My home, in Orwellian speak, is a doubleplusunbig apartment — but serious minimalist thinkers have me beat with their quadrupleplusunbig homes and their correspondingly tiny carbon footprints. The number of these small home enthusiasts seem to be no longer small, since tiny home fans can be found everywhere from Los Angeles to Brooklyn!

Perhaps the best known tiny house enthusiast is Peter King,** a Vermont carpenter who shows people how to build tiny houses. We’re talking really tiny houses — like 10 feet by 10 feet — that don’t even require a building permit to build. Here’s a video by Stuck in Vermont about Peter King and his tiny houses.** Watch it to hear Peter wax lyrical about living simply with lots of free time in a beautiful place — by foregoing the big house with the equally big mortgage.

Then there’s Dee Williams, a woman in Portland, Oregon** who decided to do away with her $1000-a-month mortgage by building an 84-square-foot house. Her new, totally-solar-powered home cost $10,000 to build, and only costs her about $8 a month for heating. Plus, the home’s got wheels — so she can “move” whenever she wants, wherever she wants! Believe it or not, Dee’s thinking of going even smaller. According to Yes! magazine:**

She’s thinking of downsizing to a gypsy wagon that wouldn’t have the sleeping loft, “only because sometimes I feel like that’s a lot of wasted space—and I’d have a lower heating bill, greater economy of space. And I’d be just as happy in a smaller space.”

In fact, there is a guy who’s already living in a gypsy wagon of sorts. One Ken Ilgunas lives in a ‘94 Econoline near Duke University,** where he goes to school. (via Unclutterer)** Why? To save money — and to challenge himself:

Living in a van was my grand social experiment. I wanted to see if I could — in an age of rampant consumerism and fiscal irresponsibility — afford the unaffordable: an education….

Living on the cheap wasn’t merely a way to save money and stave off debt; I wanted to live adventurously. I wanted to test my limits. I wanted to find the line between my wants and my needs. I wanted, as Thoreau put it, “to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life … to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”

Living tiny isn’t just for those who prefer living solo. Kelly Breslin and Ryan Conder live together in a teensy home in the Echo Park** neighborhood of Los Angeles. Compared to the homes above, the 380-square-feet apartment may sound palatial — but the couple shares this space with their baby son — who also shares their queen bed:

Built atop a two-car garage, the 1950s house’s living quarters consist of two rooms — and that’s if you count the bath. There isn’t a designated nursery or even a crib. Along with other parents in their Echo Park circle of friends, Conder and Breslin practice co-sleeping, so Thurston rests with them.

The east coast’s got its own urban tiny living couple — Zaarath and Christopher Prokop who share a 175-square-foot studio in Morningside Heights** with their two cats (via unclutterer).** They don’t have dishes, they keep their clothes stashed at various dry cleaners, and they’ve done away with the trash can. Reports the New York Post:** “The second something needs to be thrown out, they walk to the chute in the hallway.” The couple does, however, make room for lots of champagne in their tiny home, which certainly makes me wonder if I should similarly be shifting my use of space to make room for more of what I love.

Ready to give tiny living a try? Re-Nest shows you where you can get cheap designs to build your own tiny house,** while Shea Gunther at MNN.com has news on an entire complex in Seattle, Wash., with all tiny apartments.**

Even if you’re not ready to live into a quadrupleplusunbig home quite yet, these stories are fascinating and inspiring reads that make you rethink what you really need or want — whether it’s a trash can, an oven, or solar panels — and how you spend your time. For more tiny home news, follow the Tiny House Design blog.**

Screenshot via Tiny Houses

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