The Honest Pros and Cons of Building a Tiny Home

Before we ever built our first tiny home, the Tiny Dice House, we always thought that tiny homes were cool and charming. There’s something undeniably cozy and romantic about being inside one.

But if you’re actually considering building or living in one (not just liking Instagram posts and saving Pinterest photos) here’s our honest opinion about them after having built one of the world’s most unique tiny homes.

The Cons of Building a Tiny Home

1. It Costs More Per Square Foot

Tiny homes often cost more per square foot than traditional homes. For the Tiny Dice House, our cost per sqft was essentially double the average cost per sqft for a standard new build.

This is initially surprising but makes complete sense when you think about how custom a tiny home truly is and custom designs always cost more. You can’t rely on economies of scale when choosing doors, appliances, infrastructure, etc. 

You still need a kitchen and bathroom (the most expensive rooms), but manufacturers don’t often make tiny home sized ovens, cook ranges, fridges, shower glass, vanities, kitchen counters, etc. These are likely to be custom made to specific dimensions and sizes to fit your tiny home or ordered at a premium.

Even installing flooring in a tiny home is not always as straightforward as a traditional home when you have various nooks and crannies and tight spaces to work around. The unique layout and space restrictions of tiny homes also mean that some of this specialized labor can be harder to source.

But this is a tradeoff that we would make every time. We’d rather have an architecturally unique small home than a larger cookie-cutter house with builder-grade finishes. Intentional living > square footage.

2. It’s Harder to Find Someone to Build It

Most contractors are used to building traditional homes or would prefer building a “normal home”. That’s understandable given that building a tiny home generally earns them less money yet still requires a lot of work (i.e. building a tiny home usually demands creative structural solutions and a lot of custom built-ins, staircases, furniture, layouts, etc). Almost everything about a tiny house floor plan is non-standard and naturally, not everyone wants to touch that and have that liability.

Thus, when you’ve decided to build a tiny home, be prepared that it can take longer to find a good builder who:

• Understands small-space design

• Is comfortable with unusual geometry

• Pays a lot of attention to the details because every mistake in a tiny home is SO much more noticeable

Similarly, when something breaks down inside the home, it can also be harder to find the right plumber, HVAC techs, and electrician who are familiar with compact mechanical systems, mini-splits or plumbing in tight spaces.

3. You Truly Have to Be Creative With Storage

When you have a tiny floor plan, there’s not much room to spare for a  “junk closet.” Every sqft is intentional, which means being thoughtful about storage as well. The last thing you want in a tiny home is clutter.

Being creative with storage in a tiny house is one of the fun challenges that I enjoyed doing the most for the Tiny Dice House. Our dining benches have hidden storage under them and so does our dining table. We also have playful lego-themed storage boxes to hide random knick knacks and things to help reduce visual clutter in a fun, nostalgic way.

Tiny homes definitely overlap a lot with those who appreciate minimalism so if you’re someone who loves accumulating things and wants to live in a tiny home, be sure to figure out storage space ahead of time!

4. Financing Can Be Harder

Tiny homes don’t always fit neatly into traditional mortgage categories and it can be hard to find financing to build one since tiny homes appraise differently, can have more risk and often have different building codes. Luckily, tiny homes are also cheaper than traditional homes so if you're willing and able to save up for one, that would make the entire process to get started much easier.

Before building the Tiny Dice House, we knew that we wanted to be able to build something that we could fund entirely from our savings and avoid having to deal with a mortgage, third party lender, etc. Winning the Airbnb OMG! Fund certainly helped with the costs, but we still went wayyy over budget. Thankfully, we anticipated for and were prepared for that and despite it costing a lot more out of pocket, bringing this unique, whimsical structure to life was totally worth it.

Nowadays with tiny homes becoming more popular, there are a lot more alternative financing options for those who want to build and live in a tiny home. Just be sure to research all of this early on and speak with your tiny home builder before you take the leap.

5. You Can’t Have Too Many Animals

As huge dog lovers, this is definitely one of the downsides of having a tiny home. While you can definitely have a pet in a tiny house, it will also depend on the breed, size, quantity, etc. Tiny homes are generally best suited for singles, couples, very small families and one (maybe two) small pets.

Back when we thought seriously about living in a tiny home permanently, we didn’t have any animals at the time, but now that we have two large, primitive breed dogs and several other farm animals, living in 350 square feet would be pretty chaotic. Instead, the Tiny Dice House now serves as our weekend getaway/creative retreat when we need a change of scenery. 

6. You Can’t Host Big Gatherings

This wasn’t a big priority for us when building a tiny home, but it’s definitely something to consider and can be a con for those who like having large gatherings. While anything is possible and you can always be creative with seating and tables, cooking for and hosting large dinner parties for 10-12 people is much more difficult in a tiny home both for the host and for the comfort of the guests.

If you have tons of outdoor space and land where your tiny home resides, then having large outdoor gatherings is easier, but you can’t always rely on mother nature cooperating either.

Likewise, having guests stay overnight becomes something that you have to plan for a little more thoughtfully and there's a limit to how many people can stay over and crash at your place.

For the Tiny Dice House, because we have tall ceilings, we were able to incorporate two sleeping lofts (one on each floor) along with having a hidden air mattress to maximize hosting a few more family members and guests when we want to. We also keep a few foldable chairs tucked away but easily accessible when we need to create more seating space around the dining table.

7. Some Appliances Are Smaller or Not an Option at All

Some families have two fridges, two dishwashers, and extra freezers in their garages to store food. That’s certainly a luxury that you can’t afford to have in a tiny home unless you’re fine with foregoing many other necessities as well. So another downside of tiny homes is the number and size of appliances that you can have. Be prepared for a smaller fridge, freezer, oven, stove, a more compact washer/dryer, etc.

For some people, that’s a deal breaker, but we managed to have every appliance in the Tiny Dice House except for a washer/dryer. 

The Pros of Building a Tiny Home

Now for the pros of building a tiny home because there are many! The reasons below are why we loved the concept of building a tiny home to begin with and subsequently lived in several ourselves beforehand. We ultimately designed and built the Tiny Dice House following these same principles. 

1. You Become Thoughtful About Every Detail

In a large house, you can hide bad decisions. No one will go into every room, stare at every door trim, corner, nook and cranny, etc. But in a tiny home, imperfections and bad, careless design stand out and affect your daily living experience. Every light fixture, cabinet pull, stair tread, window placement was chosen on purpose and actually matters. Getting these little details and dimensions right is also incredibly satisfying.

The level of intentionality you have to put into building a beautiful tiny home is creatively satisfying in a way big homes rarely are. 

2. You Realize How Much You Actually Need

Living small forces you to really think about what you actually need vs. what you want. 

Rather than accumulating things just to have them, you start asking yourself:

• Do I actually use this?

• Why do I own three of these?

• What would happen if I didn’t have this?

Then you quickly realize that you need less than you thought. To be fair, sometimes the exercise of downsizing is much easier said than done and sometimes you really want to have three different types of machines to make coffee. If that’s the case, it’s certainly possible to make room for it in a tiny home by foregoing space for other less desired things. 

At the end of the day, you at least know that what’s left in your tiny home are things that actually bring you joy rather than things you forgot you stored in that third guest bedroom closet.

3. You Can Afford Luxury Finishes

While the cost per square foot is generally higher for tiny homes, the total project cost is still lower than a large luxury home.

That means that you can choose higher-end materials and finishes and really invest in some unique architectural details. So instead of a big, basic home, you get a small, elevated one for the same budget. Not everyone is willing to make this tradeoff but for us, it was a no brainer.

4. There’s Less to Clean

This might be the most underrated positive of tiny homes until you actually start living in one and have to do your first cleaning. It’s amazing being able to vacuum the entire home in minutes. Cleaning bathrooms? Super quick since there’s usually only one. Need to tidy up the kitchen? There’s so much less surface area to pay attention to. There’s no “I’ll clean that part of the house later.” Living tiny makes it so much more convenient to keep an orderly home without having to block off your entire day to do so.

5. Every Space Becomes Multipurpose

Thinking about how to make every space of a tiny home multipurpose was another one of my favorite parts. I love when every room or corner can turn into something different when needed.

For instance, when shopping for a dining table, I thought about whether that same table would be a great workspace. Similarly, you get to search far and wide for that perfectly proportioned sofa in the living room that also becomes the guest bed and design unique stairs or walls that double as storage. 

To me, this type of creative design thinking is the most fun part of designing a tiny home.

6. It Forces You to Stay in Shape

Let’s be real – tiny homes don’t give you a ton of space to move around and do cartwheels in.  Often you’ll have steep stairs, lofts with low ceilings, narrower hallways and bathrooms. 

The compact layouts of tiny homes mean that you’re usually climbing, bending, and reaching to get to bed or reach for something. It makes you appreciate staying lean and in shape so you can move around nimbly and swiftly.

Final Verdict

While we love the Tiny Dice House and don't regret building such a unique tiny home, we also totally understand that tiny homes aren’t for everyone and wouldn’t recommend them to everyone either.

Ultimately, if you’re someone who is willing to trade space and square footage for intention, appreciate creative and thoughtful design, and value minimalism and unique living, then building and living in a tiny home can be a great life experience.

The best advice we can give before you commit to building a tiny house is to be honest and upfront with what you’re giving up vs. what you’re gaining. Don’t romanticize it. Try to imagine your daily life (all 365 days) living inside it (under all weather conditions) and definitely experience several for yourself beforehand. 

Committing to a tiny home doesn’t have to be a permanent decision either. It might be perfect for this current chapter of your life but down the road, you can absolutely change your mind, sell and offload your tiny home for something else.

Want to experience living in one of the world's most unique tiny homes?

Book a stay at the Tiny Dice House where tiny living meets playful creativity.