Priceonomics is a tool to help people do more with less. Why buy a new designer desk when you can get a used one for a third of the price? Why not sell your old cell phone to finance the purchase of a new one? Instead of living in a McMansion, maybe you should sell all your possessions and try living in a van instead? Many people unabashedly enjoy high levels of consumption (especially product search sites!), but Priceonomics loves those who choose to have less.
That is why we find the Tiny House Movement, which advocates living in houses that might be the size of your current bathroom, so intriguing. Instead of a large mortgage and a house full of stuff, its (surprisingly numerous) adherents prefer a 100 square foot house and no stuff.
Below are three great resources for learning about small houses. They’re also massive time-sinks; there is something hypnotic about scrolling through pictures of tiny, idyllic cabins.
1. Tumbleweed Tiny House Company
A company that makes tiny houses. The company can build you a full house for around $50,000 or sell you $800 blueprints to make your own (roughly half the cost of buying one from the company).
Here’s a looking inside one of their 117 square foot houses:
Here’s the entrance that flows right into the living room.
Turn around and there’s the kitchen and sleeping loft.
Take the ladder up to your bedroom.
Looks pretty comfy up there actually.
The kitchen rivals most kitchens you’ll find in Manhattan.
And there is a bathroom!
With a shower (no room for a bath tub of course!)
FreeCabinPorn.com is safe for work, though not safe for your productivity. This very popular tumblr is a well curated feed for picturesque cabins, most of which are very small. Here are some of our favorites:
Make fresh tracks every morning in Switzerland!
Or gaze into the Bavarian alps.
This one’s in Lapland, Sweden. Hopefully it’s cozy inside.
Prance in your own German meadow each morning.
Best part of living in Antartica? Penguin neighbors.
Upstate New York FTW!
This could be your summer lake house in Sweden.
Your very own geodesic dome perhaps?
Don’t put a cat on this hot tin roof.
Also in the same vein of FreeCabinPorn.com, this series from Adventure Journal features beautiful, mostly small and remote houses. Here’s our favorite, but you should check them all out:
A very tiny Finnish cabin.
The deck is quite a bit larger than the house.
Here’s the front view.
Very nice living room. What kind of speakers are those?
Light filled sleeping loft. Definitely use the blinds!
Apologies in advance if you clicked any of the links in this post and lost an hour or two of productivity!
This post was written by Rohin Dhar. Follow him on Twitter here or Google.