My Own Tiny House
I’ve seen these Tiny Houses before on cable TV, but that was prior to my interest in living a life of minimalism. A lot of my friends have already bought their own condominium units, built their houses in the suburbs – and here I am, still renting a two-bedroom apartment with my brother. My future is still blurry as it is – I don’t know where I’ll be in the next few years – but I’ve been giving this a thought recently: I want to build my own Tiny House.
The Tiny House movement is gaining popularity worldwide, mostly driven by people who want to live a minimalist life. Minimalism is really changing the way we view a successful life – that it’s not always based on money or the material things we own. Instead, it’s about being able to free up our life from distractions and focus our attention on the things that really matter. Living in a tiny house has a lot of advantages – but these are the top reasons why I want to live in one:
- Less space, more focused way of living. Everything in your tiny house will be useful to you. There is no room for things that do not add value to your life so you think twice about buying things you don’t really need. It’s a lot easier to clean and maintain. And, there are a lot of creative ways now to maximize space in such a way that you won’t feel restricted despite living in such a limited area.
- It costs less than a normal house. In the Philippines, you can probably build one for as low as 200,000 PHP (4,000 USD) if you want to really scrimp on it. Of course, you can shell out a bit more money for something more comfortable or in tune with your aesthetics, but it will still be a lot cheaper than a normal house, or a condominium unit. And, I’m not just talking upfront costs, even costs for utilities will be driven down with the level of usage you need in a tiny home.
- Lower footprint, environment-friendly. You don’t need much to power a tiny house. You can install solar panels for the lights and for small appliances. You don’t need a lot of air conditioning to keep it cool (or warm if you live in colder areas). By creating a tiny house, you can have extra space for a bigger garden and really care for it as it will form part of your living area.
I’m not here to convince you to live in one – but after you check out these videos, I’m sure you’ll give it a thought!
This off-grid cabin in the mountains will be my inspiration for my future house in Dalaguete. My mom has a nice piece of land that’s surrounded by trees, just like the one in the video. I loved that this house operates only on solar energy, so you don’t need to pay for electricity.
I loved the big glass window on this one, as well as the rooftop area where you can chill when it’s not too sunny. The living area in this house is also quite spacious, and that bedroom in the loft looks very comfortable.
For urban living, this design is perfect – if I do decide to get my own place in Manila, it would probably look a lot like this. It has to be a bit more comfortable and convenient compared the previous 2 tiny houses above, because I’d probably be coming home stressed after a long day at work (and traffic) and I want to be able to laze around easily.
This tiny house is a bit bigger than the others, but this is perfect for living in the city, and even for a small family. I liked the climbing wall and how they kept the TV tucked in a corner, away from the living room!
With Tiny Houses, what’s important is that you can really customize it to fit your personality, and how you really want to live your everyday. This last video below is one that I’m really super amazed at – it’s the tiniest tiny house I’ve seen so far. This probably wouldn’t work in the Philippine setting (this one’s in Japan), but the artistry and creativity behind this tiny house just blows my mind.
What do you think about Tiny House living? Let me know in the comments below!