Tiny Homes Having Their Big Moment

I've been reading more and more about the Tiny House Movement this year and I thought I would post about it to see how many of you know what a BIG thing it is (sorry, pun intended). While living in a tiny house (the typical small or tiny house is around 100-500 square feet) is most likely never going to catch on with mainstream America, you'd be surprised just how many people can make a comfortable, stylish and practical home out of minimal space (even here in Los Angeles). There is even a show called Tiny House Nation premiering on multiple cable networks, including the History Channel and A&E, on Wednesday. And Charlotte, North Carolina was the spot for the first ever Tiny Home Conference back in April.

The story behind the most recent rise of the tiny house movement is an interesting one. The modern call for simple living in small spaces seems to have been jump started by Sarah Susanka, an English-born American-based architect, who published The Not So Big House in 1998 and is credited for originating the "Not So Big" philosophy of residential architecture, which aims to "build better, not bigger." Hurricane Katrina gave the movement another push when various architects sought to find a housing solution for the hundreds of thousands of homes that were destroyed in that disaster. Katrina Cottages sprang from that horrible mess and were a permanent alternative to the temporary, and unsuitable, FEMA trailers installed after the disaster. Averaging around 308 sq. feet, thousands were sold at Lowe's stores across America up through 2011, and are now available online.

Of course, the recession and skyrocketing home prices are a major reason the movement is gaining so much traction, but a lot of it also has to do with factors such as reducing our environmental footprint on the Earth, easy home upkeep, more freedom to use our finances for other things and a move towards a simpler lifestyle. And now that it is becoming a somewhat trendy concept, you can bet the hipsters and artists have been coming up with some interesting small home concepts. Even some quite wealthy folks are getting on board and Forbes online even published an article about some tricked out tiny homes, some worth over a million dollars.

The creativity involved in the design and decorating of the homes I've researched online is amazing. Scroll down for some more pics of a variety of different stylish and eye-catching tiny homes.