There is a movement going on where people
are choosing to live in incredibly tiny homes.
Let's talk about that.
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Gooooooood Mythical Morning!
Whenever I hear that there is a movement going on, I am immediately interested.
- (laughs) - And I begin to question whether or not
- I should be a part of this movement. - 'Cause it's going somewhere.
And then I'm like, if I gotta be a part of this movement,
you gotta be a part of this movement, because we kinda move in parallel.
Well, that's the dynamic here. You're intrigued by movements, and then you come
- to me and I have a decision to make. - I'm not talking about yoga movements.
I'm talking about social movements, okay?
And the movement we're talking about today, Link, is the Tiny House Movement.
- I'm more into Pilates movements. - It's pretty self-explanatory.
- House movements? - These are (stutters) pee-pee who--
People. These are pee-- poo-poo. (mocking himself) It's about poo-poo.
Everything is always about poo-poo. I'm sorry.
- Just press on. - (laughs)
These are people who have decided to downsize and live in a very small house.
Now, a typical Western home is about 2600 square feet.
That's a big house out here in California.
But we're talking about homes between 100 and 400 square feet. Tiny, tiny homes.
- 100 to 400. - Yeah. Smaller than this room.
So you're talking what I would consider a room.
- Yeah. - Smaller than this room.
Significantly smaller than this room that we're in right now.
It's hard to tell how big it is.
So if it's a house, it would be like a shed.
Yeah, "shed" is a good way to describe it.
But I don't think that the people in the Tiny House Movement--
or me, for that matter, 'cause I'm thinking about becoming part of this--
would appreciate you calling ,it a shed. It is 100 to 400 square feet.
sometimes even less. We'll see an example of that.
It is usually mobile; oftentimes it is mobile so you can take it anywhere.
- So a camper. - Nope.
And a lot of times it is solar powered so it can be off the grid.
Now, it's interesting that you bring up camper, like,
(silly voice) "Why don't you just get a camper? Why don't you just get
an Airstream trailer? Why don't you just live in an RV?"
That is something that tiny home people like me-- I'm gonna become one right now--
get offended when you talk about, because first of all, RVs are really expensive.
They're really inefficient; they're made out of toxic materials...
We in the Tiny Home Movement...
Okay, I'm not gonna do that, I don't wanna offend anybody.
The people in the Tiny Home Movement,
they want things made from natural materials. They look like little homes,
not fiberglass things that roll on down the road.
This is like a little house that you can put on a trailer.
So it's an environmentally conscious movement to downsize in order to
reduce your literal footprint.
Yes, your footprint in more ways than one.
- And your environmental footprint. - And you save a lot of money.
You can build one of these things yourself from a kit that shows up at your house
for about $25,000, or you can have one built for you and delivered to your house
for under $100,000. Tough to find a home for those prices.
So you're saving money; you're not impacting the environment;
you're simplifying your life. And you can be as happy as this couple right here.
There's a documentary on Netflix; I think it's available on Netflix now.
It's called Tiny: A Story About Small Living. It follows this couple right here,
Christopher Smith and Marete Mueller.
They live in a 133-square-foot Tumbleweed-style tiny house.
That's a brand that actually makes these things.
- Okay. - It follows them over the year
that they build this. I just want you to look at this couple right now, Link.
They did this for $26,000. This could be you and Christy, right here.
You and your wife could be out in a field. You could have on that shirt;
it looks like something you would wear. And you'd just be out there
chillin' on the prairie. You into this?
Growing up, my step-dad's brother was a home builder, and behind his huge house,
for his two kids, he had a playhouse that looked just like that.
- (laughs) - I mean, it looks like a playhouse.
- Don't insult us tiny home people, Link. - No, I've seen houses like this
- behind real houses.
And you think, "Oh, that's for the kids."
- Yeah. - No, this is for you and the family, man.
- And look how happy they are. - 26 grand seems expensive
- for something that small, actually. - No, but this is top-notch materials.
They have everything that they need to live and more right here.
And look, they can just drive it up to wherever they want to.
Want to be out in a field next to a mountain or next to a rock?
- Bingo! Happens. - Well I hope they wanna be
next to each other, because they're living on top of each other.
Okay, true. That is something that we're gonna have to work out:
How do we fit in there as a family? I'll get to that in a second.
But I want you to know that there is a man out there, Jay Shafer,
he designs and builds these homes. He's the guy who founded this
Tumbleweed Tiny House that the couple lives in.
I wanna show you him giving you a tour of his 89-square-foot home. Less than 100!
- Okay? - Less than 10 by 10.
If you wanna do this kind of thing, you gotta get really efficient with the way
- that you maximize your space. - Okay.
Here's an example of that.
- The bathroom is the shower. - (Rhett) The bathroom is the shower.
So when I wanna take a shower, the nozzle's on the ceiling, and everything
would get wet except I've got these little sliding doors
- that keep things dry. - (Rhett) See that?
- (Link) Whoa! - (Rhett) It's a shower now!
- (Rhett) The bathroom is the shower. - (Link) That is smart. That is cool.
I can put this plastic curtain here over the toilet, which is right down here.
- (Rhett) Look at this. - You can take a shower on the toilet?
- And poop at the same time! - I've been dreaming about this!
Yeah! It's one thing to read while you're pooping,
- (laughs) - but to be showering
while you're pooping? As long as the shower lasts longer than the poop,
- I think you're okay. - Right, you gotta... yeah.
- (crew laughs) - Get your priorities straight.
My mind has just been changed. Why didn't you lead with, "Link, there is a way...
- I'm easing in! I'm easing into this! - ...to shower on the toilet?" And I'm in.
Okay, well, I guess I should have started with that,
but I'm gonna do you several better. Because you had mentioned,
"Oh, we're gonna be right there on top of each other,"
- and I know you've got three children. - I like my space.
I've got two children. Can you put a family in one of these things?
Yes you can. There's a lady named Macy Miller. She lives in a
196-square-foot home, so more than twice as big as the one you just saw.
She built this thing with the help of family and friends for less than $12,000.
She lives in this house with her husband, her child, and a Great Dane.
And I figure a Great Dane is equal to two children, so this is basically you,
the Neals, living right here. And look how beautiful it is, Link!
It looks like something out of Southern Living!
- (Link) It looks cool. - This could be your home!
It looks like a train car.
(Rhett) Yeah, Merle Haggard was born in a train car.
- (Link) Are those wheels underneath it? - Yeah, so you could go anywhere!
- It's a trailer? - Yes.
- Does it have a toilet shower? - No. I watched the video for this one,
and she decided to put the toilet and the shower across from each other.
Ooh. Can I shower while eating dinner? Because...
- You can do that now. - Wow.
- I do that from time to time. - (laughs)
As long as it's like a squeezable thing that goes (slurps)
that doesn't ever get into the air. (slurps)
My sandwich is getting mighty soggy, but I'm getting clean!
If you get a squeezable peanut butter tube (slurps) you can eat that
- in the shower no problem. - That's not much of a meal,
- but I do love peanut butter. - Yeah, it's very nutritious.
Okay, this space-saving philosophy isn't just limited to these homes
that are trailers, this is happening around the world in apartments.
- There's a guy, Gary Chang in Hong Kong-- - Okay, Hong Kong makes sense.
He lives in a 344-square-foot... that's pretty big compared to the rest of these.
He bought his parents' old apartment for $45,000.
He can turn his apartment into 24 distinct spaces. Look at this.
(video narrator) ...344 square feet, but it's actually 24 different rooms in one.
(Rhett) Hear that? So he just pulls this thing back and he's like,
"Oh, I've got this other room over here! Oh, know what it is? It's my bathtub!"
(Link) So he's basically living in a chest of drawers. It can only be one
room at a time, though. That's the big asterisk on this one.
- (Rhett) But check this out, look. - (Link) Only one at once.
(Rhett) He's not done. Not only did his bathtub light up,
but then he pulls it down. He's like, "After that warm bath,
I get to go to bed right there!" Look at this, Link!
I bet if you sleep over a warm bathtub, you stay moist all night.
- Which is good. - It's good for the skin?
Yeah, it makes your skin all supple.
So 24 different spaces. But this guy
in Barcelona, his name is Christian. He lives in a 258-square-foot home.
I just have to show you this to get you to understand and get excited about this.
- Okay. - You're just looking at his house
and you're like, "Oh, this isn't anything real special."
You don't realize what's actually all hidden in the wall.
- (Christian) It's full of surprise. - (Rhett) Full of surprise, Link. Look.
Look, look at this guy. Look! He's like a magician! Look!
(Link) Well, no, he's like a cabinet maker.
(Rhett) More like a cabinet opener.
(Christian) I got inspired by the foldout elements and the practical...
(Rhett) How cool is that? You got a room in your house that can do that?
He's got a house in his house that can do that.
My wife hates it when she goes into the kitchen after me
and I've left every single thing open. She could never live with me in this place.
Constantly, we'd be like trying to keep things closed.
- Yeah, you could make it a game! - It'd be like stopping holes in a dam,
- man, to keep the thing shut! (laughs) - In a dam, man!
(laughs) This is a nightmare! Put me back on the toilet,
I need to take a shower to feel clean after that.
Hey! Toilet and shower. Check it out. The shower is just a glass case in the middle.
So you and your wife can watch each other. You've got to put the kids in
- one of those cabinets. - (both laugh)
- But there's room! - Okay, okay. All right.
- Hold on, and I'm not done. Look at this. - The only hidden spot is important.
- The toilet. - (Rhett) Look at this.
(Rhett) He's showing you how to use a toilet. Using it wrong, though.
(Link) You should lift up the seat before you start using it.
(Rhett) And look, he has access to the back side of the library
with magazines for reading.
And you can eat if you want to in there, too. You can eat and read.
- Nah. - And then you can get into the glass cube
- and shower. - Don't want to eat on the toilet.
Are you convinced? Are you gonna join me? 'Cause these are cheap.
We can get two of 'em. We can put 'em in a caravan.
I love organization. I love synchronicity between disparate devices.
Wow. Big words.
Simply put, I like to crap and shower at the same time.
- Big words, small houses! - I know I keep going back to that.
The irony is, you're one of the biggest guys I've ever known, and you want to
- slam yourself into a tiny home. - Yeah, I'm gonna make it happen.
If you're willing to do it, then I'm willing to visit.
Let us know in the comments: Would you live in a tiny home?
Does it seem like a good idea? And also, thanks for liking this video.
- Thanks for educating me, Rhett. - Oh, you're welcome.
You know what time it is.
Hi, I'm Michael from Ontario, Canada
and it's time to spin the Wheel of Mythicality.
If you're not following us over on Tumblr, you should be
because things get weird on our Tumblr. For those of you that like
the weirder side of things, it's happening on Tumblr.
And there's a mythical beast subset. A very rabid fanbase over there.
We appreciate you people. Click through to Good Mythical More
where I share my tiny home that I built, complete with indoor plumbling, as a kid.
Rhett is a hit man at the wrong address.
(High pitched) Ding-dong!
(creaky voice) Hello?
Uhhh, is this 738 Maple?
Is that a gun?
No, no, yeah, well, yeah, it's a gift for my kid.
It's a water pistol. Looks like a gun.
739 Maple.
Okay, well, you wanna die today?
No?
[Captioned by Caitrin: GMM Captioning Team]