Is There a Tiny House in Your Future?

I've been following the Tiny House movement for a few years.  Jay Shaeffer, one of several leaders in the Tiny House movement, wrote the following:

"At 2,200 square feet, the average American house now emits more greenhouse gases than the average American car, produces seven tons of construction waste, and occupies more than thirty times as much land per inhabitant as a home in China."

I grew up in Northeastern Ohio, in an 880-square-foot house my parents built. It had two bedrooms and a full basement, which had space for a washer and dryer, my father's workbench, and a paneled "rec room." It had a breezeway between the house and garage and a finished attic where my sisters slept. We had a front yard and a back yard.

I bought my first house in Moorhead, Minnesota, a one floor 860-square-foot one story "rambler" with a full finished basement. There were two bedrooms, a one-car garage, and tiny front and back yards. 

I now live in a one bedroom 350-square-foot apartment in Brooklyn. It's tiny (but not by NYC standards), but I have enough space. While following the Tiny House movement, I dream of my own house that fulfills my need for my own place and my environmental values.. I envision a 250-square-foot cottage with lots of windows, surrounded by a garden. My tiny house would have wooden walls and floor, a skylight, and a two-burner stove. I'd hang a flowering plant outside the front door and make curtains for the windows. My only furniture would be my bed and a cherry secretary desk with bookcase. 

As I downsize in preparation for vacating my apartment when my lease expires in May, I dream of my tiny house.