If you’ve ever imagined living in a tiny house—whether as a charming dream or a slightly terrifying prospect—you’re far from alone. Tiny living evokes a wide range of opinions and experiences. To bring those realities to life, we spoke with a couple who have lived in an 188-square-foot home for more than two years. We asked them the questions everyone wonders about, from daily routines and storage solutions to the surprises and trade-offs that come with compact living. Their answers shed light on both the delightful and the challenging aspects of tiny-house life.
Below you’ll find highlights from our conversation, updates about a recent bedroom refresh at home, a few design picks we’re currently excited about, and some recommended tiny-living accounts to follow for inspiration. We’ve organized this post to make it easy to scan for ideas, resources, and visuals related to tiny-home living and small-space family life.
What’s New
- We’ll publish a full post with photos, sources, and details about our son’s bedroom update this week, but above is a sneak peek of his new “big boy” bed: a cozy daybed that freed up floor space and made the room feel more grown-up.
- In the forthcoming bedroom post we’ll include a complete sourcing list, but here are some of the key pieces used in the refresh: the sheets, the bedside sconces, a gray bolster pillow, decorative bee pillows, and the framed art. The wall color is Benjamin Moore “Going To The Chapel,” and the built-ins were painted Benjamin Moore “Senora Gray.”
- Before this refresh, the room was mostly unchanged since 2014, aside from a recent episode where our son discovered he could peel off “T”-shaped wall decals—so those were finally removed. It felt like time for a small but meaningful update.
Tiny Home: 188sqft
We spent time talking with Mandy and Kevin, the creators behind the 188sqft tiny-home project. They’ve documented their renovation process and creative solutions for living comfortably in a compact footprint. Their work is a useful case study for anyone curious how design, storage, and daily life intersect in an 188-square-foot space.
- Mandy and Kevin’s renovation includes smart layout decisions, multi-purpose furniture, and clever pet-friendly solutions—great examples for families considering tiny living.
- They’ve shared before-and-after photos and detailed posts about their fifth-wheel renovation, demonstrating how a well-planned transformation can dramatically change the function and feel of a small space.
- To understand how the space works in real life, they also produced a thorough house tour video that illustrates circulation, storage systems, and how the couple accommodates pets and daily routines within a tiny footprint.
- Mandy recommended several other creators who balance tiny living with parenting and family life. These accounts highlight a variety of approaches to compact design and are a source of ongoing inspiration for anyone juggling little ones in small spaces.
- Tiny Shiny Home — practical tiny-house renovation ideas and clever storage concepts.
- Mali Mish — family-focused tiny living that blends style with functionality.
- Our Vie — inspiring layouts and creative space-saving solutions for families on the move.
- Our Home On Wheels — family life in a mobile tiny home with real-world tips for daily living.
- Demi-Brooke — lifestyle-focused tiny-home content showing how design choices shape everyday comfort.
We’re Digging
- One simple, cheerful accessory we added to the beach house is a pink letterboard. It’s compact and playful, and a small letterboard can be an inexpensive way to add personality to a room or leave little messages for family members.
- Letterboards come in a variety of colors and sizes, and browsing different styles can spark ideas for seasonal styling, quotes, or rotating family reminders. Typographic and tactile decor like this provides a quick, changeable focal point in small rooms.
- We’ve also been experimenting with smart lighting. A starter pack with two smart bulbs and a hub is a straightforward way to dip your toes into connected lighting—allowing dimming, scheduling, and tunable white options that make a big difference in small bedrooms and shared living areas.
- There are a few different smart-bulb options: color-changing bulbs that can produce full color and various tones of white, tunable white bulbs that adjust warm-to-cool white light, and simpler white bulbs that offer a single soft-white tone. Each type serves different needs depending on your space, budget, and desired control.
If you want to revisit items we’ve featured before, we keep a running master list of things we’re digging from past episodes—organized so you can find recommendations quickly and see which products or ideas have stuck with us over time.
We’re also grateful to Grove Collaborative for sponsoring this episode. Their curated household and cleaning supplies are the kind of practical yet well-designed items that fit neatly into both tiny homes and busy family houses. Promotional gifts and offers can provide a nice way to try higher-quality essentials without a big upfront commitment.
Thanks for following along—whether you’re dreaming of tiny-house life, updating a kid’s room, or just looking for small-space inspiration. We hope these stories, tips, and visuals spark ideas you can adapt to your own home.
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