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OwenChristensen
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:43pm
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I understand that for many it's cost, but not quite for me.
In Northern , MN it's the comfort and the cozy factor. Easy to heat, easy to clean. Even when we have visitors the one room with dining table, kitchen and living room all together is nice. You can visit and keep an eye on dinner. Even with several people, being able to sit at the table and use the couch for the extra seating seems to work just fine.
Anyway I hate waist and it just seems to me we don't need larger. My wife might not agree.
Owen
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Malamute
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:49pm - Edited by: Malamute
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Similar for me, and cost is definitely a factor, though I just like smaller for simplicity sake. I dont entertain much, though if my place were a bit larger I could. 14x18 is TOO small for me to live in full time. Plans are to double the main cabin size, and add a small sun room/greenhouse on one side, and a small office/study on the opposite side. All told it will still be what most consider quite small.
Getting my little shop cleared out of storage stuff will help tremendously also. Storage space is important in small places.
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Nirky
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 04:06pm
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Small cabin, large deck.
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 04:24pm
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For us it was to downsize and save money for semi-retirement. It is also more practical as it is easier to clean and costs less to heat, etc. A McMansion for two people (not that we could afford it) just didn't make any sense. I like that me and the Mr. are closer together and can talk to each other throughout the day. In a zillion room house, we would never see each other. I believe small house living is all about simplifying your life and getting rid of the "stuff" that you don't need. You tend to refocus on what is truly important.
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OwenChristensen
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 04:46pm
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Nirky
You got that right, but I'll add one thing more, a large shop!
Oh and a screen house down by the beaver pond.
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bobrok
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 05:33pm - Edited by: bobrok
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I agree with the cozy factor. And we've really paid attention to that multi-use thing as well. In an "L" shape configuration (with the 1 bedroom being the part that squares out the building) it's really a game of inches when you plan.
It works well for us. We have a futon in the living room area that becomes our 2nd bedroom and we use tall folding louver shutters for privacy as necessary.
I find that this means you really only invite those closest of your friends due to these circumstances and that makes for some great times.
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RichInTheUSA
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 05:47pm
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For me it's a simpler life (even if it is just on the weekends).
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OwenChristensen
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 08:10pm
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bobrok
I have a 12 x 12' guest house for visitors.
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Wilbour
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 08:17pm
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Funny, we camped in a tent for decades so a small cabin is actually bigger. Honestly we are discovering the "joy of less"
....and guests tend not to stay long when there are little comforts of home
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turkeyhunter
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 09:13pm - Edited by: turkeyhunter
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Being in a small cabin with the wood stove going...is COZY
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Smawgunner
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 09:46pm
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One word...simplicity. 
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rmak
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:17pm
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I was made to read Walden in high school. It stuck.
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neb
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:23pm
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Quoting: Smawgunner One word...simplicity.
Yep keep it simple. I do wish I would of made mine bigger now but at the time it was just a fishing and hunting shack. I will never live there full time as long as I have a wife. LOL My cabin is a night or two or a day visit for now.
I did build a shed/shop and that has made a big difference for storage.
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bobrok
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:46pm
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My camp is 20' x 20' and we (wife and I) never feel cramped. We can handle 2 guests with ease. We also have a 6' x 12' raised deck off our entryway that we hang out on a lot as it faces towards the lake. I bought a 16' retractable RV awning that not only is the perfect size but also has the brown/tan muted color that just fits perfectly and allows us to use the deck when its raining. Scoring this awning for $100 on C/L was one of my crowning achievements! I love sitting out there during a rainstorm watching nature do its thing!
I also have an 8 x 12 shed that is really the guts of the place. Generator, water storage barrels and pump, tools, workbench, bikes, outboard motor, etc. I'll bet I spend more time in that shed than I do inside the camp!
But yet, as you say, it's all kept very simple.
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Gary O
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 10:56pm - Edited by: Gary O
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I just like the coziness.
I like the looks of a huge lodge, but the word 'cozy' just doesn't come into play for me.
Even though the logs of a large log home are inviting, there is a discomfort, a lack of complete warmth, like getting up close to the stove of a cold morning.
A large lodge asks you in.
A small cabin beckons you to take yer shoes off,
get comfy,
stay.
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bobrok
Member
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2015 11:50pm
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Dream on, Gary, and start that next book soon, willya?
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OwenChristensen
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 06:41am
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I spend my time indoors looking out.
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Gary O
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 06:55am
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Quoting: bobrok Dream on, Gary, and start that next book soon, willya?
eeeasy there big fella
an ol' man hasta ponder
right now I'm fascinated with these guy's thoughts and pics
(it's started)
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Moomps
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 08:25am
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Quoting: Nirky Small cabin, large deck.
I agree - My deck is larger then my cabin and that's where we spend most of the time - weather permitting.
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creeky
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:09am
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I have three small buildings. And three decks. Every year I seem to add another building. I'm around 540 sq ft between the three buildings. But my hallway is 2 acres.
Small for me means affordable. Easy to build. Fun to live in. Lower maintenance. Less energy intensive.
The nice thing about separate buildings is you have to travel between them. You know you go to bed in the bedroom. you wash in the washroom. You cook and hang out in the great room. I can't tell you how many times I've stopped and watched the birds, or the critters, or the stars, or northern lights when coming back from the washroom. Even in the middle of winter. It's really connected.
Next is the treehouse. Oh. And then the floating summer cabin. Er. And maybe a solar balloon after that. and ...
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cabingal3
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:53pm
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why a small cabin?its all we need.
we had a huge house once and i could never find Gary O.
the cellar was his hang out.tools and repair.or up in the computer room or at the neighbors.i was going thru all the levels hunting him down.oh he was not even there.he was at the neighbors comparing old house stories and remodel.
with a small cabin-there he is.no hunting.
like a magical dream come true and with retirement.i finally get him all to myself.
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bobrok
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 02:39pm - Edited by: bobrok
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This is so true! My wife and I are inseparable now that we are both retired! We hardly saw each other during our first 25 years of marriage. No idea where those kids came from!
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bugs
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 04:21pm - Edited by: bugs
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Our micro (77 sq ft) cabin is ideal for our weekend getaways:
-cheaper....so we can buy more land!!!!
-less to clean more time to enjoy above statement
-an interesting challenge to fit everything in and be comfy. As bobrok says its a "game of inches".
-fewer guests- Wilbour -and those that stay (in their tents) appreciate what the place is all about
-we used to backpack and car camp a fair bit so what we have is luxury...and no worries of a bleepin mega rv pulling in beside us
-we spend most of our time outside so it is just a bedroom really
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BaconCreek
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 05:20pm
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We went with a 12x24 that we built ourselves.
The original idea was to have a builder put in a log home for us. Nothing huge but more like a conventional log home. Got the builder, had the bank loan, had the site. It just didn't feel right. After the 2012 election I cancelled it all and we decided to do it ourselves.
Thank goodness we did because I was RIF (reduction in force) at my job and we would be really struggling with that log home payment now.
I was eventually recalled but doing the same job part time.
We have really enjoyed the satisfaction of creating our own place and paying as we built it.
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cabingal3
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 05:41pm
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Quoting: bugs Our micro (77 sq ft) cabin is ideal for our weekend getaways: -cheaper....so we can buy more land!!!!
love this plan bugs! thats our plan too.buy the connecting land on the other side.
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brokeneck
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 05:42pm - Edited by: brokeneck
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Nirky my cabin is actually a screen house by day and at night I roll down the canvas ...
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Julie2Oregon
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 06:53pm
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I want a lovely little place that is cozy, easy to maintain, and comfortable but secondary to the beautiful natural world around me.
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Nirky
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 09:24pm
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Quoting: brokeneck Nirky my cabin is actually a screen house by day and at night I roll down the canvas ...
What? I'm trying to imagine this. Do you have a thread w/pics?
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OwenChristensen
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 09:33pm
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Quoting: Julie2Oregon I want a lovely little place that is cozy, easy to maintain, and comfortable but secondary to the beautiful natural world around me.
You got that right. Nothing man made compares to the natural world. You shouldn't try to outdo nature. It always ends up a joke.
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LastOutlaw
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2015 10:07pm
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I just happened across a couple of small cabins while chasing links:
http://twistedsifter.com/2013/12/cabin-so-small-doesnt-need-permit-nido-by-robin-falc k/
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