turning tiny: the small-living paradigm that’s reshaping the way we think live and dream

by Darin Zaruba (Editor)

Have you ever wondered what makes the tiny house movement an actual movement? Have you longed to hear the stories behind some of your favorite non-traditional homes? Do you wonder if the movement is more of a shift in thoughts rather than a blip on the architectural screen? Turning Tiny is your direct-access pass into the minds and lives of tiny housers in various arenas including design, building, community planning, and the emerging business around it all. It’s a collection of stories from 60+ contributing authors of how and why they turned tiny.

Genres: Nonfiction

650 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 19, 2016

Reviews

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Turning Tiny” contains a number of chapters, each an essay by a person involved in the Tiny House movement. There are those that are home owners, for sure, but there are also those that are the media face of tiny houses, and there are a number of business owners that support and service tiny homes. The companies covered range from insurance and financing to trailer building specialists, and even a traditional mobile home builder put in his forecast for the industry. While I appreciated the breadth of the community covered, with the number of people covered there was a lot of overlap in opinions and, surprisingly, in their stories. Seems like dealing with local government is a constant struggle, for instance, and those that had good outcomes seemed to have similar stories. I found the stories from the business people to be similar to what you would read in, say, Inc. Magazine. There are plenty of dedicated people with a vision servicing this kind of housing. The prevalent type of tiny house covered was the trailer-based builds, but there are a few essays that included stories about other types of tiny housing. While tiny houses fill a niche in housing, this “movement” has gone beyond, with media building tiny houses into a fad. At least one of the essays point that out - that tiny houses are trendy. Some writers appeared to understand this, while others disagreed. I wouldn’t expect a continuing growth in cable shows about tiny houses, as the current onslaught of tiny house shows will push the concept into the mainstream quickly, and people will lose interest.

The other purpose for a book like this is to document the interrelated origins of this “movement”. From the various stories, you do see that many owners reference the same workshops and the same people they consulted for their own builds. This was interesting to me, and serves as an example of how a few people can have a far-reaching impact.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't care for the last segment of the book, the business aspects of the tiny home movement.

[Andrew Odom · Rating 4 out of 5]

DISCLOSURE: I am one of the contributing authors to the book.

Imagine one book that manages to gather the adventures and tales, highs and lows, failures and successes, and eureka moments, of over 60 people, uniquely banded together through one common interest? Turning Tiny does just that! It is remarkable even for me, to read all the stories and perspectives of what drove many of my colleagues and friends to turn tiny.

Presented in short chapter form, with complete author bios and even accompanying photos, the book is a quick read, but a very good one.

I found myself actually reading every word written in the book and enjoying each one more than the previous.

[Frieda Bakker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one of the authors in the book, I love reading the other stories. Every story has its own voice and style of writing. I'm truly listening to those who wrote it. Personal stories of their journey into turning tiny. I read new things, that I never knew before, of some of the leaders in this movement. And it's recognizable! Lots of A-HA moments! Even for someone who is not from the USA. It seems to be a very human-e movement. And this book captured that well!