We spend our entire lives (and our savings!) planning and designing the perfect house. We fantasize about a carefully lit kitchen, with a huge island in the middle, large interiors, and the perfect living room overlooking the front yard. When it comes to most people’s dream house, it seems like bigger is better. But did you ever consider the many benefits living in a tiny home? This unique style of living not only helps you live debt-free, but it can be just as cozy as your run-of-the-mill big house! Just ask Emma, an Aussie woman who’s living in an 82-square-foot home and loving every minute of it.Her home is so small, Emma can touch both walls with her hands when she extends her arms. And while her Tokyo apartment is as tiny as it gets, she makes the best out of every inch.
Not only is Emma not missing out by living in such a tiny space, but she’s been getting better and decluttering her life from anything she doesn’t necessarily need. And if she doesn’t know what to do with something, she simply stashes it in a corner where it fits.
With so many apartments in uber populated Tokyo, Emma wasn’t expecting to wind up living in a mini McMansion, that’s for sure!
Emma utilizes every inch in her apartment to the max. Underneath the latter, Emma placed a small desk with a computer, which turned it into a workstation area. But she also has a tiny cabinet she uses for storage.
Emma also counts with a tiny kitchenette space that comes with a burner, a pretty large sink, and a tiny fridge underneath. Whenever she needs to free up some space, all she’s got to do is place the cutting board on top of the sink.
On top of the cabinet that’s located next to her workstation, Emma placed a microwave and a toaster oven. Dishes are also kept inside the cabinet, so she doesn’t have to clutter the kitchen area.
As you can imagine, Emma’s apartment is too small to place a mini table, chairs, or an ottoman, so she makes the best of it with the limited space she’s got.
Since she likes to workout and do yoga, she rolled her yoga mat and put it away…well, pretty much anywhere it’d fit!
Her tiny living room area is the one and only place where she says she’s got enough room to place the mat and do a little yoga, so if the mat fits, it sits!
The bathroom is so tiny, you can barely move around in it. But it’s packed with everything anyone could possibly need: a toilet, a shower, and a sink. But here’s where things get interesting! Instead of separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom area, the entire bathroom is the shower. Best of all? The sink’s basin can be used to protect the toilet and the toilet paper from getting wet.
In order to get to Emma’s bed, all you have to do is climb a loft ladder which takes you up to her room, located above the apartment’s entrance.
“What animal sleeps out in the open? I feel that animals always go to a cave or they just try to get into a corner or something… I think a lot of humans like to feel like they are in a tight, nice, cozy space,” Emma told “Living Big in a Tiny House.”
Well, Emma’s forking up an impressive $600 a month, which is a total steal considering rent usually goes for $1,500 USD a month in Tokyo. So choosing to downsize the space we live in, simplify our lives, and live with less not only allows us to embrace the freedom that comes from living in a tiny home. It also frees us from financial concerns. After all, are we just going to continue busting our behinds just so we can afford bigger houses?
