Renting a Tiny Home: She Tried It Before Buying One
Renting a tiny home in a mountain town wasn't exactly part of Kat's plan. But looking back, the path that brought her here started about fifteen years ago, when her father unexpectedly passed away at just 54.
Losing him made Kat take a hard look at her own life. She had a good job, a beautiful house in the suburbs, and a comfortable routine. But one night, as she was falling asleep, she started questioning whether this was really how she wanted to spend her life.
"What am I doing? My life is so comfortable. I have this amazing house. I have this job that I've had for 10 years. I was very lucky to have it. It was comfortable. It was fun."
Eventually Kat made the change. She left her job, sold her house, and traveled for a while. When she returned to Washington, where she'd grown up, she bought an off-grid cabin and lived there for two years. After selling the cabin, she tried living on a boat for a couple of months, followed by a camper.
Then, about a year ago, a friend mentioned having a tiny home available to rent. Kat figured she'd give it a try. She and her dog moved in, and they've been there ever since.
Want a new tour in your inbox every other Friday? Join the Tiny Home Tours newsletter.
At a glance
Rented, not owned, at $1,100 a month with most utilities included
Internet about $60 a month, electricity about $120 in summer and about $300 in winter
Wider than most tiny homes she had seen, with windows on two walls
Real stairs to the sleeping loft, and a wall between it and the main room
A second loft up a ladder, used mostly for outdoor gear
Washer and dryer in the bathroom
Almost a year in, after a cabin, a boat and a camper
Why She Rented Instead of Buying
The appeal was that it committed her to nothing.
"Renting a tiny home actually gave me an opportunity to try living in a tiny home first."
She had the comparison ready, because she had already done the other versions of small.
"Living in a boat is one thing. Living in a camper is one thing, but then living in a tiny home, it's way more comfortable than either of those spaces. It feels more solid. It feels more grounded and stationary."
The alternatives did not appeal either. A two or three bedroom rental meant buying furniture for rooms she was not sure she would stay in, and moving it all out again later was enough on its own. Roommates were out, because she likes living alone. A year in, she would take a little more space, but she has none of the restlessness she had in the other places.
What $1,100 a Month Covers
She is straightforward about the money, and the number comes with its context attached.
"I pay $1,100 a month, which is pretty amazing in this mountain town."
Most utilities are in the rent. She pays her own internet, about $60, and her own electricity, which swings hard with the season: roughly $120 a month in summer and roughly $300 in winter, because it gets properly cold there and the place takes some heating.
That matters more than usual because her income is not fixed. She is self-employed, what she earns depends on which projects are running, and a low, predictable housing cost is what makes that workable. She reckons she works under forty hours most weeks.
The Things That Make the Space Work
Three of them, and she names them herself.
The first is light. The house has windows on two walls, and she was struck by that before there was a stick of furniture in it. The second is the loft, which changed her mind about the house.
"Many of them have a ladder that go up to the loft, and this one has actual steps. I can stand up in there."
The third is the wall. The sleeping loft is closed off from the kitchen and living room.
"I've lived in studio apartments before and this helps it to feel more like a house."
She sleeps with both windows open and can hear the creek outside. The slanted roof has caught her head more than once, which she has learned to allow for.
Her own design rule runs against instinct.
"The most important thing I think in a tiny space is to really think about having some open space, which intuitively might not be the first thing that comes to mind because it's such a small space."
She owned almost no furniture when she moved in, essentially a mattress. She looked up tiny house furniture online, measured, and bought a small table and chairs as well as a couch, so guests would have somewhere to eat. That part has been busier than she expected.
"I'm actually surprised by how many people want to come over here and ask if they can come over for dinner."
What She Would Change, and What She Cannot
Since Kat rents, there are a few things she would do differently if she owned the place. Mostly she has found ways to make it work.
In the kitchen, she has a two-burner cooktop and a small tabletop oven instead of a traditional stove. It took a little getting used to, but she says it's really just a matter of planning ahead.
"I don't have four burners, I only have two burners, but it just takes a little bit more thought and planning."
If she owned the place she'd swap both for a small freestanding stove and gain the counter space. There's no dishwasher either, which she misses, though it does keep her on top of the dishes.
The bathroom has a curtain where a door would go, and that is the one thing she would actually change. Her guests don't seem to mind.
"Nobody seems to think it's weird that there's a curtain here. People just understand that this is a tiny home."
She has embraced the open shelving too. She thought about curtaining it off and decided against, because keeping everything visible is what stops her collecting too much.
The same goes for her clothes. She keeps them on a hanging rod tucked beneath the stairs and switches things out with the seasons.
"I'm notorious for having a ton of clothes."
The bathroom was one of the biggest surprises. She expected to barely have room to turn around and found it larger than bathrooms she's had in traditional rentals, with a washer and dryer in it, which she rates as one of her favorite things about the place.
Ten Years On
It has been almost a decade since she left the job and the house in the suburbs, and she has moments of thinking back to it.
"Would I go back to that? I still wouldn't go back to it. Even to go back to all of that comfort, I don't think I would do it."
What she would tell her younger self is the part she gets most emphatic about.
"No matter how crazy anybody tells you that you are for having some wild idea, if you feel it in your gut, if it's something that really lights you up, you have to do it. There's very little opportunity for failure when you follow your heart."
Questions About Renting a Tiny Home
Can you rent a tiny home instead of buying one?
Kat does, and she treats it as a way to find out whether the life suits her before committing money to it. She had already lived on a boat and in a camper, and says a tiny home feels more solid and more grounded than either. After almost a year she would like a little more space eventually, but says she does not feel the need to leave quickly the way she did in the other places.
How much does it cost to rent a tiny home?
Kat pays $1,100 a month with most utilities included. She pays her own internet at about $60 a month, and her own electricity, which runs about $120 in summer and about $300 in winter because the heating load is heavy where she lives. She describes the rent as a good deal for her area, which is a mountain town she keeps private.
Is a tiny home loft better with stairs than a ladder?
It was the thing that changed Kat's mind about the whole house. Most of the tiny homes she had seen used a ladder to a loft she could not stand up in. This one has real steps and enough headroom to stand, and a solid wall between the sleeping loft and the main room, which she says makes it feel like a house rather than a studio apartment.
Can you host guests in a tiny home?
Kat does it regularly and says she is surprised how many people ask to come over for dinner. She furnished for it deliberately, choosing a small table and chairs rather than only a couch so people had somewhere to eat. There is also a second loft reached by ladder that a guest can sleep in, though she mostly uses it for outdoor gear.
Want a new tour in your inbox every other Friday? Join the Tiny Home Tours newsletter.
Comments