26 disappointing photos that show the ugly truth of living in a tiny house

orlando lakefront tiny house

Not every tiny house is platonic.
Frank Olito/ Insider
  • Residents permit Insider into their tiny homes to evidence what tiny house living is actually like. Some of it isn't so glamorous.
  • Lofts, which are an of import feature in tiny houses, can be cramped, hot, and hard to access.
  • Appliances like stoves and bathroom sinks are considerably smaller than what many homeowners are used to.
  • Visit Insider.com for more stories.

Equally the tiny house movement sweeps across the US, many are unsure if the downsized life is for them.

While some people no incertitude savor the thought of getting rid of most of their belongings and living only, others tin can't imagine squeezing their lives into a infinite smaller than 300 foursquare anxiety. So, what is information technology really like to alive in one of these tiny homes?

Residents of tiny homes all over the US showed Insider what tiny house living is really like — and it'south not e'er glamorous.

While nearly people dream of traveling with their tiny house, the reality is that moving your home from 1 place to another tin be quite difficult.

Moving a tiny house.
Courtesy of Alexis Stephens

When people move into tiny houses, they don't realize how difficult it is to travel. For starters, you need to have access to a U-Haul or a bigger truck to attach your dwelling to, which can get costly. You lot as well have to necktie down virtually of your belongings in the home so that they don't fall and break while moving. Tiny house owners are also hyper-aware that their home will most likely be damaged when driving down highways because of the intense wind speeds.

Moving your tiny firm can too exist expensive.

Moving a tiny house.
Courtesy of Tiny House Trek

Alexis Stephens and her partner travel with their tiny house all over the country, just she says it can get expensive. They typically tow their house with a 20-foot U-Booty box truck, which gets 5 miles per gallon. In other words, they have to fill up the tank every 150 miles.

"On a twenty-four hour period full of travel, it tin add upwardly quick," she said. "It probably adds up to $i per mile."

As all tiny houses are narrow by design, living spaces can be cramped.

A narrow living room.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Almost tiny houses are just 8 one/2 one-half feet wide considering that is the maximum width a vehicle tin be to legally bulldoze on roads. This habitation is in Orlando Lakefront, a tiny house community in Florida.

Since everything is smaller in a tiny house, the closet can be a crawl space.

A cupboard.
Frank Olito/ Insider

In this tiny house in California, the walk-in closet is more of a crawl-in. This space is on the 2nd floor of the tiny house at the back of an part room. To get your clothes and exercise your laundry, you have to crawl on your easily and knees.

Merely the smallest spaces in most tiny houses are the lofts, and some can feel quite enclosed.

A loft.
Frank Olito/ Insider

A tiny firm loft is non for claustrophobic people. Homeowners in Florida told Insider they have to crawl in and out of bed because it'southward impossible to stand up up in the spaces.

Tiny firm owners often complain most how hard it is to brand a bed in a loft.

Tiny house lofted bedroom.
Courtesy of Jenna Spesard

"I of my least favorite things to do in my tiny house is brand the bed, especially afterward washing the sheets," Jenna Spesard, who has endemic her tiny firm since 2013, said in a YouTube video. "I'chiliad in a loft, so information technology'due south a very confined space. I kind of feel like I'g doing acrobatics [or] barrel rolls over myself to try to get the sheets on the bed the correct style."

Some homeowners employ lofts for storage instead of sleeping, but it tin can be quite the eyesore.

A loft.
Frank Olito

Lofts can double as keen storage spaces, just often they are hard to access. Some homes crave taking out a ladder.

It tin can exist quite hard to get into a tiny house loft, especially for people who are not athletic. Makeshift staircases and ladders can be seen in these homes.

A ladder to a loft.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Those who cannot climb a ladder or staircase accept to blueprint their tiny house with a chamber on the ground floor, which might not be the best apply of the minor space.

If the pocket-size space doesn't go to yous, the heat that gets trapped in lofts may.

A loft with a fan.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Heat rises, and then lofts are often the hottest spot in whatever tiny house, and that's why you'll detect fans, windows, and other cooling systems in them.

In a tiny house, temperature control tin be catchy and if not done correct, you can get mold – fast.

AC unit in a tiny house.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Tiny business firm owners can struggle to regulate the temperature in their tiny houses, with many saying information technology gets too hot too fast. As a result, h2o builds up on the windows, walls, and piece of furniture. Without the proper ventilation and cooling systems — like air conditioning units — a tiny house tin speedily create harmful mold.

If you don't similar going to the bathroom in the aforementioned spot you go clean, tiny house living may non be for you lot.

Tiny firm bathroom.
Frank Olito/ Insider

In this tiny house, the toilet is attached to the door. When no one is in the bath and the door is airtight, the toilet slides into the shower. When someone is using the bathroom and opens the door, the toilet slides out. With tiny house living, everything happens in the aforementioned infinite.

It'due south easy for such a tiny space to become untidy fast, according to some owners.

A sleeping room in a tiny house loft.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Amanda Burger lives in her 270-square-pes domicile with her two minor children, and she said information technology can get difficult to proceed up with the mess.

"I joke that it'southward one big Rubik'south cube," Burger told Insider. "It'south all near constantly changing things."

Other tiny business firm owners opt for storage containers just struggle to find a place to put them.

Storage containers.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Elizabeth Silva, a tiny house owner in Florida, said she struggled to find space for her belongings when she start moved in.

"Yous don't really know [what will fit] until yous actually move in," Silva said.

She decided to use storage containers, which she placed on top of her White potato bed. Silva said she plans to become a mantle to hide the containers.

While tiny houses are known for their innovative storage options, those spaces tin still be extremely pocket-size.

A closet in a tiny firm.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Burger's small closet space is actually part of a larger storage compartment that is housed in a staircase.

The bath sinks tin can exist considerably smaller than those found in regular-sized homes.

Bath sink.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Although some tiny houses have total sinks and even vanities, others can simply fit pocket-size appliances and fixtures.

Appliances in the kitchen are likewise smaller.

A stovetop in a tiny house.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Cooking for a family unit may be difficult on these two burners. Many tiny houses practise not have a typical four-burner stove.

Likewise, the refrigerators in some tiny houses tin be quite small.

A refrigerator in a tiny house.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Since every bit of floor infinite is important, ane tiny house owner decided to have her fridge pull out of a drawer in her kitchen. Though there's less space in her fridge, it does save infinite in her house.

Hosting dinner parties may be difficult with the modest-sized tables that fit into tiny houses.

A kitchen table in a tiny house.
Frank Olito/ Insider

While some tiny houses take full-size tables, most take smaller tabletops that pull out from the wall or, in this case, from the countertop.

Planning a tiny business firm can be difficult, and sometimes you end up with pattern quirks, like having a bed correct adjacent to your kitchen fridge.

Inside a tiny house.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Tiny houses are all about compromise. In this tiny house in the Orlando Lakefront community, a bunk bed was placed next to the kitchen, which eliminated the infinite for a living room. Still, the bunk bed did create more sleeping areas for guests.

... or like this toilet that'south correct next to a door that opens out on to the yard.

A bathroom in a tiny firm.
Frank Olito/ Insider

This bathroom may be beautiful, merely the baroque design quirk could crusade an awkward moment for some guests.

In case of disaster, like a hurricane, these straps are all that proceed your house from being completely destroyed.

The metal strap.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Tiny houses are considerably more vulnerable to natural disasters than normal-sized homes with foundations. These homes tin just withstand 45 mph winds, and then hurricanes are particularly dangerous.

Residents of Orlando Lakefront said they had to tie down their homes with metallic straps when Hurricane Dorian threatened the community in Baronial 2019, but many were yet worried nigh the prophylactic of their homes. Dorian did non end up hitting the surface area.

Washer and dryers are not common in tiny houses, so most residents have to visit laundromats, like this ane at the Orlando Lakefront community.

Laundry room.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Though some tiny houses do have washers and dryers, most don't. In the community, many take to use this laundromat, which isn't ideal when you own your abode.

Since edifice codes are not upwardly to date with tiny houses in every state, some contractors are making serious mistakes.

Cleaved floorboards.
Frank Olito/ Insider

Misty Gilley, a resident of the Orlando community, said she paid a contractor $xl,000 to build the frame of her tiny house. When it was finished, Gilley slowly realized that much of her house was built incorrect. She said her floorboards were shifting, her electrical was wired incorrectly, and her plumbing was not working.

A regular-sized firm in the U.s.a. must run across certain building codes, which include regulation plumbing, electrical, and mechanical features so that they are considered safe for residents. These codes weren't in place for Gilley'southward tiny business firm, and so her contractor was not legally in the wrong.

The outside of Gilley'southward house was as well built with indoor wood. Information technology will demand to exist replaced.

Gilley's house.
Frank Olito/ Insider

While Gilley's house on the outside looks like a perfect tiny dwelling house, it's actually a prime instance of how things can get wrong without proper oversight. Indoor materials were used for her outdoor siding, which will be hands damaged in the Florida weather.

In all, Gilley has paid an actress $40,000 to brand fixes.

"Because it's not code-enforced, you lot have to sentinel out," Gilley told Insider. "Y'all can't trust that anyone knows what they're doing because information technology's still so new."

As well, Lindsay and Eric Wood said they paid $twoscore,000 for an unfinished tiny firm after their builder went out of business.

The unfinished tiny house.
Courtesy of Lindsay Forest

In 2017, the Woods started working with Alpine Tiny Homes in Utah. The couple said the visitor was supposed to build a $90,000 tiny house for them. Halfway through the build, however, Lindsay said the company went out of business, leaving them with an unfinished tiny house.

Brian Hawkins, who ran the sales and marketing for Alpine Tiny Homes, said he understands how the state of affairs could be upsetting.

"The situation surrounding Lindsay Wood's home is definitely a difficult one, and I completely empathise why she was upset about information technology. We all were," he told Insider in 2020. "My centre goes out to the Wood, and I wish them the best on their tiny business firm journey."

When the Forest picked up the tiny house, they said at that place were some building mistakes. For instance, Lindsay said the visitor used the wrong tires and axles, and the roof was poorly insulated. They said they spent an extra $40,000 fixing the architect's missteps.

Their story points to the larger issues within the unregulated tiny business firm move.

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