Big on Tiny Homes - Home Touch (2024)

"Our Association helps recognize tiny houses as viable structures and as an option for affordable homes," he says. "We define a 'tiny house' as any home that is 400 square-feet and under, whether it's on wheels or not."

One of the original obstacles in the tiny house movement was finding a place to build one, since many zoning regulations specified a higher minimum square footage for new home construction on a foundation. To circumnavigate this regulation, some tiny houses are built on trailers with wheels, and, like a recreational vehicle, can be moved easily.

When considering whether to make a big move into a tiny house, it's important to check local codes within a municipality and/or homeowner's association for allowances. Before planning to permanently park a tiny home built on a trailer on an approved property, it's important that the trailer rests on a relatively level and dry spot, and that -- for most homes -- there is access to electrical, water and septic hookups.

In 2014, the first "tiny house-friendly town" was declared in Spur, Texas, with subdivisions dedicated to tiny homes built on a foundation. Kernohan and his wife, Fin, have been living in their off-grid 304 square-foot tiny house, known as Beloved Cabin, since 2011. They homestead in the woods of Putnam County, Georgia, and have embraced solar energy, rainwater collection, raising chickens and growing their own food.

"Since the housing market crash in 2008, we see more people trading stuff for experiences and living a minimalistic lifestyle," Kernohan says. "These tiny houses are in direct contrast to the McMansion."

In a tiny home, a smaller space should still be big in style and substance, says Dan Louche, owner of Tiny Home Builders in Atlanta since 2009. "There is no space that's wasted in a tiny home," he says. "Choosing to live in a tiny home doesn't need to be a permanent lifestyle choice, either."

Based on Louche's experience, a majority of those investing in tiny home living are doing so based on financial considerations. While others are choosing to live in tiny homes for a simpler and greener lifestyle, the financial advantages to owning a tiny home are huge.

"Our most popular home -- measuring 24 feet long by 8 feet wide -- costs $65,000 for us to build on a trailer," Louche says. "This home can accommodate a couch, washer and dryer and a king mattress in the loft."

Tiny Home Builders also sells detailed home plans for littler living quarters, should a homeowner want to build on an approved location with a foundation. Louche says if homeowners want to build a tiny home themselves, they may be able to save up to 30 percent off the company's constructed homes.

Before making the move to littler living quarters, consider the bigger implications of a simpler lifestyle:

Declutter Before Downsizing

One of the tenets of tiny home living is to clear away things you don't use, because there simply isn't space to store unnecessary items. So before making a move from a large family house to a tiny home, it's important to clear away the clutter.

"Giving items away to others who will treasure them, or just getting rid of things you no longer need, is a great way to cut down on housekeeping, too," Louche says. "With less stuff to maintain, people find they have more time to pursue other things they find interesting."

Clean Design

If homeowners are investing in tiny houses, they want to utilize every square inch of space in it.

"When I break down the most important places in a house, one needs to have a bathroom, a place to cook, a place to sit comfortably and a place to sleep," Louche says. "A tiny house layout can be any number of configurations with a kitchen, bathroom, laundry, common sitting area, and, most often, a loft that houses a mattress."

Louche also says it's important to establish if your tiny home is going to be on- or off-grid for power; decide whether to use sewer hookups or house a composting toilet; and determine a water supply source before construction begins. "While the allocation of space in a tiny home is important," he says, "it's the inner-workings of a house that truly make it a functional home."

Bringing the Outside Indoors

Creating a tiny home environment that encourages outdoor living also increases a house's livable space, Kernohan says. "Our tiny home has a large overhang, so we can sit a spell on the porch," he says. "While we're comfortable inside, gatherings can just spill outside into the yard with our chickens."

Design Driven

-- United Tiny House Association: To attend a Tiny Living Festival in the United States, go to: UnitedTinyHouse.com.

-- Tiny Home Builders: To attend a tiny house-building workshop or to view layout designs, go to: TinyHomeBuilders.com.

Homeowners are pumped to create a space in which they stay in and work out. If you're warming up to having a workout space at home, you're not alone. Retail sales of exercise equipment in America topped $7 billion in 2018, according to the Sporting Goods Market report released by the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) in Mount Prospect, Illinois.

While those retail dollars are enough to get hearts racing, impulsively buying expensive equipment for a home gym doesn't guarantee fitness -- either physically or financially. Los Angeles-based certified instructor Cassey Ho is a fitness phenom with more than 4.6 million worldwide subscribers to her workouts posted on her YouTube channel, Blogilates.

Ho says the first step to creating a personalized workout space is to make a commitment to working out and making it a priority. "My philosophy toward fitness is that it shouldn't feel like a chore," she says. "Fitness is a part of life that should bring you joy."

Specializing in equipment-free Pilates interval training, Ho says a healthy workout environment first starts with the individual. Ho's fitness philosophy is to keep it simple in her home workout studio, which features a large-screen television in a spacious room decorated with live plants. "Creating an inviting, open place in which you have space to move around is important if you want to have a workout center inside your home," she says. "Plenty of floor space for a yoga mat and access to a screen with internet service is all you need to work out with me."

Being dedicated to an exercise plan means dedicating space in your home to exercise, whether you're converting a first-floor playroom or creating a space in the basem*nt, says Bryan Sebring, owner of Sebring Design Build in Naperville, Illinois. For 20 years, Sebring has designed hundreds of home gyms for clients through his home construction and design business.

"When designing a space for a home gym, it should ideally be located away from areas where people sleep," Sebring says. "We will often add soundproofing to a home gym's walls, so those using the exercise equipment won't disrupt others in the home."

The workout space should be highly personal and created to accommodate specific exercise equipment or a fitness routine. "No two home gyms are exactly alike," Sebring says. "Before you move anything into the room, you need to create a floorplan to know exactly where each piece of equipment goes."

Motorized treadmills are the most popular piece of exercise equipment, with sales of $3.7 billion in 2018, according to Nick Rigitano, NSGA research and information manager. Retail sales in stationary exercise bicycles, yoga mats and free weights/weight sets also increased from the previous year.

Sebring says a workout space should feel open and bright, with natural light and high ceilings when possible. "The home gym should be a place that is inviting and a space that motivates you to spend time in it," he says. "When designing your home gym, you should not only look at what machines go on the floor, but take into account vertical measurements, to ensure there's enough head space for a taller person using the exercise equipment."

-- Design From Ground Up

The type of flooring sets the stage for a good workout. A home gym requires a durable surface that can withstand repetitive wear and tear from exercise equipment, but is forgiving enough to cushion a floor routine.

"You want a flooring that is hygienic and easy to clean," Sebring says. "A rubber flooring or mats can ensure the floor is also nonslip."

Luxury vinyl tiles are also an option, with a thick, textured wear-layer that simulates hand-scraped woods or a weathered stone floor. These tiles can be installed in below-grade spaces and can have the appearance of a hard floor, but are soft with a cushion underneath.

-- Support System

A home gym's lighting, air quality and climate control all play supporting roles in a successful workout. When planning the space, make sure there are targets for technology usage, including electrical outlets for exercise equipment, Wi-Fi-connected television/computer and sound system.

"Many people are doing workouts that involve being connected to the internet," Sebring says. "That means your home gym should be both high-tech and high-touch."

Large mirrors can ensure a person's form is correct and also create a feeling of light in the space. Windows provide the best form of illumination -- natural light -- and can also open to fresh air outside.

-- Equipped for Exercise

While the treadmill is the most popular piece of exercise equipment, other contenders include the stationary bike, elliptical cross-trainer and multipurpose equipment, which can include bands for resistance or weights for strength training.

Today's exercise equipment can be programmed to calculate pulse rates and the number of calories burned as you step, pedal or stride. Staying connected through the internet is essential as those working out live-stream classes and fitness routines.

Most exercise machines will allow you to modify the weights and difficulty, but choose equipment that isn't too complicated to alter. Before buying, make sure you understand the equipment's setup, guarantees and maintenance requirements.

-- A Healthy Lifestyle

Sebring says a home gym and spa-like bathroom go hand-in-glove and are often adjacent to each other. "After a good workout, you want to cool off and pamper yourself a bit," he says. "The person who invests in a home gym is often self-motivated and leads a busy lifestyle."

Fitness Business

Subscribe to Cassey Ho's YouTube channel, Blogilates, or go to Blogilates.com.

Contact SebringDesignBuild.com or call 630-369-6829.

The great outdoors is the next frontier for cooking, which includes everything and the kitchen sink. More homeowners are building kitchens outside that have the amenities of the kitchen inside their house.

Outdoor cooking spaces are topping the list of kitchen trends for the second year in a row, according to 2019 Home Design Trends Survey results conducted by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

"People are tending more toward outdoor living," says Russ Faulk, chief designer and head of product at Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet. "Firing up a grill and cooking outside feeds a human primal urge." Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet is a high-end outdoor kitchen designer and manufacturer based in Michigan.

Outdoor or alfresco kitchens have evolved into permanent structures built to emulate the indoor kitchen, Faulk says. "People are investing money into their house, and an outdoor kitchen can improve a home's value and make it more desirable," he says. "Also, with the trend toward emulating restaurant or artisan cooking, having an outdoor kitchen with a grill is like having dinner and a show from the comfort of your backyard."

According to 2019 research conducted by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), a majority of outdoor kitchens:

-- Cost at least $13,000, with 25% of homeowners considering very high-end kitchens of $30,000 or more.

-- Have an average size footprint of 100 to 400 square feet, including a sitting area in the meal preparation space.

-- Are directly linked to the home, often sharing an exterior wall, which allows for an easy transition between indoor and outdoor kitchens.

"Cooking in the backyard has come a long way from the post grill on the patio," Faulk says. "Now, an outdoor kitchen has key components that include not only a grill, but also refrigerator, sink, cabinets, food-prep surface and task lighting."

While dreaming of an outdoor kitchen, it's important to create a complete patio picture, which entails laying a solid foundation. Before pouring concrete or laying flagstone flooring, make sure you're working with competent contractors who have experience installing patios. After an outdoor kitchen design is drawn, the site needs to be prepared so that the patio slopes away from the house and drains properly.

A patio should be built with outside-rated bricks, tiles and pavers because these materials have less than a 3% water absorption rate, which means they won't crumble during numerous freeze-thaw cycles in colder climates. In addition to using outside-rated materials, it's important to use waterproofing membranes, especially if materials are bonded to concrete. Fixed overhead structures or pergolas are also popular and give a sense of an outdoor room by creating atmosphere, privacy and protection from the outdoor elements.

Any appliances, countertops or cabinetry in an outdoor kitchen must also stand up to both steaming and/or freezing temperatures. "When designing an outdoor kitchen, the first things people consider are what kinds of grilling implements they want installed," Faulk says. "But just as important is having an adequate sink and countertop space to handle a hot and heavy rack of smoked ribs coming off the fire."

Faulk says a galley kitchen setup is the most efficient use of cooking space outdoors. Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet fabricates cabinetry and appliances from stainless steel, which is a material that is smooth, durable and resistant to the elements; however, stainless steel scratches easily and conducts heat, which makes it impractical as a countertop. Custom-made cabinet countertop options can include outside-rated granite, soapstone or porcelain tiles.

While today's custom-made outdoor kitchen has cabinetry that can house a sink, refrigerator and countertop space, the outdoor kitchen can only get cooking when one brings the heat. "Before you invest in a certain type of grill, know whether you will use the outdoor kitchen for traditional grilling or smoking. Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet offers a hybrid grill that can use gas, charcoal and aromatic wood," Faulk says. "People can also invest in a pizza oven, an Argentinian-style 'gaucho' grill, or a Japanese-inspired Kamado grill."

Be certain that any appliance installed outdoors is manufactured to be used outside and marked with a UL (Underwriters Laboratory) seal approving it for outdoor use. "Standard indoor appliances are not rated for the kinds of conditions in outdoor kitchens," Faulk says. "Also, outdoor cooking appliances aren't to be used indoors either, since they become so hot and can pose a fire hazard."

For many who entertain, "eating out" simply means walking into their backyard outdoor kitchen. The secret to a successful cookout is to coordinate between the indoor and outdoor kitchen, doing most of the prep work inside and stocking the outdoor kitchen for entertaining, Faulk says. "An outdoor kitchen can feel more authentic and be a less pretentious way of hosting," he says. "Someone drops their plate or spills a drink in the outdoor kitchen? Clean-up is just a hose-down away."