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S02.E01: 264 Sq Ft Honeymoon Suite

Snarkette

By Snarkette
in Tiny House Nation [V]

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Snarkette

Snarkette

A Little Rock couple builds a 264 sq. foot mobile honeymoon pad as they prepare to get married and hit the road as traveling nurses. They want plenty of storage space so they have room for their wedding gifts, and they want a large kitchen so they can cook some homemade meals. But most important of all, our hosts John and Zack have to deliver a dream home that can bring these almost newlyweds together in a small space.

 

<i>Off to watch...</i>

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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

The manufactured drama of "we're getting married in 8 days, and we need the house finished by our wedding night" so we can "christen" it properly was just too much. Was their wedding day a surprise? No one took it into account when planning the build?

The house looked good, but I still don't understand how towing your house on a trailer is better than an RV.

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Snarkette

Snarkette

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Once again, I'm flummoxed by the design as a gestalt. With these two, they should have each had their own special space, where they could retreat for privacy.

 

Things I didn't like: The horrible living with all your dresses and shoes in your face, the lack of privacy from each other (she complained about him always being around), the missing living room space, the hacked-together dining experience, it all just seems poorly thought out compared to an average RV floorplan. (They'd need an RV because of the travel requirement vs a single-wide.)  For these two, they'd have been better off using a convertible bedroom that functioned with another use during the day instead of making it all-bedroom-all-the-time.

 

Things I liked: The clever deck with the fold-down rails, the storage spaces under the stairs, built into the outside, the pirate hatch, the full-sized bathroom and the normally-sized sink. The wood was lovely even if the entire build seemed very very heavy (especially over that bridge!).

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zxy556575

zxy556575

The house looked good, but I still don't understand how towing your house on a trailer is better than an RV.

 

The thing was even built exactly like a 5th wheel RV! And they took it to ... an RV park!

 

I'll never get it. Is it the "cool" factor that makes people want a "tiny house" instead of a "manufactured house"? Because practical or cheap or convenient it's not. Especially for those who want to be mobile or travel, RVs do it so much better. Maybe next they'll build tiny houses with slide-outs.

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Snarkette

Snarkette

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Agreed. I think the "tiny house movement" is really missing out on not going with adapting RVs and trailers. It would be fascinating seeing how to "upscale" ("Ikeaize"? "Snobbify"? "Greeniate"?) a manufactured home to something that wouldn't offend a tiny houser.

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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

andyourlittledog2, you hit the (tiny) nail on the (tiny) head. These people aren't really "living the tiny house" lifestyle as much as it's trendy and hip. The only advantage I could see to towing your house to an RV park is then you have the use of your vehicle (even if it is a commercial truck) without having to drive the RV every time you needed to run errands, or alternatively, tow one on the back of the RV.

 

The only show I think that is interesting and has mostly people who are actually doing a tiny house in a real way is Tiny House, Big Living. They show the people really getting into it and the people don't need anyone to brow beat them (John) into fitting that lifestyle, they choose it happily and have real plans for real honest to goodness tiny homes. There's still the RV denialists but they aren't the majority

 

What channel is that on? That one I would enjoy seeing. 

 

But the more episodes of this and other shows like it I watch the more annoyed I get at it all. And John, right now, is on my last nerve.

 

Yeah, John's like the convert who keeps shoving his beliefs down your throat. The other guy (Zach?) seems much more laid back, and from what the show has said about him, he really does live the tiny house lifestyle. 

 

Most of these living solutions with babies and children and even couples in some tiny houses sound 'cute' and 'fun' for the time of about a vacation but longer than that and most people would be going crazy with no private space, no place to just lounge around and be comfortable without converting five things to five other things and moving junk from one thing to another thing because there is just no damn room for anything at all in those little boxes.  Where's the baby going to sleep? In the high loft with us. Right.  Do you have a place to do your homework? Um, no, not really. It's just infuriating to watch people drag kids into this as a permanent lifestyle.  One set of parents was contemplating a single bedroom for them and all four of their children.

 

The wife in this episode was already complaining about having the husband on top of her (figuratively) all the time, plus during the show's version of the "Newlywed Game," it seemed like they got only one question right about the each, so I really wonder how long the marriage and/or tiny house is going to last.

 

To make it worse for the couple with the four children, I believe they were also newlyweds (with two children each), so they were trying to blend a family and have marital relations when their bedroom was the converted living room.

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zxy556575

zxy556575

(edited)

It just seems like 95% of these people are going about it backwards. If they truly desire a simpler life, then they need to start with that. Pare down their wardrobes to 10 or so pieces, get rid of their kitchen gadgets, huge plastic children's toys, and anything from Sharper Image. A small, peaceful living space will then naturally follow, be it an apartment or trailer or house. Don't start at the end point!

 

There have been a few people who outright said they were doing it for financial reasons, which okay, I get. None of the other explanations have made a lick of sense to me. Climbing wall in the house, my fat ass.

 

Bought a studio apartment in New York for a million dollars?  You're doing a tiny house!  Aren't you clever?

 

That one made me snort pretty loudly. Like every street in NY isn't full of efficiency/studio/jr. one bedroom/just plain cramped apartments. Also the couple looking for a beach vacation house in Florida? Hey! You're not looking for "tiny," you're looking for "what I can afford which is not much."

Edited by lordonia
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outback

outback

Does John live in a tiny home? I tried looking it up but could not find anything. I agree with those who find him annoying.

I really like john, I think he asks the questions "america" would ask. From what I heard John lives in a smaller regular house.

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outback

outback

Agreed. I think the "tiny house movement" is really missing out on not going with adapting RVs and trailers. It would be fascinating seeing how to "upscale" ("Ikeaize"? "Snobbify"? "Greeniate"?) a manufactured home to something that wouldn't offend a tiny houser.

Nice RVs and nice mobile homes was something we thought about before building our tiny house buy the buy-in for those is so expensive, a nice remodeled mobile home in our area is 120k plus. So that why we were drawn to the ground up approach to a tiny house

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Chit Chat

Chit Chat

It just seems like 95% of these people are going about it backwards. If they truly desire a simpler life, then they need to start with that. Pare down their wardrobes to 10 or so pieces, get rid of their kitchen gadgets, huge plastic children's toys, and anything from Sharper Image. A small, peaceful living space will then naturally follow, be it an apartment or trailer or house. Don't start at the end point!

 

Well said!  While I don't judge people who want a tiny house, I do wonder how they will fare, say, a year into it - especially the ones cutting back to 400 sq.ft or less.  That's tiny!   I need my walking around space in a house!  My first house was a 1000 sq. ft., and for me, I wouldn't want to go much smaller.   I don't need a huge house, but around 1600 sq. ft. fits our family.  I don't like clutter, so I try to keep things fairly simple.  Things that I have tucked away in the attic get a yearly review, and as I get older I find it easier to let some of these things go. 

 

One other note about the tiny houses is that there are many areas of the country where I wouldn't want to be in one.  I grew up in hurricane central, and now live in tornado alley, so unless there was a basement under said tiny house, it would not be a good idea to have one in my neck of the woods! 

 

The concept of the tiny homes fascinates me though, and it seems to suit many people's needs, so here's to people trying something different!  I do find it interesting how people my age (50ish!) went from a time where life was pretty simple (no cell phones or computers, etc.,) then things got booming and people were becoming successful, interest rates fell to a ridiculous level (they were 18% in 1980 when I got married,)  so people started buying really big homes, and now a lot of these people want to simplify their lives and go back to living simply/small.   It's fascinating to me to watch this cycle of people going from living simply to living large and back again to living simply. 

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Former Nun

Former Nun

Does John live in a tiny home? I tried looking it up but could not find anything. I agree with those who find him annoying.

 

 

I agree, Enigma X.   I'll have to do some research on him--I'm almost sure I found him annoying on some other TV show.   Sometimes they cram these TV "personalities" down our throats so much/so often, that they eventually find a full-time job and we're subjected to them on a long-term basis (Lara Spencer).

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auntjess

auntjess

(edited)

 

Sometimes they cram these TV "personalities" down our throats so much/so often, that they eventually find a full-time job and we're subjected to them on a long-term basis (Lara Spencer).

I agreed, until you failed to use Genevieve Gorder as you example.

Edited by auntjess
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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

I agreed, until you failed to use Genevieve Gorder as your example.

 

Ugh. I disliked her and her "designs." Out of the original designers on "Trading Spaces," I thought she was one of the worst. (Hildi Santos-Tomas takes first [last?] prize for worst designer.)

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Jellybeans

Jellybeans

The problem with RV's is they are too much like an RV instead of a home. I wish an RV company would run with the trend and make an RV that looks like a "tiny home" on the outside but drives like an RV, and has the touches of home inside- A combo RV/tiny home style.

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Granny58

Granny58

"a nice remodeled mobile home in our area is 120k plus."

HOLY COW!  Where do you live?  That is outrageous.  A NICE mobile home in my neck of the woods would be $40,000.

 

One thing never mentioned, and I think of it every time there's a loft bed....nighttime peeing.  I'm a frequent peer (TMI?) and if I had to go up and down a ladder twice a night, that might just encourage me to bring the chamber pot back into fashion.  

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Giselle

Giselle

ah, well yes....Malibu is a world apart from my world.  $120,000 there would be a steal.

 

 A world apart from mine as well. Driving up PCH I was surprised to see a residential MH park and mobile homes with a ocean view.

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