Micro-homesteading in Washington state with 84 sq ft microhome

Dee Williams used to live in a 2,000-square-foot, 3-bedroom home. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy that led to CHF. Now, she lives in a 84-square-foot foot home on wheels that cost her $10,000: $5000 for the materials (mostly salvaged) and the other half for the solar panels and low-E (low thermals emissivity) windows.

She spent 3 months building her new home in Portland, Oregon and then hitched it to her truck and parked it in the backyard of her good friends Hugh and Annie in Olympia, Washington.

When she moved into her 7x12 foot home back in 2004, Dee got rid of not just a $1000/month mortgage, but most of her stuff. She limits herself to 300 possessions.

It's okay to let some stuff go and to trust that there are "things that you hold inside you that are actually a lot more meaningful.. than a photo or piece of paper."

Today, Dee helps design and build tiny homes for her company PAD (Portland Alternative Dwellings) where they "encourage people to design things that fit their bodies": instead of obsessing over square footage (their designs run from 70 to 136 square feet), "all of a sudden you can let your body be the tape measure".

Portland Alternative Dwellings: http://padtinyhouses.com

TEDxConcordiaUPortland - Dee Williams - Dream big, live small: