How to Live Large while Living Small -- Comparing Dorm Life to The Tiny House Movement

I’m not going to wax historic from the get-go, but let’s be real – The Tiny House Movement isn’t new. Americans have just reveled in their spaciousness for so long, striving for mini-mansions, when trends come along championing the idea of less-is-more, in some cases it’s liberating and in some cases people we’ll be treated as whackos.

The migration to less may happen for all kinds of reasons. In some cases, it’s a return to the idea of the return to nature – the cabin life. In other cases, we could call it broke living. If you have a couple bucks in the bank, you can call it – too-much-space living, or as my mother used to say when I was going up in a small house, “You want space? Go outside.”

Reality TV producers lasso the trend and make it squeal drama or eccentricity. Hipsters get a hold on it, taking it to extremes and making you feel terrible if you live in a house larger than a tomato can. Opportunists jump on the bandwagon and create a tiny house bubble, driving up the price for these oversized dollhouses and the products made for them.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t make reality TV shows. Nor am I saying you shouldn’t be passionate about a lifestyle. And by all means, make a buck off it if you can – it’s the American way. What I am saying is don’t be annoying when you doing it..

Tiny living is a learned skill with one foot firmly in affordability, another foot kicking around in a shared community and a head full of environmental consciousness. These same attributes can be found with college students living in dorm rooms.

With fall upon us and a new school year beginning, thousands of students flock into college dorms across South Carolina. Locally, Coastal Carolina University springs to life with new faces. But how many of these students are actually prepared to downsize their lives and enter the Tiny House Movement, because like it or not, dorm living is tiny living.

“College students who have lived in dorms are actually primed for tiny living,” says William Baird, an associate professor of philosophy at Coastal Carolina University. He’s given talks on the Tiny Living Movement, and speaks with his students about it all the time.

Baird knows so much about tiny living because he lives in a tiny house – 440 square feet, and he doesn’t live alone. He shares the house with his wife, their nine-year-old twin daughters and five-year-old son…plus, their cats and a hamster.

“Our living condition in terms of square-footing-per-person is less than India’s which is the smallest in the world,” Baird tells me.

The living space per capita in India is a little more than 100 square feet. Baird has 88 square feet per person in his house.

“Dorms usually range 100 to 250 square feet per student,” says Ana Lasich, an interior designer for university housing at the University of South Carolina. “That’s bedroom and study space, not shared space like kitchens and living rooms.”

“Tiny living should be for everyone. Besides the environmental aspects of it, it saves you a ton of money. The houses can be inexpensive. The utilities are cheaper. You don’t buy stuff because you don’t have anywhere to put it,” says Baird. “But what’s more, the intangibles are big. You’re closer and spend more quality time with your family. You go outside more and enjoy it more because you realize the space.”

Realizing space is something Lasich spends a lot of her time thinking about as well. She’s one of only two designers at Carolina, purchasing furniture and working with contractors and architects in building the environments to house up to 6,800 students. Some of their students are housed in 200 year-old buildings.

“Mostly, we make sure the interior space is warm and welcoming and up to codes,” says Lasich. “But we also look at durability and being environmentally conscious.”

Baird’s house looks like a small cabin with vaulted ceilings on wheels. Parked in a campground, a couple of trees grow around the place.

“We’ve had friends pitch tents in our front yard,” Baird says. “The top of our couch turns into a memory foam bed when we have visitors. We toss air mattresses down on the floor when our kids have sleepovers. It’s like a normal house in most ways.”

Baird used to live in a 1,700 square-foot home with his family before he took a vacation to Disney World and stayed at a 500 square-foot timeshare. While there, his family began to realize they didn’t need as much room as they had. He began to follow the Tiny House Movement, for three years, he blocked off sections off his house, staging the upcoming transition to living smaller.

They began to sell everything they own. They took pictures of their sentimental possessions and created photo albums. Then they gave away those keepsakes to friends and family as shared memories. Baird says he does miss a cross made of skulls from New Orleans that he was going to craft a tattoo from, but “I still got the tattoo so it worked out.”

Lasich says getting mentally and physically prepared for a dorm is like thinking about going on a really long vacation. “Bring comfy clothes, church clothes. If you’re going home during the break, leave most of your winter clothes at home,” she says. “People always want to bring photographs and collections of things. Bring a few photos or one piece of the collection that will remind you of home.”

After Baird and his family downsized, they hit the road from Illinois in a 34-foot recreation vehicle and toured around the country for eight months. They traded the RV in for a 19-foot truck camper to live in while their house was being finished. When their house was finished, they had to readjust, upsizing into the increased dimensions of 40 feet by 12 feet in the cabin.

But what happens when the space closes in? What happens when family or roommates grate on your last nerve?

Lasich would tell you to “Get to know your roommates.” She suggests you find out their contact information before you ever move in and start to coordinate before you meet face to face. “Know what they’re bringing so you don’t duplicate it,” she says. “Also, schedule your move in times so you’re not stepping over one another.”

“In a dorm room, it’s the same thing as my house,” says Baird. “We each have our own room. If someone gets irritated or annoyed, we retreat to our space or go for a bike ride. You have to learn to focus when other things are happening.”

Lasich can roll out the tips for incoming students. “Loftable beds are a good option with plenty of space underneath. Don’t bring extension cords. Bring surge protectors instead. You don’t need a place setting for four. Buy them for one or two.” She pauses for breath or to think. “Oh, and you don’t need five shampoos or five of anything for that matter. Pick one.”

“The space limitations make you more creative, able to use the design bug and be innovative,” says Baird. “Why not put a secret passageway in my house. We did all sorts of neat tricks with design because we didn’t have the space, but we had the freedom to do it.”

“Always think creatively when shopping, and ask yourself, how can I use this in more than one way?” Lasich says. “Pinterest is a great source to show you how to downsize into a smaller living space. Stores like Bed, Bath and Beyond and Target also have some great ideas, but you don’t always have to go by the checklists schools provide. You should personalize those lists.”

Baird attended a tiny house convention last year. He saw loads of cool ideas that generate even more ideas for do-it-yourselfers. He saw a list of inventive toilets from incinerating to composting to ones where the sinks are on the toilet bowls. He saw the newest trends coming out of Japan (the creators of modern tiny living) where rooms transform in type from bedroom to kitchen.

Lasich tells us times have changed in the world of dormitory living as well. “I can make pretty cost as much as ugly. It’s all about keeping up with the trends,” she says. “Dorm living is not what it used to be, it doesn’t feel institutional. It feels more like home now.”

That brings up to the flipside of tiny living, because when there’s an opportunity to make a buck as P.T. Barnum said, “Nobody ever lost a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public.”

“Yeah, you can see the profit motive at work,” Baird says. “The big allure of tiny houses is affordability. My house cost $33,000. You don’t want to see these companies offering completed houses at $80, 000. Some people come into this and miss out on the designing and the planning.”

Baird and his family built additions on their tiny house. They crafted secret nooks and bridges for their cats, extra storage under the couch for their books. “Clothes and books are pretty much all we brought with us when we downsized,” he says.

His wife has a master’s degree in forestry and works at The Ripley’s Aquarium. During Baird’s summer break, he’s a stay-at-home dad. Both parents contribute to the home schooling of their children.

“People always ask us what we’re going to do when the kids get bigger and want more space,” Baird says. “I tell them, when the time comes, they’ll build their own space.”

As far as students stepping into this small, small world, Baird will just tell them to relax. “It sounds daunting, but it’s not.” He continues in a calm voice. “You will adapt. You will get used to it.”

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 1:50 PM with the headline "How to Live Large while Living Small -- Comparing Dorm Life to The Tiny House Movement."