I've gone from a house to a tiny house back to a house and back to a tiny house. Here are the biggest tips and tricks I learned when transitioning a family into tiny living.
Really it all comes down to 4 steps :
1 - Declutter, declutter, declutter!!
2 - Realize that you’re living in a tiny space so don’t try to live in a big space anymore…keeping only what you need.
3 - Give yourself grace because the transition will take time!
4- Keep decluttering (staying on top of it)
Have you thought about living tiny? Or felt a tug in your heart?
People do it for all different reasons work-related, to travel, for freedom or to be able to afford rent!
If you've ever had a desire to live tiny, I recommend going ahead and starting these next steps in your home today. If you do these things in your home now and you'll have more space and feel better about your current home and will make the transition to tiny that much easier too.
I actually decluttered for 4 years before going tiny the first time. But more on that later.
1 - Decluttering:
This is truly the first step in going tiny AND something you can do today in your home even if you don’t know if you want to live tiny or not.
Learning the art of decluttering is amazing because once you live tiny you’ll need to keep decluttering (even more often than in a big house) but if you practice decluttering at the first thought of wanting to down-size—what happens is you feel better in your current home and once you’re tiny it isn’t overwhelming to figure out how to declutter because you already know what to do.
Living tiny is truly all about using what you have and having what you use!
I decluttered for over 4 years before moving into our camper for the first time. Yet when we moved into the tiny space, there were some places that our things fit well AND with extra room (the bathroom, vanity, kids space and wardrobes) I was so surprised!!
Yet there were other spaces I struggle with, big time—even with years of prep! My hardest areas ended up being the kitchen and pantry as well as what in the world to do with allll the dirty laundry!! Because even one days worth of laundry is a BIG pile in a camper.
All of that said, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by even knowing where to start with decluttering? I created a whole video course called The Declutter Academy you can check it out here.
2 - Living in a big space vs a tiny space:
Shifting the mindset is the next thing to work on. Once you know what you have in your home, know why you use it this step is easier.
Living in big spaces we can do things like buy in bulk or keep things that we aren’t using. That’s fine because there’s more space.
Yet when we transition to living tiny it could mean that you’ll be tripping over these “extra” things causing more stress and aggravation into a normal day that's just not needed. So I encourage you to embrace your season of tiny and realize you may not need 30 pairs of shoes or the bulk package of paper towels. Just take time to sit down, think and write a list about what you can and can’t live without. What’s important to you…is it important enough to bring the stress of having to move it around daily, walk around it or having to create extra space for it in the tiny living space.
Let me tell you…I have so many coffee mugs. But that’s important to me! So there isn’t a right or wrong number of things here…you’ve just got to figure that out for you and your family 💜
It's actually the little changes in our shopping habits that this step can also be solved. Instead of buying 5 hand soaps you’ll buy 1 for each sink as you need them. Or instead of saying yes to all of the hand-me-downs you save money and thrift shop or go and buy only what clothing is needed. This helps with storage because you don’t need to store the extras and have space for other things you need!
A down side is that you may find yourself grocery shopping more often if your fridge is smaller or maybe you’re able to get more creative with what you buy!
Your weekly routine may need adjusting for things like washing laundry. But I want you to know you’ll figure it out with time.
3 - Give yourself grace:
Realize living tiny won’t be perfect at first so embrace adjusting to the tiny life. And laugh.
The process is a lot of work so plan to give yourself lots of grace, time and space. Even consider taking a break from other responsibilities for a short time just to be able to figure out the flow in the tiny space. This isn’t required but is so beneficial long term to transitioning smoother.
Embrace figuring out how to live tiny. Because at the end of the day it looks different for every family. So encourage communication of what’s working and not working with those that live in the tiny space with you.
4 - Keep decluttering:
Because that’s how your space will continue feeling better and better with time and it’ll be easier to keep organized.
Things will pile up faster now because well you have a smaller space and that’s not a problem! Just keep going.
Pay attention to when you’re not using something anymore…for example: a coat, a cleaning object or kitchen appliance.
Ask yourself:
Is this item worth moving daily?
Is this item worth walking around?
Is this item worth clearing out space to store it where it’s out of site out of mind?
If not, donate or sell the item(s).
Only other thing is to help when transitioning to tiny is routines. For example, I started washing the dishes after every meal or multiple times a day so they don’t pile up and become overwhelming. Because one meal of dishes will become overwhelming in a small space….where as in a house—it’s not overwhelming.
So be open minded to what routines need to change to make living tiny work for you.
Just remember you're doing a good job. It’s a transition and will take time. 🥰😘
XO,
Kayla
Here’s a few links to things I added to my camper to help with storage:
Baskets to hang on the wall. I use them for fruit and need to put them in the kids room so they have a place for their special items.
Command hooks : makes hanging anything on the wall easy. Backpacks, purses, towels. Keeping these on hand is a great idea when transitioning.
Shoe Rack : goes over our only inside door but helps so much with the shoe clutter!
Over-sized cutting board for over the stove this makes so much space yet is easy to move when it's time to use the stove.
Vanity racks i actually took out the entire vanity and redid it (you can see that process here) but these are the shelves I used to give us more space in the bathroom.
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