Korie Veidel

My husband and I live in a 8x18 tiny house on wheels. We do have a need for space. I think something that's overlooked is that we don't spent all day in our houses. Part of (my) minimalistic philosophy is to resist recreating the outside world inside my house. I can go outside comfortably (as long as I'm dressed for it) for about 3/4 of the year in Northern Illinois. But I often spend time away from home- at work, at the library, at coffee shops... I do need space. I just don't need to own it. This is why I wanted a tiny house that wasn't far from town. I live 5 miles outside of town, close enough to drive or bike.

I think people who live in tiny houses DO expand into the areas around them to fulfill that need for space. That space may be outdoors or indoors. It may be intentionally designed to be a community space (like in a communal village) or it may be provided outside.

Also, I've heard tiny living defined as "less than 200sqft per person". I think this is a very fair definition. In the future, when we have 2, 3, or 4 children (Lord willing), I can see us fitting comfortably in 800-1000 square feet... and that's tiny.

Are you off grid?

If you have access to electricity, a simple space heater will likely be fine for your winters. We've found that a single baseboard heater increase the temperature in our 200sqft tiny house by about 60*. On the days it dipped below freezing, we simply had to cook something and our place got nice and toasty.

I'm not sure about cooling options, since it doesn't often get above 85* here.

When I was in India, I saw everyone using these little pop up mesh tents for the babies. They might be too small if your little guy likes to walk and crawl. I would probably use a bigger tent or a playpen with a cover. They have mosquito nets for pack n plays if you have something like that already.

Last winter, I kept a cooler outside to use as a freezer. This worked well for several months, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas to extend the use of our freezer as daytime temperatures rise. In late February/March, the temps still dip below freezing at night, but the daytime temps can get up to 50-60.

I'm somewhat interested in building a more permanent freezer that I could potentially use year round, but right now, I'm most interested in something simple to take advantage this upcoming cold season.

I live in an 8x18 tiny house on wheels with my husband and we are expecting our first child. We've lived here for 6 months.

I do not recommend pursuing a tiny house unless you have somewhere to park it. And you should be prepared to pay rent for the land on which you park it. Tiny house parking seems to run from 250-600 per month depending om location. Monthly campground rental seems to run around the same. Used travel trailers are usually much more affordable. I would consider a used travel trailer and rehabbing the interior for the most cost effective option.

We chose a THOW because we already had a place to put it and because we live in a cold climate and four season travel trailers are really expensive.

Anyways, it is definitely possible to have a tiny house on wheels with a child! Check out www.minimotives.com. She has a toddler and one on the way. While I a, confident that we could accommodate a single baby in our size house, I don't think we would be able to have an older child or multiple children comfortably, especially considering that we live in a cold climate.

One option that we have is to purchase another tiny house and connect the two with a screened in porch. Andrew Morrison has a similar set up for his family of four, including two teenagers. I would place the two houses in a long line, and add an exterior outhouse off of the screened porch as well. Our current tiny house would be converted into a sleeping quarters, with our bed in the loft (as it is now) and the entire downstairs converted into a bedroom/playroom for the kids. The second tiny house would be larger (8x24) and contain a kitchen, dining room, and living room, as well as two lofts. When the kids get older, we will move our bedroom into the bigger tiny house and the oldest kiddo would have the loft as his bedroom.

That's about two years off, so hopefully we will have time to build up some savings to make it happen!