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As a tiny houser, I get this question a lot. One of the main reasons people can’t understand our lifestyle is because they have too many things to be able to move into a smaller area. I am constantly answering the question of where I put my stuff. When we first started tiny we moved into a 35 foot trailer, about 280 square feet, with two very large lofts. Then we down sized to a 40 foot container, with 5 foot of that turned into a covered porch and no lofts. We are currently living in a 14 by 8 foot cargo trailer, 112 square feet. All while having five amazing dogs. Going tiny doesn’t mean you don’t get the opportunity to own nice things, in fact it’s the opposite.
I tend to answer this question with “What stuff?” To be fair my husband or I have never been “stuff” people. We don’t tend to hold onto things we don’t use. My husband and I first met in Virginia, later we decided to move to Nevada. We fit everything we owned in the back of our Subaru Outback, besides his motorcycle which he drove there first. We have never really had a lot of things, so going tiny was not a huge mindset shift for us. But I want to explain to everyone all of the benefits of having less “stuff”.
I do not have a lot of things, but I have everything I need. For instance, I do not have a lot of clothes. It will surprise people when I tell them I have four short sleeved shirts, three long, three tank tops, one pair of shorts, two pairs of jeans, four dresses, and some work clothes. But in reality this is more than enough. When you work five days a week and are only off two, not to mention doing laundry once a week, there are more than enough outfits for every season. I don’t need anymore, and honestly I don’t want any more. Every day I get to wear my favorite shirt, my favorite coat, my favorite pair of shoes. What could be better than that? I don’t own a lot of things, so when I buy something I make sure it’s something I love. Quality over quantity.
There have been many studies on the psychology of choices. I find it interesting that people assume the more choices they have the happier they will be, however that is not the case. There have been some very interesting examples of the stress of choices. When people are faced with two different clothing stores, one has black and white shirts and the other has thirty different types of shirts, almost all choose the store with more options. Say you walk into this store, now you must choose between red, blue, navy, green, patterned… and so on. In the end you are just as happy with whatever shirt you choose, however psychologists have shown that people faced with an abundance of choices stress over picking the right one. They are so concern about picking the right shirt so that they don’t regret their decision and want a different one later. However, in the end it doesn’t matter. Opening a closet overfilled with cloths you barely wear is only causing undo mental stress on yourself. By eliminating choices you eliminate some of your daily stress.
This post is not intended to tell everyone to throw everything away. I am only trying to help other understand that living tiny and having less things is not a bad thing. In the end you build your tiny house to fit your lifestyle. If you want extra room for storage, than build it. Don’t think you have to get rid of everything. I want to challenge you though to think about the things you own, that you don’t use. Remember at some point that was money. Only keeping the things you actually need will lower your overall stress, make your house easier to maintain, and everyday you get to use only your favorites.
Every six months to a year my husband and I go through our whole house and throw away the things we do not use anymore. As we change, our stuff does too. Over the years we have downsized and I cannot remember a single thing I used to have that I wish I still had.
