Tiny Home Living

Has the idea of living in a tiny home become more of a dream? This minimalist lifestyle is taking stock for many modern-day families. You may be wondering what the benefits are, how tiny is a tiny home, and how to start this exciting and freeing endeavor. Keep reading to get all your questions answered about living in a tiny home.

What is a Tiny Home?

A tiny house is a miniature version of a regular single-family house, including sleeping quarters, a bathroom, and kitchen. The average American single-family home is around 2,260 square feet, while tiny homes have an average size of about 225 square feet but can range up to 800 square feet. While there’s been some debate over what’s considered a tiny home and where they can be built, they’re typically designed as either houses on wheels or permanent structures in tiny house villages or tiny home communities.

Benefits of Living in a Tiny Home

There are plenty of benefits associated with joining the tiny house movement! Some people may use a tiny home as a guest house or in-law suite, but many make a complete conversion to tiny living. Whether you’re looking for more affordable living or an environmentally friendly lifestyle, you might find that the tiny home lifestyle is a great option for your needs.

Budget Friendly

One of the biggest reasons people embrace tiny home living is that it’s incredibly budget-friendly. The average mortgage in the U.S. costs hundreds of thousands of dollars in total, while tiny homes will cost an average of $30,000 to $60,000. In fact, 68% of tiny homeowners don’t even have a mortgage! Plus, since it doesn’t take as much energy to keep such a small area functioning, the cost of utility bills is easier to maintain.

Very Little Maintenance

Upkeep for a mini home is easier and more affordable than for an average-sized home. When living in a tiny house, there’s less floor space to vacuum or sweep, fewer walls and windows to manage or replace, and exterior repairs and care should take less time and fewer materials, keeping your maintenance costs lower than those of a larger home. Additionally, mobile tiny homes typically have no lawns to mow and fewer major appliances to replace.

Simple Living

If you prefer to live more simply, downsizing your space is a great way to embrace a minimalist lifestyle. Living in a tiny house with fewer belongings allows you to focus on the important things in your life, helps you avoid making frivolous purchases, and prevents clutter from accumulating.

Environmentally Friendly

Buying a tiny home can help you live much more sustainably. Many tiny homeowners use eco-friendly design solutions, like solar panel roof tiles, recycled building materials, and composting toilets, to reduce carbon footprints and lower utility usage. Plus, building a tiny home involves less materials compared to building a regular-sized house. Self-sufficient and off-grid tiny homes are especially perfect for sustainable living, because they incorporate appliances that use alternative energy.

Travel More Easily

Tiny homes, especially ones on wheels, are ideal for people who want to spend their free time traveling and seeing the world. By saving money on mortgage payments and utilities, owners of tiny homes can put more of their budget into travel funds. Maybe one of the best perks to tiny house living is the ability to move your home to wherever your heart desires!

What is the Best Way to Decide if Tiny Home Living is Best for you?

What is your type of lifestyle? What does your day-to-day schedule look like? What do you value in your everyday life? These are things to consider before buying or building a tiny home. If you have a large family, enjoy entertaining regularly, or have pets that need a lot of indoor space, then buying a tiny house might not fulfill your needs.

You also may want to consider staying in a tiny home for a week or so to see how you’d fit. Try renting a tiny home on Airbnb on your next vacation!

Tiny homes also come in a variety of designs, shapes, and styles. There are pre-manufactured tiny homes available, but many people choose to design their own! Living in a smaller space requires you to ensure you have enough room for your most treasured belongings, as well as space-saving storage to avoid clutter. Make sure you design your mini home with the local climate in mind so the insulation, window treatments, and other weather-dependent design elements are properly installed to keep your home interior comfortable.

Are you interested in becoming a tiny home dweller? La Pera’s General Contracting in Panama City Beach and Tampa, Florida designs and builds custom tiny homes to fit any lifestyle! We specialize in custom home design & construction. Our services extend to the interior and exterior design of a property, rounding out the overall home building experience from inception to completion. We’ve designed and built an array of home styles — from mid-century modern to efficient and beautiful tiny homes, ranch style, varying of contemporary, classic and many more.

We are equipped to help you make the right decision for your home and for your budget. We strive to give our clients options, as well as sound advice based on solutions that work. If you have questions about your construction project, call La Pera’s General Contracting today! We will provide you with a detailed inspection and estimate by a professional contractor.