Today, on Earth Day, you might find yourself wondering what you can do to lessen your impact on the environment, and a solution that’s on a lot of peoples’ minds are Tiny Houses.
The tiny house movement is an architectural movement that advocates living simply in very small houses, 500 sq ft or smaller. This is quite different than the average home in America, which in 2013 was about 2,200 sq ft, and even smaller than the average one bedroom apartment, which is 982 sq ft.
There are many environmental and financial benefits to living in a tiny house. Heating, cooling, and electrical bills are significantly reduced. Some tiny houses are even built on wheels and meant to be towable, allowing you to move around freely, even follow the seasons so you don’t have to heat or cool your home artificially.
But moving into a tiny house brings up a huge problem – you have more than 500 sq ft worth of stuff! Proponents of the tiny house movement see this as a benefit, not a problem. You can sell your things, free yourself of your possessions and your materialistic lifestyle. But many of us know that it isn’t that simple.
There is known and significant stress to downsizing. It can be a long and emotionally draining process. And besides, how do you know that you’re going to be able to live in a tiny house? Consider a compromise, and store your possessions affordably in Mini-storage Greenville, NC while you try out tiny house life!
Some tips to help you downsize include:
- Start in areas of the house you don’t usually enter or use, like guest rooms and formal living rooms.
- Make decisions on large items like furniture before smaller items like knick knacks.
- Take your time – set a goal well in the future and organize yourself so that you can sort a few items at a time.
- Once your items are in storage, set a time limit. If you find that you haven’t even missed them after that time limit, then sell or donate them.