Most couples I know wouldn’t consider sharing a studio apartment. When my partner and I decided to move in together, we weighed the options of my centrally located studio versus his slightly distant one-bedroom. We ultimately decided on the latter, thinking that the lack of walls and personal space would be a dealbreaker.
Other cohabiting city couples have similar concerns. “What if we’re in a fight? What if you get food poisoning?!” They find comfort in having a wall.
But then, Instagram and Pinterest are full of the dreamy depictions of happy couples who — by choice! — live in quirky dwellings gone miniature: house boats, #vanlife and tiny houses. In particular, the tiny-house movement has stretched its legs since its initial boom. Not just for HGTV-happy hipsters anymore, couples and families who have made these tight quarters work.
So what can the intimacy-fearing and space-obsessed learn from couples who embrace a tiny-house lifestyle? I wasn’t sure. So I asked some.
You lose private space, material possessions, separate bathrooms and full-size appliances. But what do you gain?
For the most part, the tiny-house owners I spoke to found that the financial freedom they found from moving into smaller quarters directly benefited their relationships. And for the lack of sectioned space and stairways, they seemed pretty happy.
“I really think the biggest thing is that we’ve found that we’ve been able to have a balance, of that time of alone and together,” said Emily Gerde, 32, who lives in a 325-square-foot home with her husband, Justin, 32, their 3-year-old son, a dog and four cats. About a year ago, the family traded a four-bedroom home for their tiny house in southern Minnesota. In return, they now have more time to spend with each other rather than spending it on cleaning and maintaining their larger home.
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