Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for February 09, 2017

Why on earth are people so anxious to move into tiny houses? I live in a small house and it’s impossible to keep organized because there’s no place to put stuff. Of course, I also work out of my home so a lot of my “stuff” is work-related and has to be put somewhere. I remember years ago watching a Martha Stewart episode on organizing and she showed us her drawer for scissors. I actually said “who the heck has a drawer JUST for scissors? Mine are crammed in with tons of other stuff.” Much easier to stay organized if you have room.

When someone says “small house” I think of a one-room kitchenette I once lived in over an animal hospital between college and grad school, only it’s a stand-alone building.

I think the appeal is that they always show those tiny houses all neat and orderly. Give me five minutes and a shoe box full of stuff and I can make it look “lived in”, by gum.

Some of the ‘tiny house’ appeal is driven by the desire to have as small a carbon footprint as possbile. While that’s an admirable goal, there are many ways to impact the earth. Why, just look at Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio and he flies around the world talking about global warming, jumping from spot to spot on his PRIVATE JET. Truly Gore-worthy…

At any rate, the pink flamingo has to go.

While a “tiny house” may be “bearable” in a short-term sort of fashion…. I think by-and-large, they are pretty ludicrous for most folks. I suspect very few, if any are lived in year round. Some may be occasional destination, vacation homes. Others, guest accommodations or something similar. The thing that I find most obnoxious is that most of these “tiny homes” have “composting” toilets. There is no way in hell that I would want to be in a 200-400 square foot “home” every single day with a composting toilet.

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Now, a small, normal house with normal plumbing… that is another matter. A small house of the 500-800 square foot range can be very accommodating for folks and if people want small, that is the way that I think people should logically go. I still prefer my regular sized normal house.

I live in an 1120 sq. ft. house. My wife thinks we need to throw away stuff, I think we need more room, and want to build a garage. She sent me a decluttering article illustrated with a pic of a bed and nightstand in an otherwise empty room. She’s thinking, ‘look how neat’, I’m thinking, ‘look at all that wasted space’.

I’ve been exposed to tiny living situations – invariably there are lots of tacky little storage shed/shacks littered about. “Curb appeal” suffers.

Where will Janis keep all her shoes?

There are other names for types of tiny houses: cabins, house trailers, and shacks.