Lessons from TINY HOUSE LIVING: 6 FORMER MUST-HAVES we now live without

​Hey Tiny House squad!  We recently met a wonderful woman, Brynn, who has made the jump to go tiny with her family of four.  After getting to know one another, we concluded that we just had to have her experiences and lessons, triumphs and tribulations documented on her tiny house journey.  As such, we have a four part series of her thoughts and experience going tiny!

Here is Brynn's 2nd piece on her tiny house experience, 6 Former Must-Haves We Now Live Without!  ​If you've ever wondered how to downsize, this is a great piece for you!

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It is pretty incredible, as you begin to downsize and purge yourself of non-necessities, what you find you no longer need or haven't even used. We have uncovered entire boxes we hadn't unpacked in years. Clearly the items packed inside weren't important. I feel certain you have an attic or basement stockpile like we did. Most people do.
So here are the six former must-haves we decided to ditch. 

Multiple Seasons/Sizes of Clothing
Full transparency, if left to my own devices, I can be a hoarder. Growing up with limited funds taught me to be thrifty and responsible. This includes couponing for groceries, buying in bulk, and snagging deals on clothes or shoes before my kids can even fit into those sizes.

Now that we live in under 300 square feet, my storage has drastically decreased. This means, aside from our dresser and closet space, we have exact one drawer (I repeat: one.) for the next season's items. So, when I change over from winter to spring, everything that can still be worn next winter must fit into the drawer.

This mindset has cut down on excessive spending as well as allowed us a true picture of what we actually wear. Lean in close: It's not that much!

The great thing about builders like Modern Tiny Living is that you can build a THOW from 12-28 feet so your storage can be plentiful. It’s up to you, the client!

Extras of Everything
It shocks me to say that my son does not, in fact, need over 20 pair of underwear and our dog will not actually drop dead if she runs out of dog treats. Say whhhaaattt!? I know. Stay with me here.

As a former bulk and budget shopper, I might have 9 bags of dog treats or an entire shelf filled with toilet paper just because it was on sale. It pains me to admit that all of those things just took up space that could have been used for something else and never did we find ourselves in a state of dog treat-less panic.

So, my fellow saving-savvy friend, step away from the Chick fil a sauce packets. It's fine. You have BBQ sauce in a bottle in your fridge. You will make it through this nugget crisis without taking 13 extra packets home with you. Trust me.

What I LOVE about Modern Tiny Living is that they offer models so incredible that they even offer residential refrigerators. Un-be-lievable! 

Trendy Toys and Gadgets
Maybe it is a good thing we Roadschool because my six year old son will not be another cell phone toting elementary student. Nope. Not happening. Our kids watch Netflix so they don't see commercials marketing the latest and greatest toy with flashing lights and obnoxious noises because we don't have room for them anyway!

Each of our kiddos has two fabric bins each for toys. If they don't fit, they don't stay. If they get something new, something old is replaced. We go through and purge toys about once every 6-8 weeks and they know to expect it. It has been pretty freeing.

Modern Tiny Living has models like the Cocoa with so much storage and shelving the kids wouldn’t even know what to do with all of the space! 

Oversized Appliances
From giant washer and dryers to oversized refrigerators, American households are littered with appliances that consume real estate inside our homes. When people think of going tiny, they sometimes don’t consider that smaller sized large appliances are generally used. We loved shedding the weight and the space laundry took up in our home and the apartment sized fridge is more than enough for our family of four.

The most surprising was how little we actually used small appliances that just accumulate dust on the kitchen counter. Our mixer, blender, 4 slice toaster, giant coffee pot, and crockpot took a backseat. The regular sized toaster and standard coffee pot get the job done and we are more than happy no to have to clean the unused appliances.

If you love or feel you need large appliances, Modern Tiny Living can accommodate. If those aren’t needs for your family, you can easily downsize even further to models like the Nugget at only 12 ft long.

“Just In Case” Items
For the love of first aid kits, when has there ever been a need for 2 Ace bandages, 3700 bandaids, and 10 double thick gauze pads during one accident? I couldn't tell you either, but I certainly had that many or more on hand at any given time when we lived in our larger home.

Friends, natural disasters occur but they are rare. So, it is unlikely we will need to make the space for a 'Go Bag' or the 30 pieces of fine china most people keep in a specially designated cabinet in case the queen comes over. You don't need these things so rid yourself of them!

The great diversity in the lineup of over nine models from Modern Tiny Living lies in the fact that you can not only build in a large size range, but also in a range of storage, sleeping arrangements, and much more!

Often Buying In Bulk
As previously stated, I am a natural hoarder. At any given time in our pre-tiny living years, you could've basically shopped my pantry or medicine cabinets as if they were an extension of Target.  This had to stop.

Since going tiny, I no longer buy things in multiples unless they are on budget and on my list. If we don't have plans to use them in the next week (or month, depending on the item), they remain on the shelf.

- Brynn Burger