Tiny Houses

I spent most of today browsing the web, looking at "tiny houses." It's amazing how small they look from the inside, but how roomy they can look on the inside. Granted, I saw a few that would not be close to liveable for me personally, but most of them I coveted with all my heart and soul (we're talking about less than 300 square feet total here). Especially the "build it yourself" factor and the whole idea of paying as you build so you don't have a mortgage at the end. I think the worst part about living in a tiny house is the lack of space. I have a lot of stuff... I like my stuff. Especially my many, many books. Could I get rid of most of it for the sake of a smaller footprint? Well, thinking about it, I could probably get rid of some of my books, but definitely not all of them. I have first editions from most of my favorite authors, and I'm just not willing to part with those. But what about some of the school books I've kept that I never plan on reading again? Those could probably go. The problem is, that I have picture books that I'd like to pass onto my children someday.

And what about kids... would something so small be big enough to raise 2 kids in (that's how many my husband and I have decided we want). It sounds like it would be a great starter house, or a great retirement plan, or maybe after the kids have finished school and are living on their own. But I'm not sure it's quite as feasible in between.

It's sad how many people think that the bigger the house, the better. Average square footage per person has grown exponentially over the past century, and I'm just not sure it's worth all the headache of the maintenance costs, the mortgage, and the amount of electricity, heat and water required to keep it running. How do you feel about down-sizing?