A Texas woman is taking social media viewers on a tour of her unconventional but dream living arrangement — a tiny home.
Through the TikTok account Tiny House Expedition (@tiny_house_expedition), which, as their bio puts it, showcases “tiny homes, small space design & simple living inspo,” Elsie, a semi-retiree living in Van Alstyne, Texas, showcases her tiny home to viewers.
Around her space, she takes note of numerous environmentally conscious appliances, from an induction cooktop to a microwave convection oven, and showcases how almost every space in the home can serve multiple functions simultaneously, like a desk also acting as a kitchen table.
“I am so grateful that I got to follow this dream,” Elsie says of her 8.5′ x 24′ (or 192 square foot) home on wheels. “I feel like I’m on vacation, this feels like camp for grown-ups. It’s just a fun and interesting, always changing, joyous way to live.”
Tiny homes are perhaps the ultimate ideal of sustainable living. Given that the houses quite literally take up significantly less space than your average residence, they save owners money on just about anything you can think of, from rent to utilities, drastically decreasing individual carbon footprints in the process.
At the same time, for many people, tiny homes are likely aspirational rather than practical solutions. They require a commitment to bare-bones living that is more or less unrealistic for the general population, and can’t functionally be set up in most places, especially cities.
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Apartment-dwellers can joke about how they live in tiny homes already, but apartments are usually part of larger utility systems like electrical grids and plumbing setups that contribute a carbon footprint, which appears normal relatively speaking, but is still much larger than a tiny home emits. That said, lessons from tiny homes can still be applied to traditional living, such as eschewing mindless consumerism and using sustainable appliances.
For other homeowners, actions like installing solar panels can cut grid reliance and reduce power bills to at or near $0. If you’re weighing your solar options, use EnergySage to compare quotes from vetted installers and save up to $10,000 on installation — helping your wallet and the planet at the same time.
Watching Elsie’s tiny home tour, TikTok viewers were jealous and inspired.
“Where can I sign!!!” read a top comment.
“Love your tiny home, perfect for a single person,” another user wrote.
“Not only does Elsie live tiny, she is also super smarty!” exclaimed another viewer. “I think we would get on! Great set up and great perspectives on life!”
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