The Tiny Project: "Less House! More Life!"

You know that tiny houses have become a big thing when they are actually randomly passing each other on the highway. Here you see Alek Lisefski's Tiny Project passing a Tumbleweed Tiny House, as he moves to California.

© The Tiny Project

Alex has built a tiny house with a lot of big ideas. He is a web designer by trade but has " a passion for the visual arts, the great outdoors, architecture, and all things natural and beautiful." He writes about why he is doing it:

Inhabiting such a small space will force me to live in a simpler, more organized and efficient way. Without room to hoard things and hide away from the world, I’ll be forced to spend more time outdoors, in nature and engaging with my community.

© The Tiny Project

It has been noted before that living in a tiny house means you have to own less stuff because you have nowhere to put everything, but there are other benefits.

With no more rent to pay, I’ll save money, allowing for a less hectic work life and more time and funds for health, leisure and travel. I won’t be able to keep closets full of clothes or store 5 year old trinkets in a house so small. But I also couldn’t possibly spend $100/month to heat the place, like I do with my apartment now. It has its trade-offs, but one thing is certain: While living in a such a small house, my space, and in turn each area of my life, will be simpler, less chaotic, and free from all but what is essential.

© The Tiny Project

Alek also hits on what I think is the biggest problem with the tiny house movement, and that is one of community, or lack thereof. Much of it is about flying under the legal radar that is set up to find people who aren't paying property taxes or having proper plumbing hookups.

© The Tiny Project

Though a tiny house can be built on a foundation, many people choose to build on a flatbed trailer, in order to make the house mobile, and to avoid minimum square footage requirements that most municipalities have in place for permanent structures. Building on a trailer means the house is considered more like an RV, and does not need to adhere to the same permits, codes, and rules associated with building a normal home. The trick with trying to live full-time in a psuedo-RV is where to park it.

That is the nub of the problem. They are built to RV rules to get down the roads, but most municipalities won't let you live in an RV. That's why we need new forms of communities for these things; otherwise we just have tiny house sprawl.

© The Tiny Project

More photos of Alek's Tiny Project; Found on Designboom and Tiny House Swoon.