Maybe you have been thinking about going tiny for a while now, or perhaps just this year you decided you need to make a change, for the tinier. Either way, there are steps you should take right now to help you achieve your goal. Here are five great Tiny House New Year's Resolutions to get you started off on the right foot this year.
Inspire Yourself
This is a great resolution for anyone, not just the folks going tiny. Get outdoors and see some beautiful country. Maybe you have always thought about having your tiny house in the mountains. Don't wait for your tiny house, go take a trip or two to some of the places you are thinking about. Breathe in the air and imagine yourself living there. Spend a weekend or two in a tiny house. There are places like airbnb.com and vrbo.com that have tiny houses available to rent by the night. This will help you get a good idea for the space. Go to places like IKEA and just walk around, they have some really great demonstrations on how to use small spaces. Take in a tiny house festival or join a meetup.com group and share your ideas.
Go Smaller, Go Simpler
We write about this a lot, but going tiny means just that: YOU ARE GOING TINY. And you have to be prepared to pare down your belongings to the essentials. Start by going room to room and figuring out just what you want and what you truly NEED. Knowing the difference between the two is imperative to moving into a smaller footprint. Even if you aren’t planning on going smaller very soon, it doesn’t mean that you can’t go simpler right now. Start by converting your media over to digital or going through your kitchen gadgets and eliminating anything that holds only one purpose. Alton Brown calls these items unitaskers and for good reason.
Make a Plan
If you are going to go room to room, you need to have a plan to do it. Set realistic goals. Small victories will help you win the race. Maybe it is taking one weekend a month and going through all of the boxes in the attic. Or finally getting rid of that filing cabinet in the office that has tax returns in it from 30 years ago. For me, I was just happy to get the top of my desk cleared off this week. Like I said, small victories. These will help you grow into bigger challenges.
Get Creative
As we are all pretty familiar with Pinterest by now, I don’t have to tell you that there is a ton of creative things on the site. But how can you help yourself be more creative in the New Year? Start with sketching out your tiny project. Maybe put together an inspiration board with all the ideas that you want. Get out in the garage and build yourself a bookshelf. Ana White has a ton of great little DIY projects that will help you build confidence before you build your tiny home.
Set a Deadline
Everyone wants to see results and wants them immediately. That is why resolutions are about starting to do something that you haven’t been doing. I challenge you to put an end goal in site and set a date for it. It doesn’t have to be an end all, be all date that can’t be moved or missed, but more of a constant reminder that hangs in your brain nagging you to keep going. There are plenty of studies out there proving that people who set dates for their projects get more done than those who don’t. So there you go, five ways to make a difference in your year and your tiny house project by making some resolutions to do better. What are your tiny house new year's resolutions towards your tiny house project this year? Let us know in the comments below.