sitting at home in your expensive, tax-filled house with a long repayment period, to think a little outside the box.
Like a really famous, strong and clever woman once said:
Without positive expectations for an action, no one would have bothered to do anything.
Irene Løvlie (f. 27.05.1988)
I think it will be an indescribable feeling to live in a home that you have designed 100% yourself. And I can’t wait to see the house in reality! After 4-5 years of fantasies, dreams and drawings, I have a fairly clear picture in my head of how the house will look and feel. Excited to see how far it is from fantasy to reality. ‘Cause what can you really expect from living in a tiny house on wheels? Is a pink filter turned on and your whole life is transformed into a romantic comedy filled with joy, laughter, love, money, wine, friends and music?
Most likely.
But in addition to this, I envision a number of cool things:
SAFETY
Security is definitely what I’m looking forward to the most (I say as the house is taken by a tornado and lands on an evil witch in Munchkinland in Oz (😂) but it’s’ not that kind of security I’m talking about). I’m primarily thinking about financial security, the fact that I will be able to keep the house regardless of whether I become disabled or end up in the welfare system. In addition, there will not be any unforeseen expenses at first as the house is brand new.
I have experienced both having poor finances and living in a house that I thought was in good condition but which was absolutely not in any way and which gave me alot of challenges. I never want to experience that again! You can read more about it in the post Need to sell my appartment, but what’s that smell? Where I experienced worst case scenario when it was to be sold in the summer of 2022 after having had a water leak just three years prior.
Living in a brand new tiny house packed with guarantees brings invaluable security. No fungus or rot in the walls and no rodents in the floor. However, should a problem arise either with the water supply, the electricity, something wrong with the construction, something broken in the kitchen, etc., there are guarantees to rely on. Priceless!
Another aspect of security (being the sentimental person that I am) is that the tiny house gives me associations to my room at home when I was a child. Having a safe room with all my things (and now the adult version of “the room” comes with a full bathroom, kitchen and fireplace – yay!) that is cozy and nice, feels really good. Besides, it’s just mine and I can do what I want. I’m just saying YES to security at home. There’s no place like home ❤️
How much would you give for lowered shoulders and less stress with the housing part of your life?
PS. Knowing that I can take the house with me if one day I want to move is also a sense of security for me. Avoid dealing with sales, purchases, new mortgages, a second-hand house etc.. No, thank you.
ORDER AND HARMONY
Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
Order and harmony, you guys. I’m sooo looking forward to. OMG! After moving over 30 times in my life, I’ve ended up not bothering to unpack all the boxes the last few times because I know I’ll be moving again soon, so what’s the point? Boxes of photo albums, books, ring binders, my fancy studio printer and all the fancy photo paper, all the guitar equipment, the ukulele and the keyboard.. It’s just been moved from storage space to storage space and that’s a sad fact!
But that ends when the tiny house is finished, sparkling in the sun! Then every little box and storage-thing will come up to breathe and live! I can’t wait to once again go through all my possessions to see what can be given away, sold and recycled. It’s going to be fantastic!
In a smaller house, there will (most likely) be fewer things to keep track of, meaning more order. And in the tiny house there will be clever storage spaces adapted to the amount of things I have and want to have in the future.
I can’t wait to find my style too. Apart from the kitchen and bathroom, the house will mostly be white – prepared for creative painting or wallpapering. I think I’ll live there for a while before I take out the paint brush. As the kitchen will be in dark and calm colours, and there is an open solution to the living room, I’m guessing that the rest of the living room will also use those tones. Want it to be harmonious.
Today I live in a suitable apartment of approximately 375 sf (35 m2), but it will not be the same as living in a self-designed house where space has been created for all my things. And with less space comes less cleaning, and it should be a joy to clean this magical little house!
QUALITY TIME
Time is not just time. It is life itself.
Most people work 8 hours, sleep 8 hours and the remaining 8 hours are spent traveling to and from work, shopping, cooking, eating and doing housework. When everything is done, you are left with.. 4 hours? If you are lucky. 4 precious hours. Some prioritize getting in an hour of work out (me!) while others watch a bit of TV, but then the day is actually over (and if you have kids, they demand their time too). And so we continue in an eternal hamster wheel until we are 62/67 (probably 70) years old. When you are finally released and hopefully debt free, the healthiest and best years of your life are gone. It is therefore important to make everyday life as good as possible. To fill every day with something you find like and gives you energy!
This is what my day looks like when I work from 06am-2pm with an hour of training at work: I get up at 04:30am and I’m home at 15pm. That’s 11.5 hours. I go to bed when there are 8 hours until I have to go to work. 24 hours-11.5-8=4.5 hours. That’s what I’m left with within a day after I’ve slept and worked and had a workout. I can’t do anything about that small amount of time without losing enough sleep or skipping work.
What we can do, however, is to make sure that the little time we have every day is used for something meaningful and that gives us a recharge. And it all starts with being aware of the little time you have and prioritizing. And it’s something I’m really looking forward to when the tiny house is finished, because my time these days is mostly spent organizing everything around the construction of the tiny house, finding out details, calling and emailing companies, but also hanging out as much as possible with my girlfriend ❤️
I imagine coming home to my little house and being really happy to see how nice and easy it is there. And that the house is saying “welcome home, do what you want!” And then my list looks like this (if I have worked out, otherwise it would be at the top):
• Sitting in front of the fireplace and playing the guitar for my lovely lady ❤️
• Make videos and write blog posts, be creative on these platforms
• Read a book (I have ambitions to start reading (English sci fi))
• Write in my diary, write a letter, a poem, a song
• Watch a good film or series
• Call the family
• Build LEGO
• Be outside and jog with some good music (epic film music!)
• Take pictures, both for the blog and other projects or just for fun
• Learning new things on YouTube (self-development, how to take better photos, edit better videos, draw, how to play a specific song on the guitar, watch episodes about other tiny houses, etc..)
• Play piano, ukulele, draw, make scrapbooks, be creative
• Find some new, delicious recipes and serve my lovely lady ❤️
• Sit in the sun on the porch with a drink and some good music
• (go for a long walk with the dog when that day comes. Eventually we want a little Staffordshire Bull Terrier girl, and time with her will be (second) at the top of the list (after my lovely lady ❤️❤️❤️)
I will try to avoid time stealers such as grocery shopping by ordering food at the door, limiting unnecessary time on social media, cooking for several days at a time and multitasking when I can so that there are more full breaks later.
With surplus comes joy and inspiration. Do you agree?
The last category is:
THE LITTLE THINGS
New house, new place to live, new neighbours, new budget and new everyday routines for transport and housework and much more. These are big things that I am of course also looking forward to and that most people look forward to, I would hope when buying a new home. But then we have the little things that you often don’t think much about because they happen automatically and without you noticing.
Some of the things I’m looking forward to are, for example, to feel the feeling of being in the house! The first time I walk through the front door.. I’m going to pass out with joy! Different houses give you different feelings. Some places you can go in and you get chills and just want to get out, while other places make you happy and calm and you feel that the house welcomes you.
I can’t wait to get to know how the windows and doors work. Get to know the taps in the kitchen and bathroom. When you are visiting someone and have to fill a glass with water or take a shower, you often stop for a second and look at the “system” on the tap and the shower. Off and on. Hot and cold.
And the same applies to the smell in the house. Guess it smells very new for a long time. It’s a delicious smell! The opposite is not preferable. Some old people have a scalp smell in their houses (you know what I mean? Ew..). I don’t want that.
And I can’t wait to connect all the smart house gadgets and connect the whole house together. That the light automatically turns on when I enter the bathroom is a real joy! And I can’t wait to unpack COMPLETELY. The feeling of having gone through every single box and every thing I own and considered whether I really want to have that thing with me further in life, will be absolutely fantastic. It’s going to be so good and I’m looking forward to being surrounded only by things that mean something to me – every day!
Ever since I arrived in Oslo in mid-2020, I haven’t had any friends visit me. It must be said that I don’t have very many friends in Oslo either, but the point is anyway that I look forward to having friends over for dinner and movie night with a projector and a chills-making sound system! To be able to proudly show off how I live without the restrictions you have when you rent a place.
After a lot of planning (which is constantly going on in my head as new ideas come in every day) I am really looking forward to making all the fun videos in the tiny house. Guess there will be some new video equipment eventually too. Gotta make it a bit fancy, and I’m looking forward to THAT!
One last little thing I would like to mention is that by living in a tiny house you suddenly belong to a “club” and you suddenly have a whole tiny house community to frolic in. Lots of groups on Facebook and social gatherings. A small matter, but to my great delight!
- What did you look foreward to the most with the tiny house?
- Did your tiny reach up to your expectations?
- If you could plan your whole day exept the 8 hrs you have to sleep, what would it look like?
- What worry have you acquired that you could do without?
Would love to hear from you!
Thank you so much for reading ❤️
🌈Irene
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2 responses
Hello
Hello to you, Teresa! Nice of you to stop by 😊