Support NeoGAF

[broncobuster]

I always found them fascinating, particularly retrofitting an existing space. One I watched a few months back, by necessity, had three or four rooms stacked vertically. So you'd have the bed room below the kitchen and the bathroom above it.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

I could live in a pretty small place if it was just me. I could easily do a small studio apartment for sure.

I couldn't do it with my fiancé though, and especially with her big dogs. We're both introverted and need our own spaces in our house. We don't have or want a huge place since we're not having, so we rent a smallish 1400sqft four-bedroom house as that gives her an office, me a mancave/gaming room, one bedroom as a media room (where she watches stuff while I'm gaming and where we watch things together) and our bedroom.

We could probably do a three-bedroom place, but she'd have to get rid of her houseplant hobbys as that takes up the living room (which could substitute for the media room).

 

[PrivateWHudson]

I'm always looking at this stuff. I have a pretty small house with a big yard and would love to drop something like a container house in the back yard for a man cave. Most likely it won't happen since I think my wife would rather spend the money on a proper addition the whole family can enjoy.

 

[ZackieChan]

I could live in a tiny house, but I'd prefer one with less stuff than one with all the fold out nonsense. I've stayed in plenty of places around the world that are just as tiny, and been perfectly happy. All of my apartments in Bangkok had that "wet concept" toilet/shower setup, so I'm used to it and it's pretty useful.

 

[sikkinixx]

Tiny houses are cool in a weird way. My wife and I looked a lot into them a few years back trying to figure out if we should buy a small chunk of land and plop a cheap ass little house on it. But they are only practical in areas where land is super cheap or you can double up in someone's property (like a coach/lane house). And if you have some land why build a 150sq ft house except because you have some masochistic desire to deprive yourself of any space? My grandparents shake their heads at the trend of micro housing as they grew up with 6+ people in a one bedroom apartment and can't fathom why people would willing want to do that.


Alternative housing, though, is super cool.

 

[Shirow]

You just made my morning lol

 

[RangerBAD]

I think tiny houses are pretty cool, but I can't help but judge people on HGTV when they have like 4 kids and decide to cram them all into a 200 sqft box because they want to get in the tiny house train.

Yeah, when you're single or married it's fine, but when kids start to get involved I can't really agree with it.

 

[ezrarh]

I like the movement but it also shows how detrimental certain zoning and regulation laws can restrict affordable housing. One could easily build a 400-500 sqft building in a backyard for example for not that much more but once you get above a certain size - the laws make it much more expensive than it has to be. For me, a tiny house would be to cramped for long term but I could see myself living in a 500sqft place indefinitely if I was single and had no intentions for kids.

 

[megalowho]

The ecocapsule has been in threads before. 120 sq ft of self sustained pod living. 50 preorders available, supposedly shipping in 2017.

https://www.ecocapsule.sk/

 

[Seesaw15]

That dude looked so uncomfortable in that hammock.

 

[NandoGip]

I will never understand couples who choose to live in tiny homes. I live in a tiny ass apartment and its miserable

 

[Peru]

Don't try to kill my dreams with Donald memes.

Do you have the source of these gifs, I want to see the bit lol.

Search Mickey's Trailer on youtube.

 

[How About No]

I'm totally with you, OP.

Having grown up around a lot of sailboats, that is where I first got the bug for super efficient design, both in spatial arrangement and low-footprint living.

Currently obsessed with prefab modular homes like these:

http://www.mekaworld.com

http://www.coodo.com

these things look amazing, are structurally very sound and low footprint. I often fantasize about selling my Toronto house and building an amazing pad with these, all paid for up front.

When they can fully 3D print them, these will be really incredible.

I've looked at BONE homs and other prefab modular approaches (Karoleena in Canada builds the entire house together on a factory floor) but the modular stuff is awesome, because it is like LEGO. Plus all set for solar/watre reclamation and so forth.

by the way Dwell is like porn for prefab modular houses, if you want to peruse.

I have the image of a crane crew going "aight we're fuckin' done here lets get a beer" after just plopping it into a lot

 

[Seiryoden]

You might enjoy (or get inspired by) this photobook: Tokyo: A Certain Style

Featuring "microapartments, mini and modular everything, rooms filled to the rafters with electronics, piles of books and clothes, clans of remote controls, collections of sundry objets all crammed into a space where every inch counts"

 

[ant_]

First video is really cool. I also loved his orange windows and the lighting it created in his apartment.

 

[Visualante2]

There is a nice blog called Unique Property Bulletin in the UK that does very alternative stuff, some tiny, some just a bit fun.

 

[darklin0]

I am 6'3'' and looking at those houses makes my back hurt. lmao

They are pretty cool and I like that they have low footprints.

 

[Relceroi]

Being restricted to a relatively small area and using that limited space in effective ways is a very interesting concept to build a house (and its interiors) around. If I'm in a position where I can live by myself a few years from now I will definitely look into tiny housing. The houses often look so cozy and comfortable, and I doubt the limited space would bother me too much.

 

[Snowybreak]

I always thought about blueprinting and building a tiny house. Maybe something that folded out of the sides of a trailer or something. I'm totally happy with the idea of living in a small footprint mobile house.

 

[KennyLinder]

There is a show on Channel 4 in the UK called Amazing Spaces that is all about creating unconventional homes in, well, amazing ways.

Not sure how you'd access it outside of the UK, but it's worth tracking down.

 

[Aztechnology]

There is a show on Channel 4 in the UK called Amazing Spaces that is all about creating unconventional homes in, well, amazing ways.

Not sure how you'd access it outside of the UK, but it's worth tracking down.

Looks like if you download their app you can watch a fair amount of episodes. Or might only be snippets from the show. Hard to tell. Thanks for the info though, alot of great info since last I was on.

 

[Moozo]

Have you ever seen George Clarke's Amazing Spaces?

Would be right up your street OP

Edit: beaten

 

[Rodney McKay]

Just imagine how much functionality you would put into a normal sized house or decent sized apartment using these concepts.

That would be something I'd like to see.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

I've always thought tiny homes were neat, but only for a single person. I think even a couple gets pretty cramped in those spaces.

My wife loves watching Tiny House shows. If it's some young single hipster who thinks living in 80 sq. ft. is a cool idea, hey, you do you. But the families with multiple kids? It just seems cruel.

 

[Demoskinos]

My question is this. How do these people find places to set these containers or tents or whatever? Like you'd still have to own land to do this no?

 

[Seirith]

I have watched Tiny houses on HGTV a lot. I like the show, and they are interesting but I would never never live in one, I enjoy space and not having to climb a loft to get to my bed, having 1 bathroom for multiple people and not having to get everything I own away. Also, I have 4 cats who would not enjoy a tiny house, they love being able to run around and have space to play.

My husband and I have an 1800 sq ft house and we have no extra rooms left. We have 2 bedrooms, we sleep separately due to my sleep issues and CRPS in my left hand, a computer room, and a room for our cat stuff and ebay, as I do ebay a lot right now.

They are interesting if you want to move around or travel a lot but just not for me personally.

 

[ATF487]

I feel like while I have no problem living in small spaces, the whole tiny house thing isn't for me unless I can find space to put one of those close to a train station or something. I don't need to live right downtown in the city, but I want it to be easily accessible. I don't have any real interests living in a suburb/rural area

I'd be interested in microapartments but they don't seem that much cheaper than normal apartments...

 

[Shaanyboi]

This shit is fascinating, but I'd almost never want to live in them.

 

[Seirith]

My question is this. How do these people find places to set these containers or tents or whatever? Like you'd still have to own land to do this no?

They either buy/rent land or they put them in RV parks.

 

[Aztechnology]

My wife loves watching Tiny House shows. If it's some young single hipster who thinks living in 80 sq. ft. is a cool idea, hey, you do you. But the families with multiple kids? It just seems cruel.

No, kids in a space like this just isn't conducive. This imo is for people who don't plan to have kids, or are in a transition like myself. College to rental spaces, single looking to save money.

My question is this. How do these people find places to set these containers or tents or whatever? Like you'd still have to own land to do this no?

Most of the people place it on property outside of city limits in large non utility connected space, or with friends/people allow them to stay on their land with an existing house to avoid zoning/construction issues. There's also communities or land set out specifically for these. Might be interesting to be in one for a while. But I'm not a very granola huy (I'm not a anti GMO or Holistic medicine kind of person) and I imagine many of those communities are all about that.

Honestly in my current state, what I'd be considering (in the next five years or so) is buying a parcel of land that I can find on someone existing property that's on grid and would be easy to hook up to (I need good internet) and having electric/water if needed would be useful. Then I would properly construct a small container home setup for future expansion as needed.

 

[Stinkles]

I think tiny houses are pretty cool, but I can't help but judge people on HGTV when they have like 4 kids and decide to cram them all into a 200 sqft box because they want to get in the tiny house train.

Yeah. I imagine a show that follows up three years later would be depressing or hilarious. Same for ukulele couples. And literally I watched an episode where they needed storage for their ukuleles.

 

[Pops Maellard]

I'm totally with you, OP.

Having grown up around a lot of sailboats, that is where I first got the bug for super efficient design, both in spatial arrangement and low-footprint living.

Currently obsessed with prefab modular homes like these:

http://www.mekaworld.com

http://www.coodo.com

these things look amazing, are structurally very sound and low footprint. I often fantasize about selling my Toronto house and building an amazing pad with these, all paid for up front.

When they can fully 3D print them, these will be really incredible.

I've looked at BONE homs and other prefab modular approaches (Karoleena in Canada builds the entire house together on a factory floor) but the modular stuff is awesome, because it is like LEGO. Plus all set for solar/watre reclamation and so forth.

by the way Dwell is like porn for prefab modular houses, if you want to peruse.

Came in here expecting a Portlandia bit, but now I want one.

 

[Seirith]

Yeah. I imagine a show that follows up three years later would be depressing or hilarious. Same for ukulele couples. And literally I watched an episode where they needed storage for their ukuleles.

I would love for them to do a HGTV tiny house update show on where some of these people are at 6 months and then a few years later. I would love to know if they still like living tiny, especially those with kids.

 

[Wafflecakes]

Are there any people researching how to do this in a way that isn't so expensive you could just buy 4/5 smaller apartments and combine them for the same price?

 

[Aztechnology]

I would love for them to do a HGTV tiny house update show on where some of these people are at 6 months and then a few years later. I would love to know if they still like living tiny, especially those with kids.

I've never seen the HGTV show. But I've never seen a family living in one of these seriously outside of an occasional vacation/mobile home with children.

Are there any people researching how to do this in a way that isn't so expensive you could just buy 4/5 smaller apartments and combine them for the same price?

Attaining multiple apartments in one building to create a larger space seems like it would be astronomically more expensive than this.

 

[Wafflecakes]

Attaining multiple apartments in one building to create a larger space seems like it would be astronomically more expensive than this.

All that custom stuff is going to cost a small fortune.

MAYBE if they were mass produced, but they aren't.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Don't do a container house, at least not one in an actual container. They're horribly energy inefficient.

 

[Shrike Alvaron]

I'm a bit fascinated by tiny houses but have never dived into them too much. I love how they emphasize efficient use of space, and I think to properly appreciate them you need to have lived in a situation where you've had plenty of space yourself so you can look around you and realize "maybe I don't need so much space after all"

This apartment is one of my favorites, it's similar to the one in OP but much more practical without all the sliding walls, having a balcony helps to open it up as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juWaO5TJS00

This one isn't my favorite, and there's no way I could live in it, but you ever wonder what it'd be like to have a 2D house? http://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/31/worlds-narrowest-house-by-jakub-szczesny/

 

[FLEABttn]

I've never seen the HGTV show.

I never understood hate watching until I saw it.

 

[scotcheggz]

A friend of mine lives in a converted Mercedes sprinter that he made. It's an amazing piece of engineering and really not what it sounds like. When you're inside it, you coukd forget it's a van easily. another friend of mine lived on a barge.

They were both awesome but personally I couldn't do it, I'd go crazy, though the sprinter I could definitely live in temporarily as a cheeky little ninja camper.

 

[Stinkles]

A friend of mine lives in a converted Mercedes sprinter that he made. It's an amazing piece of engineering and really not what it sounds like. When you're inside it, you coukd forget it's a van easily. another friend of mine lived on a barge.

They were both awesome but personally I couldn't do it, I'd go crazy, though the sprinter I could definitely live in temporarily as a cheeky little ninja camper.

Breh

https://www.airstream.com/touring-coaches/grand-tour-ext/

 

[old manatee]

I want to live in a shoe. And I want the bathroom to be made entirely out of stainless steel so that I can clean it with a flamethrower.

 

[Shiv47]

A friend of mine moved to Portland to fully live the bicycling eco-hippie lifestyle a few years ago, and he and his girlfriend moved into a tiny house a couple years ago. They had to find a lot with someone willing to allow them to park there and hook their house into the lot owner's electrical and water, as I understand it, which seems really inconvenient. But they claim to love it, so...more power to them, I guess. Would drive me nuts in a tiny space like that.

 

[Jimrpg]

Great topic.

We are a developer here in Malaysia and we've looked at many options for housing. Ultimately price and value is going to dictate if people are interested. Most people here price things by square feet / square metres. And generally larger houses / apartments are better value by square feet / square metres. When you reduce the lot area, your price per feet generally goes up so its kinda difficult unless you 'lower the quality' somewhere. But if you can provide people with innovations then its possible to make it work. There are some 'ridiculous' prices on houses (some which I just don't think is even possible), 2 bedroom terrace house (joint to the next lot) goes for US$30k where they must have compromised on the quality.

As for the video in the OP, I would personally find it hard to live like that, as I'm more of a minimalist kind of person, in my 45 sqm apartment back in Australia, I had the following items - fridge, washing machine, bed, couch and tv (plus my consoles).

Also I think it depends on what stage people are at in their lives, I was fine as a single person living in a shoebox, but now with kids, I'd like more space for them to run around in. An apartment isn't what I'd want for them, though I know in Asia that is the norm.

As someone who's used a 'wet bathroom' for 3 years now, can I just say how much I dislike this concept coming from a 'dry bathroom'.

1. If you wear socks its terrible. Most people wear socks with shoes. If you take your socks off, you have to dry your feet after. If you go barefeet and wet afterwards, your feet get dirty really quickly from picking up dirt and dust around the house. I also have to avoid stepping in other people's wet footprints around the house. Wet footprints are a hazard (especially with children) with hard flooring.

2. Its terrible for guests, unless you provide them with sandals. Guest sandals are awful.

3. More grime around toilet due to showering.

4. Toilet gets in the way when showering due to small space.

5. Wet floors with bad drainage are not pleasant.

And we also have squat toilets here which are wet too, a hose is provided to wash the entire area down. Maybe I just don't like wet areas. I don't even want to provide a picture cause it sucks so bad.

People here I guess prefer larger bedrooms over a larger bathroom to maximise living space. I guess people don't want to sit on the can playing Nintendo games.

EDIT: Obviously in that photo, it looks well drained, but not all wet bathrooms are like that.

 

[Chris R]

I'd love if more tiny homes were built. I would be fine with 400 or 500 sqft but there just aren't options like that available where I live

 

[Furyous]

I love the idea but hate the execution. In the US you pay per $x per square foot to build a house with minimum requirements on the house anyway. You wind up paying more money to build a house with less space so you're better off building a full house instead of a micro home.

The idea of paying $200 a month for the rest of my life for a $700 square foot house is dope. Reality is it costs 30K+ to build a great micro home. At that price you might as well buy a house or condo.

 

[Damerman]

i love this kind of stuff. would not mind living in one of those for the rest of my life, especially if it's in a nice city.

 

[Fitts]

I did a TV mounting in a tiny house. It's the only one I've been in and, if it was just me, I could totally live and be happy in one. It had a bathroom, kitchen, living room area, and bedroom area laid out linearly all within a few steps of each other on a single story.

Don't get me wrong, I'm typing this from my media room that's at least twice the size of what that entire house was and I love it, but that kind of simplified living space certainly carries a level of appeal.

 

[CrazedProfessional]

These pods look like they have zero security. Someone could just throw a brick at your new age glass door and steal your shit.

 

[iamblades]

I love the idea but hate the execution. In the US you pay per $x per square foot to build a house with minimum requirements on the house anyway. You wind up paying more money to build a house with less space so you're better off building a full house instead of a micro home.

The idea of paying $200 a month for the rest of my life for a $700 square foot house is dope. Reality is it costs 30K+ to build a great micro home. At that price you might as well buy a house or condo.

^^

The problem is that with the way building codes and the housing market work in suburban America make the tiny house as such not really economical. If you are paying $50k+ for just the basic land and infrastructure(ie water, power hookups) in the middle of the country, much less the coasts, then it makes no real sense to build a $40k house with 500-600 sq ft. vs spending 100k+ to build a 1500+ sq ft house that you might actually be able to sell. Even if you don't need the square footage and might never need the square footage, if you want to sell the home as anything other than a plot of land, it needs 4 digits.

The issue is that we are stuck in a chicken or the egg situation. Young people are not buying houses anymore, so there is no market for small affordable homes, but young people are not buying homes because a 'starter' home is $200k in most areas of the country.

There was a really fascinating episode of 99% invisible a couple weeks back about a project that built housing for people who lost their homes in an earthquake in Chile. The thing is the project only built half of the house, and allowed the homeowner to build out the other half as their economic situation allowed.

http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/half-a-house/

The argument the show made was that this wouldn't work in the US because it would be seen as embarrassing for a first would country to have to do something like that, but I actually think the basic idea of expandable architecture that turns home ownership into more of a 'pay-as-you-go' system than a system of lifelong debt has merit.

The tiny home market has yet to come up with an easily expandable design that I know of. Sure there are plenty of 'modular' designs, but modular doesn't mean 'easily expandable'.