Would you live in a house that isn’t much bigger than some peoples master bedroom? Some are choosing to downsize and live in what are called tiny houses.

  The Dale Mabry campus recently hosted a Sustainable Living Expo that featured these homes. Tiny houses are considered sustainable living because they cut down on living expenses and they don’t offer much room to over indulge in purchases.

  Some of these tiny houses are placed on pieces of property where they have long term residence, while others are moved from location to location, depending on where the resident feels like calling home. You might be thinking “But isn’t that called an RV?” Yes, that is true, but RV’s are not actual houses. Tiny houses, on the other hand, are actual houses, the only difference being that they are tiny.

  Tiny houses typically look like regular houses; however, some tiny houses have themes. The same way some people like to theme their bathroom, or their kitchen, a tiny house can easily follow one continuous theme because of its size.

  John and Fin Kernoham live in a themed tiny house, decorated to honor firemen. Fin Kernoham says that the theme of the house help raise awareness of the importance firefighters have in all our lives. She goes on to say that she’s used to living in small quarters, growing up with extended family under one small roof, and how it creates more unity among family. Some might cringe at this thought, but Fin Kernoham brings up another benefit of living in a tiny house, it is the fact that she can easily see what her husband is doing.

  Still, there are more benefits of tiny house living. Less space means consuming less stuff. Tiny House enthusiasts Kristen Brown, a real estate agent, and her boyfriend J. Johnson, an engineer, came to the expo after watching TV specials about Tiny Houses and becoming fans. Brown mentions how in her line of work, it is not uncommon to see people buying more space than they need. An appeal of tiny house living to her was “not having to fill so much space.” Brown also took note of the good vertical space in tiny houses, noting how that was a good fit for her 6’7 boyfriend.

  One Tiny House explorer, Cianna Girardin, wondered what type of jobs were available to a person that wanted to live in a tiny house without a permanent piece of property to keep it on. Jeremy Roberts, another small living enthusiast, answered by sharing the options of virtual jobs and those jobs that can be worked as self-employed.

  Tiny house living might not be for the faint hearted, or for those that like to collect a lot of things, but tiny house living is a reminder of how people don’t really need a lot of space in order to live. Tiny houses also don’t take up a lot of resources by using access electricity or water. So, if you’re looking for a way to be kinder to the planet, and you’re willing and able to downsize, a tiny house just might be the next place you call home.