Angela Raciti: The Tiny House Movement – Inspired to Live Simply

Hello dear readers!  It is so fun to be back on the New England Home blog sharing inspiring ideas with all of you. Winter is in full force and, while I love every season, winter included, this is the point when I silently ask “whyyyyy do I do this to myself? I haven’t been outside in three days since the last time I checked the mailbox because it is so cold outside”. But then I remember, there is nowhere I would rather live than New England, regardless of being in the midst of a dreary and chilly winter, there is always beauty to be found and admired, even if it does take an extra layer.

This 260 square foot California coast cottage was designed by Richardson Architects

I recently watched this documentary, named TINY: a story about living small and advocating the tiny house movement. Since then, I’ve felt a shift in the way I think about home. The film mentioned that since the 1970s, home sizes in the US have doubled, and poses the question: is bigger always better? As an interior designer, there can never be too much “home”—I eat, sleep, and breathe interior design, and quite honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. However, what is “home”, really? Is it a striving for an ideal that we are raised to live up to? Is it simply a place where you eat and rest after a long day? Or is it something more?

I remember my parents telling me, “the more you have, the more will break, the more resources you will spend fixing it, and the less time you will have to do fun things.” It seems as though this could be the key to life, and owners of tiny homes are ahead of the game. With a smaller home comes freedom, the outside world is bigger, and those who perpetuate the concept have the resources and time to take full advantage.

221 square feet tiny house on wheels in Ashland, Oregon by Andrew and Gabriella Morrison

Have you seen these homes? The tiny house philosophy revolves around a connection with nature, capitalizing on natural light and grand vistas to enlarge the space, and leaving a small footprint. The environment dictates and influences decisions, be it how you employ the few resources available or where you park. This natural point of view can be recognized in the material selection, overall design, or care owners take to make environmentally conscious decisions. Combined with the task of figuring out how to comfortably fit the essentials in 200 square feet with space leftover for you, this design gymnastics pretty much maxes out the creative capacity of anyone’s brain.

Heirloom Custom Tiny Homes via tinyhouseswoon.com

Camp Wandawega, Wisconsin, via Apartment Therapy

What would it be like to take only the necessities and have nature as your backyard?  As New Englanders, we embrace, or at least try to embrace, the seasons and landscapes that change four times a year. We are in tune with what it means to have slopes to ski, fresh air to breathe, oceans to swim, and mountains to hike. We call this place home.

Home of Darren Macca and Ann Holley, via lushome.com

Angela Raciti, Allied ASID, founded Angela Raciti Interiors in 2014. She is an advocate for design that is vivacious, fresh, and timeless, which draws inspiration from the beaches of Massachusetts, her upbringing on the South Shore, and surrounding coastal towns. Angela holds a master's degree in Interior Architecture from New England School of Art & Design in Boston. She lives in Duxbury with her husband.