By Kim Kalunian, WPRO News
People say good things come in small packages, and for people who dwell in tiny homes, those are words to live by.
Tiny homes are houses between 100 and 400 square-feet. Thatโs total living space. Theyโre typically meant to be environmentally and wallet-friendly, and while theyโre nothing knew, theyโve grown in popularity as of late.
โIn recent decades in the U.S., people have wanted to live in tiny homes to conserve resources,โ said Isa Cann of Tiny House Northeast, a professional tiny home design and building company. โThey have typically been men and women who have recognized the profound level of consumption and waste that has polluted the planet. They have wanted to live differently.โ

And live differently they do.
Jessica Sullivan shares a nearly 200 square-foot tiny house with her husband in Burrillville.
Itโs 8 by 16 feet, but a small loft gives them extra space for a bed.
While some tiny homes come prefabricated, the pair decided to build theirs from scratch, and started the process in 2013. They moved in full-time last summer.
Today, they live on an organic farm, and their tiny home is completely off the grid โ they use solar power and carry in their water. They donโt have an oven and instead cook on a RV-style stove top. They have a small bathroom, but thereโs no shower. (Donโt worry, they havenโt abandoned personal hygiene: they go to the local gym or shower outside in the warmer months.)
โWe donโt have a water bill, we donโt have an electric bill,โ said Sullivan. โFor us it costs roughly $800 to $900 a month, thatโs including our overhead in the houseโฆ our rent, our cellphone, our heat, our groceries.โ
Their bills are comparable to what Corey Towner pays for her urban version of the tiny house: a micro-loft inside the Arcade in downtown Providence. Townerโs rent for her 300 square-foot apartment is $800 a month, plus utilities.

Towner, 27, said the micro-lofts at the Arcade allow her the opportunity to live in a single-bedroom apartment of her own, something she otherwise wouldnโt be able to afford. Before moving into the Arcade, she shared a massive, 3-bedroom, 2-bath loft that spanned the entire fifth floor of the building she used to live in.
Even though her new apartment is a fraction of the size, she prefers it to her previous living arrangements.
โI feel like a lot of people think it would be a sacrifice, and itโs really not,โ said Towner, perched on her living room couch that sits atop drawers used for storage. โI truly donโt feel like Iโm missing out on anything.โ
Everything inside Townerโs apartment, like in most tiny homes, serves a dual purpose. Thereโs storage tucked into every nook and cranny. Thereโs a small table that can open into a larger one for when she invites friends over. Thereโs a murphy bed that tucks away neatly when not in use.

Like anyone who moves into a new space, Towner has learned to adapt. Her kitchen doesnโt have a stove or an oven, so sheโs learned to cook on a hot plate. Sheโs even managed to bake a cake in her toaster oven, and thinks sheโll probably continue to use the toaster more often even when she has a full-size kitchen again.
โItโs kind of fun. You get to have these challenges that normally you wouldnโt,โ she said.
Sullivan feels the same way, even though she shares the space with her husband (she said they donโt fight very often.)
โAs far as wanting more space, yeah Iโve had my moments,โ said Sullivan. โThe biggest thing that I remind myself of is how often do I feel that way? And itโs very rare.โ
Sullivan said she and her husband embrace the outdoors, but she said once they have children, theyโll probably move to a larger space, but not much larger.
โI still think weโll probably be in a very small space,โ she said.

Towner said her micro-loft is perfect for her, but isnโt sure how it would work adding another person into the equation.
โIf itโs just one person itโs 100 percent doable, itโs comfortable,โ she said. โIf you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend I donโt think this arrangement is ideal for someone in that scenario.โ
Tiny home dwellers โ single or otherwise โ also canโt afford to be hoarders.
Towner said living in just 300 square-feet of space has forced her to downsize and tidy up more often.
โYou have to do dishes too, you canโt leave them on the counter!โ she said.
Sheโs also rid herself of anything material that isnโt a necessity. She said one of the biggest reasons she doesnโt want to live anywhere larger is because she doesnโt want to accumulate more stuff.
While tiny living provides a unique alternative for folks looking to save money, resources and space, itโs not always crystal clear how to make oneโs tiny home dreams a reality. For Towner, it was a luck of the draw โ the micro-lofts at the Arcade are limited in quantity and usually full. Thereโs a waiting list, but Towner was lucky enough to have signed up early and been selected.
For folks like Sullivan, finding a place to park their tiny home (theirs is on wheels) is sometimes a struggle. She says there are still a lot of โgray areasโ when it comes to taxes and regulations.

โWeโre walking a fine line by sharing our story but this is the only way that it will get into the main light and hopefully thereโs some change,โ said Sullivan.
Cann, who said itโs common for folks to put their tiny homes on wheels, said placement of tiny homes depends a lot on zoning.
โIf the question is, โWhere can we park a tiny house?โ the first and best answer will always be, โRead the zoning requirements of the town [or towns] youโd like to live in before you get started to buy or build your own tiny house,โ she said.
Still, she said the tiny house trend is catching on.
โIt seems that the northwestern statesโ builders are doing a steady business,โ said Cann. โRhode Island folks have expressed a lot of interestโฆand most were prepared to build their own.โ