Sure, microManisions look hip and cool, and the idea of minimalist living is appealing, but could you actually do it? Would a smaller home be feasible for your lifestyle?
I may be biased, but yes, you can! I’m the Co-Founder of microMansions and I’ve been living in one of our smaller models, the Rip, since 2018 and I’m here to share my full experience with you! The good, bad and the ugly. If you’ve been considering downsizing, this blog post is for you!
I first want to start off by clarifying that microMansions is not just a tiny house company. We started off with floor plans that were only 1,000 square feet or less. Now, we’ve expanded to meet the needs of our customers and our most popular models are between 1,000 and 1,200 square feet. Which is still downsizing for most, considering the median home size in Kansas ranges from 1,577 to 2,712 square feet.*
The Rip model has 544 square feet of living space and 2 stories. If you add a basement to it, it’s 905 square feet total. I added a basement to mine, because… tornadoes.
The floor plan is 1 bed/1 bath. The bath is located on the main level with the kitchen, dining and living space. There are stairs up to the loft where the bedroom and/or office is located. There is not a built-in closet in the loft in this original design. Instead, I used armoires from Ikea which made the space very functional. At one point, I had my office on one end of the loft with my bedroom on the other and the closets in between to separate the spaces.
So, let’s talk about that lifestyle! I’ll start with the good.
Storage isn’t usually seen as a “pro” in a small home, but I’m going to outline how the limited storage worked for me.
This size of this kitchen is similar to a kitchen you’d find in just about any apartment. The space that the cabinets provided was sufficient for what I used to cook with. Keep in mind, it was just myself, so I kept things minimal and didn’t have a lot of extra cups or gadgets that sometimes collect over time. I also had to be selective of the small appliances I kept. I used a crock pot and small air fryer. I still had room for cookbooks, glass baking and pie dishes. I don’t like a lot of things on my countertop, so I often stored my tea kettle and coffee machine when I wasn’t using them.
There isn’t a formal dining room so I used tables and barstools that had window views and doubled as a space for me to work most of the time. There is room in our new floor plan for a small island that would’ve added a lot of functionality to the kitchen/dining area. The living room is completely open to the kitchen and dining, so a small tv mounted on the stairwell provided entertainment for all three spaces. I spent 90% of my time in this space.
“But Abby, you must not have had many things! There is no storage!”
False. I have Hobby ADHD (a memoir soon to follow). I used my basement mostly for storage of those hobbies. I hunt and shoot competitively and that comes with a lot of gear. I dabble in artsy things like painting and embroidery. I like to read so I have a stash of books. I play multiple instruments and those aren’t small or easy to store. I have 3 dogs and they are not cuddly, easy dogs. They eat a lot of food and are each trained in different sports which also requires a lot of gear. I had the normal miscellaneous stuff that everyone has… board games, extra bedding and blankets, photo albums, year books, etc.
I didn’t have to sacrifice my lifestyle in this 905 square foot house. I have some great friends who started a local company called Perfect Placement. They came in and helped me organize everything so that it was conveniently located and labeled.
With all of that being said, what I didn’t have the luxury of was adding unlimited new things. I was very specific with what I kept and didn’t. For example, I tried an InstantPot for a while but decided I used a crock pot more so I sold the InstantPot. For hunting, I kept one bow and one rifle. That same rifle is what I shoot competitively with. I kept things that I could use for multiple hobbies and didn’t expand unless I absolutely needed to. When I finished reading books, a friend and I would take a trip to Tulsa to exchange those books for new books. If I didn’t use something often, it got sold or donated.
Cleaning in a small house was a huge pro. I could sweep and mop and dust the whole house in a couple of hours, top to bottom. I do HATE dusting, so I tried to keep everything in closed door cabinets. I also didn’t have a lot of shelves with décor or photos on them, solely so I didn’t have to dust.
The heating and cooling bills were relatively manageable and I would consider them a “pro”. I haggled with the electric company several times because I’d have my mini-splits off for most of a month and I’d still have a $100 electric bill. But I was part of an electric co-op and a third of that was their fees. I was also heating and cooling a dog kennel building.
The final “pro” I’ll mention here is the overall cost of maintaining the home being minimal. Outside of utility bills, the loan amount was reasonable as mentioned above. The insurance and property taxes were consistent with the cost of the home. Of course, property taxes have been going up over the years for everyone, but it hasn’t outweighed the value of the home site, in my opinion. In 8 years, I haven’t had to make any replacements to materials or structure of the home (outside of personal improvements or fixing something that someone originally installed incorrectly). I’ve mowed, I’ve cleaned and I’ve enjoyed the home as maintenance-free as home ownership can be…
Let’s dig into some “cons”.
Of this unit specifically, especially with the addition of a basement, traveling up and down all flights of stairs all the time for laundry got really old. Not to mention getting up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. I ended up putting my armoires for my clothing down in the basement by the laundry. It was more efficient for me to only sleep upstairs.
Appraisals. Because of the smaller footprint, appraisers often have a hard time using their traditional methods to assign an appropriate value to a smaller home. It doesn’t matter if you have receipts in hand for what you paid to build it, the appraisal methods are outdated, and they will often appraise short of what it’s worth. The main issue here being comparative houses in the market. Another 905 square-foot home in my area will be an older home that is not in good condition, and valued way less than what a new construction home in this size would be worth. One thing to keep in mind is that appraisal are opinion of value. You can always contest it.
Clutter. I hate clutter. In the same breath as mentioning storage as a “pro”, I’m also going to say it can become a “con”. It’s very easy in a small home to accumulate clutter if you don’t have system and a place for everything. The “junk drawer” that we all have can become a problem quick. Christmas time and birthday’s when gifts are given, can create stress if you don’t have space for the items that were lovingly purchased for you. You have to come up with a way to manage clutter that works for you. For me, I tried eliminating something if I brought something new home (except for dogs… those accumulated). My family and friends also grew accustomed to gifting me experiences instead of “things”, unless there was a specific thing they knew I could utilize. Everyone has a different way of looking at clutter and you’ll have to find a system that works for you.
Overall, a small home lifestyle isn’t for everyone. It can be liberating to eliminate unused “stuff” and cut out waste from your life. There are ways you can do that in a full-size home as well. If a microMansion is something you are interested in experiencing, we do have Airbnb’s local to Columbus and Wichita for people to try out. We are launching some new locations in the next year as well. If small living sounds right for you, we can help you design your perfect home!
