Tiny Houses

The craze to build ever-larger new homes is dwindling. Maybe it's the new media focus on green living. Maybe we're all just sick of cleaning. Whatever the case, the tiny home is hip. You don't even have to live in a studio in the city to live small. Tiny houses are popping up all over the country.

When I was a kid, I used to go out to the backyard and pretend I had to survive there. I figured out which weeds I could eat. I would build a lean-to out of the scrap wood my dad kept behind the garden. I even made a bow and arrow with some small branches, fishing line, and a few feathers.

In the same way that "surviving" the backyard offered adventurous appeal in the safety of my suburban yard, there's a romantic appeal in the thought of a tiny house. The stature lends a story-book quality to a necessity. You're making the choice to accept the inherent challenge of in living in a small space and making it beautiful.

If you also wax poetic about tiny homes, dwelling on memories of dollhouses and tree-forts, check out Tinyhouses.net. The site offers a gallery of tiny houses straight out of our childhood play-house dreams.

Via Black. White. Bliss.