How to Have Holidays in a Tiny House

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Many people have wondered how to live in a tiny house especially when the holidays come around. My husband and I have been living tiny for four years now and I want to take some time to share with others what it is like.

So, how do you have holidays in a tiny house? There are a few ways to have holidays in a tiny house. Many people go over to other people’s houses or you can rent a room for any get togethers. Many tiny homes have room for several people to come over as well. But there are some other great ideas tiny housers use.

Living tiny has given us a different outlook on life. Many things that people worry about, we tend to find, that they are usually quite simple. Living tiny is all about getting rid of the waste in your life so you have more room for the important things, including holidays.

How to Spend Time with Family in a Tiny House

When deciding to live tiny many people are concerned about all of the little things, like what about spending time with family on the holidays. These things that seem like such a big deal now, usually end up working out.

When we first moved into a tiny house we had people over often. We had some neighbors that would come over and hang out frequently. We never had a problem with people coming over.

Our living room was large enough to hold guests. However, through out most of our lives we rarely have people over. I think for the most part people who chose to go tiny are not the type of people who like to have large parties.

Living in a tiny house attracts a certain type of people and these things tend to not be an issue for us. However, there are some option when it comes to spending time with family on the holidays.

First of all, of course, you can always go over to someone else’s house. Many people either go over to their parents’ or children’s’ house for holidays. When I was growing up we always went over to whoever had the best suited house.

This may seem trivial but a lot of times you don’t even have people over at your house. Another great option is to rent a room at a near by hotel. I know people who do this, who do not live in a tiny house.

This allows for a lot of people to gather in the same place without having to worry about cleaning or deciding on who will host it. This is a common way many people have large gatherings.

If you want people over at your house there are still options. Many tiny houses have large living rooms that can accommodate more than those who live there.

Of course this is only a concern if it is a cold holiday. Around Christmas or Thanksgiving you can still have several people come over to your tiny house. But, you will not likely be able to have a lot of people over.

However, on warmer holidays like Fourth of July and Labor Day, you can have a lot more people over. One of the features of a tiny house is being able to spend more time outside.

Since living tiny we have been able to take our home on trips and overall spend a lot more time enjoying nature. There is plenty of room outside of your home for people to come over for cook outs or bonfires.

When we got married we had a lot of family come over to our tiny house. At the time we were living in a container home and it was 280 square feet. But there were no problems because we all sat outside around a fire.

Living tiny has so many benefits. You may not be able to through big parties of have lots of family over on Christmas, once a year. But you have everyday to enjoy all of the other positives.

How to Decorate a Tiny House for the Holidays

Decorating for holidays in a tiny house can be lots of fun. You get to use less and decorate more. For crafty people, it can be lots of fun to design specific decorations to fit your house.

For those of you who are less crafty than you can always find a lot of great ideas online. Using wall decoration is easy and space efficient in a tiny house.

A common question I get is where to put a Christmas tree. Every year we put up a small Christmas tree and I even store the same one throughout the year so I do not have to keep buying one.

It can actually be quite easy to find a place for a small tree. We usually put it on top of some storage or in the living room, depending on the space we have.

Going tiny is about making room for what is important to you and getting rid of everything that gets in the way of that. For me decorating is not a big deal, except for every year around Christmas.

We are currently living in 112 square feet and we don’t have a lot of stuff. But I have things that are important to me, like a Christmas tree. Keep what really matters to you and you will be able to find room for it.

How to Set Up the Details for Holidays in a Tiny House

There are certain parts of holidays that can be more difficult in a small space. For example, hiding presents, Easter egg hunts, and of course the food.

Of course, one of the biggest things I promote is spending time outside. You can do Easter egg hunts or Fourth of July parties in your backyard and have a lot more room.

Another thing I recommend is using your vehicle. My husband and I have our own separate vehicles and whenever I need to hide any presents I just leave them in my trunk. You have the extra space, why not use it?

Dealing with holiday food can be a little harder. You need to consider where to store it, how to make enough, and where to keep it afterwards. Let’s dive into this a little more.

How to Make Food for the Holidays

Food is a big part of all holidays. Whether it’s Cookouts for Fourth of July, Thanksgiving dinner, or literally any other celebration. Food always brings people together.

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind when preparing your dishes:

Preparing

Clean out your fridge. A week or two before you know you will be cooking a lot, eat everything out of your fridge. I only buy food if I need something additional to use up what I already have. This is a good idea to do every few weeks anyway, to keep food from going bad. But planning in advance to eat everything you have, without buying more, will give you lots of space for all of the cooking.

Plan your cooking times. If you know you will have multiple dinners around the same time then you may not want to buy everything at once. It can be harder to store food in your fridge for several big dinners at one time.
Make a list! This may seem obvious but having a list and sticking to it will avoid buying unnecessary things that you don’t have room for anyway.

Cooking

Buy the food as close to when you need it as possible. If you buy what you need right before you start cooking then you do not need to worry about where to keep it at all. I love doing this because I am much more excited about cooking when I just bought it.

Plan dishes with food you already have or that you will use a lot. It is always so frustrating to have a beautiful dish that requires several ingredients you only use once. They will usually end up sitting in your fridge until they go bad. I like to look up other recipes that have these ingredients and plan those meals for the next week.

Storing

Send leftovers with other people. In our family get togethers, we all take home a little bit of everything. This way we all have complete meals at home we can eat and we don’t get tired of just eating one thing for days.
Pack lunches with your leftovers. We always put together meals and then eat those for lunches and dinners. Plus, at this point we have already eaten most of the food in our fridge so we have plenty of room.

Even though these steps may seem simple they go a long way in a tiny house. In general, those who live in a tiny house should practice planning out their food but especially for big get togethers.

Traveling in Your Tiny House for the Holidays

This is a big section, so I will try to cover the basics.

Traveling in your tiny house is one of the best parts of going tiny, but also takes some work. You cannot just hookup your trailer and drive away anytime.

However, in our first tiny house it usually only took us 20 minutes to be ready to drive off. It really depends on how long you have been living at that location.

One of the joys of a THOW, is the ability to move. You may live a few hours away from your family, but for a week you can live in their backyard. This can really make living tiny a fun adventure.

Personally, we love living in the middle of nowhere and getting to move and travel a lot. This is such a freedom that tiny living has afforded us. But we can always pick up and move our house.

Having the ability to take your house on vacation is one of the best feelings. You will think to your self, “Oh man, I wish I brought… Oh wait! I brought everything!”

You no longer need to pack or worry about what to bring. You just secure your house and take everything with you. If you’re tired and can’t make it as far as you thought, you can just pull over and stop for the night.

You can always stop and use the bathroom anywhere, stop and cook dinner anywhere, change your clothes anytime, the possibilities are endless. It really is the little things that you will love.

Here are the things you need to do before driving away:

Check your tires and lug nuts. This is very important! If you do not do this you may have a wheel snap while towing it (Yes, I have seen this happen). This is standard for pulling any trailer.
Be sure your tanks are all sealed. You may need to empty your water tank, but at least be sure it is sealed properly and ready for transport.

Take everything off the counters and make sure it is all locked down. Don’t forget the microwave! Honestly, most things you can just set on the floor so they do not fall off. But you need to be sure that all of your cabinets are secured as well as anything that could slide, like a wood stove or even hanging lights.
Make sure everything on the outside is secured. Check your solar panels and any outside fixtures that will stay on the outside during transport. We take our exhausts and chimneys off and store them inside during transport.
Check lights and breaks. Always make sure these are working properly before moving your home.

Author: Cassandra Hui

Living in and building off-grid tiny homes View all posts by Cassandra Hui