Would you like to know what happens to somebody after living in a tiny house for  over seven months?  Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought spending over half a year in under 200 sq. ft had to either send your body into adaptation mode and you would shrink a little bit, or it would shift your perspective so much that you would see the world differently.

Adam and I have talked about some of the things we have noticed throughout our seven months here, often it comes up when we ask each other “why do we like it here so much?” Although part of that question remains to be answered we have come to a few conclusions and revelations about life in the tiny house.  Yeah things are going to get deep…

1. We like each other

We knew we liked each other and didn’t expect that to change but living here has made it clearer than ever.  If we didn’t like each other this definitely wouldn’t be going so smoothly!

2. When you follow your heart and take risks good things happen

This blog got its name because in the end the good that can come from taking a chance to achieve a goal will ALWAYS outweigh the potential risk of it failing.

3. Maybe we are laid back

We like to think of ourselves this way but who really knows?  Living here for the last 7 months has been surprisingly easy.  Yes there are inconveniences, frustrations, and all of that but we have embraced the good with the not so convenient.  I often have people tell me about how they would handle living in a tiny house “it’s not for me” “that’s cool, but I could never do that” “I like my space too much” “I would kill my spouse.”  After hearing these dramatic declarations I find myself wondering if I’m missing something, or if my breaking point is yet to come.  I have since realized maybe we have a quality that allows us to easily and happily live in a place that many couldn’t.  Both of us have always adapted to new environments easily and living in a tiny house has been no different.

4. The root of happiness 

This isn’t a new revelation of course.  My family never placed importance on having nice cars or a huge house.  While studying abroad in Ghana I learned this valuable lesson . Ghanaians are some of the most joyful people I have ever met and many of them had few material possessions.  What they did have was a close family and the basics needed to live.

5. Though stuff is nice, you feel pretty free when you aren’t surrounded by it

I will be the first to admit I am not a minimalist but I have enjoyed the feeling of having everything you need and not much else.   Adam isn’t exactly high maintenance,  the only thing I can remember him saying he wanted in the house was a cool bottle opener.  Luckily we have space elsewhere to keep our camping and outdoor gear otherwise it may be different but he is a man of few necessities.

6. Its BETTER than we imagined

The fact that Adam and I are very optimistic people combined with the fact that we dive into things quite quickly should have guaranteed this tiny house thing to either not work out or be far less enjoyable than we thought.  We are delighted that this has been one of those cases where the reality of the situation is actually better than what we had pictured.  We had decided that if we hated living in the tiny house then we would just move out, but we don’t so we’ll stay.

7. Perfect 

Now, don’t get the idea that life in the Redmond Estate is always rainbows and butterflies.  We love it here but that doesn’t mean things are always perfect.  It is harder to entertain, hard to use a foam roller inside, impossible to get a running start and slide across the floor in socks, harder to bake and cook elaborate meals, hard to slam a door for dramatic effect if Adam and I are having a fight (but not impossible).  Though there are small sacrifices we have had to make they have all been easy to do without or work around.  We may not see the world totally differently and haven’t had any shrinking happen, but we have found a better understanding of what is important to us and what we need to be happy.