Tiny Houses

Photos Tiny Home made by Noel T. Higgins and Mark Burtons house

We’re advised every winter to put our gardening tools in the shed for safe storage. It’s not very often any suggestions are made towards the condition of the shed itself though. If there’s a leak in the roof it’s not long before the walls and floor are rotting and the equipment starts to perish in the damp. So next time you have to rummage through the piles of “I’ll put it in the shed and deal with it later” stuff on the floor, have a look to see there’s no damage to the structure.

Our shed in the garden does have a small leak. I put off reroofing it last year but it’ll definitely be a job to do this summer.  Our shed isn’t full of tools though and as we spend time in there in the evenings, the heating stops any serious issues with damp. Having lived in a 14’caravan for a year with Julie, a one year old and a very smelly dog I have become accustomed to living in small spaces and actually enjoy it as there’s less to clean. 

There’s something very cosy about small space living and as the shed is 4m square it would have room to add a bathroom and kitchen with a living space up in the eaves of the roof should I ever feel that way inclined to live at the bottom of the garden. I’m sure most of us have at one time thought life would be easier in a shed away from everything. Well, now you can as it’s become fashionable to build and live in “Tiny Homes” 

The quest for a simpler life.

A “Tiny Home” is referring to anything under 300 sq. feet (37 sq. metres) and can be built on a trailer and towed. It’d need to be within the national height and width allowances for road travel in Ireland. Alternatively they can be built on a foundation or anchor pads such as our shed.

Many will have sleeping lofts, making the most of any and all available floor space, or instead have futons, pull-out or fold-away beds allowing a living room to transform into a bedroom, and back again when the occupants are suitably rested.

 

Tiny Homes are usually built with traditional natural, breathable and chemical-free materials; such as sheep’s wool insulation in place of rigid foam or fibre glass matting. For the more permanent builds straw bales, cob (a mixture of clay, sand and straw) lime mortar, stone and wood could be used in their build.

Salvaged or recycled materials also feature heavily in Tiny Houses, too , sourced and repurposed for use in an alternative and imaginative way.

Though living in smaller, simpler and/or handmade homes is certainly nothing of a new concept, indeed many people historically lived in smaller, more modest structures, and continue to do so. It was not until the “boom times” of greater widespread wealth and consumerist desires in western societies that the current craze of living in houses with a larger square-footprint, with more bedrooms than members of the family, truly took hold. You only have to look into Irish history to realise small was the norm in home building.

Boats, Caravans, Camper Vans and Mobile Homes provide a lot of practical inspiration for tiny Homes, to designers such as Noel T. Higgins from Co. Mayo. He uses many space-saving tricks, gadgets and techniques than are popular in more accepted living spaces. Some designs can be used completely off grid and have no reliance on external electricity and water by means of solar or wind power and rainwater collecting.

Suzie Cahn from Carraig Dúlra says “The Tiny house movement (also known as the “small house movement”) is an architectural and social movement toward living more simply in small homes. People are joining this movement for many reasons, but most often because of cost, environmental concerns, wanting to spend more time in nature, and for a sense of freedom.”

Small home living is increasingly popular for those simply wanting to downsize from their previous houses, and for retirees wishing to spend their time in a hand crafted and more manageable dwelling. Tiny homes are also being built and lived in by both teenagers in the back gardens of the family home such as ours which gives them a safe and reachable distance to stretch their fast-growing independent legs.

While it does have to be noted, living in a Tiny Home is not for everyone; it should also be recognised, that living in a structure the size of the average Irish “conventional” house is not for everyone, either! 

That said, choosing to do so requires the ability to perhaps part with knickknacks, ephemera and large clothing and shoe collections in order to maintain a smaller space. 

Maybe keep the shoes and just have one for the weekends then?

 Tiny Homes Introductory Workshop
Joanne Butler from OURganic Gardens in Gortahork is running a day course workshop on Tiny Houses on Saturday 11th March, 2017

The course offers a rundown of Tiny Home styles and ideas, along with an overview of the variety of tools, skills and other resources needed to create them. 

The day will be led by Suzie Cahn from Carraig Dúlra farm in Co. Wicklow. Check the Ourganics website for more information and contact details.