You’ve probably heard the expression, “If you can’t go big, go home.” Well Jay Shafer took it to heart. For Shafer, the big picture is a tiny little living space that provides for just the essentials and not much more. Tumblewee DIY Book of Backyard Sheds & Tiny Houses is his latest offering.

According to the cover, he “is internationally recognized as an expert in small living”. He has been building and living in tiny little homes for 15 years and when he says little, he means it.

In the land of McMansions, Shafer is an ardent supporter of a tiny revolution to create living spaces that are less taxing on ecosystems and economies. The bonus for him has been a mortgage-free existence and more time to pursue other interests, like designing little places for the rest of us.

Shafer is also a realist. While many people may not embrace the extreme, small-space lifestyle, there are lots of other purposes for these wee structures, whether guest house, studio, workshop or retreat.

The book includes plans for tiny houses and box bungalows. You see elevations and floor plans. Amateur builders can order a complete set of drawings from his website.

The portfolio section provides pictures of finished interiors that are carefully crafted to maximize every inch. In fact, one of the most attractive fittings is the Dickinson Marine stainless steel heater which is manufactured for boats.

Part Four shows the building process and covers clearing the building site (including how to fell a tree), establishing a foundation and construction of the exterior shell.

If you want further inspiration for small-scale living, check out Tiny Houses by Mimi Zeiger. It explores “the microgreen side of sustainable architecture” with projects like the House in a Suitcase on page 121. Located on a roof in Barcelona, trunk-like compartments unpack for use.

The April issue of Dwell features a funky and wonderful house built from three 10-by-12-foot modules. You can also see it online. It’s a DIY project that was supervised by architects and is set on 20 lush acres on Kauai.

Now, I want to live small like that.

-Jane

When I was living at my previous house, I purchased black shelving for my home office. At the time, it was a new style at IKEA, it looked fresh and trendy and complemented the office furniture. But, what was I thinking?

The room it occupied had little sunlight and the black furniture sucked out all the light from the room. I compensated with vivid striped curtains and a good overhead light fixture.

In my new condo, the home office (aka guest room) is also the darkest in the apartment. Pretty striped curtains are out. Condo bylaws dictate that you can have any kind of drapery you like, as long as it is white. And the overhead fixture is located in a corner in front of the closet.

Time to play the furniture game. This is my optimistic label for a home sport that requires a serious amount of grunt labour.

I moved the secretary from the dining room into the master bedroom. The white shelving from the master bedroom went into the home office/guest room and the black shelves from that room are now relocated to the dining room. Here an enormous, east-facing window provides enough light to balance the dark volume of the shelving.

What I like best about the new arrangement is that it supports the other uses I make of the room. The shelves hold my cookbooks, bird and gardening books. I have added an easy chair to the corner by the window where I like to read the newspaper in the morning. In addition, the dining room table offers a nice long work surface for sewing and painting.

When you move to a new home, you need to live there awhile to determine how best to use the space. I'm still fine tuning. When you no longer have a basement or garage for messy projects, you find another spot or abandon messy projects. Seriously, who's going to do that?

Next blog: More from the collection on small space decorating and multipurpose rooms.

About two years ago, I faced up to the reality that I couldn’t continue living in my pretty bungalow. I could foresee too many repairs on the horizon and not enough income to accomplish them.

Even though I have modest resources, I have strong opinions about how I want to live. When I started shopping for a condo, I made a big wish list of what I thought my perfect place might be and emailed it to my realtor. It made me feel focused and less arbitrary; still, I never expected to get everything on the list.

As we shopped, I found that the most important feature turned out to be the windows. More specifically, I was deeply affected by the amount of natural light coming into the apartment and what I could see outside the windows. I need lots of light and a room with a view. I don’t need a spectacular view – just a pleasing streetscape with trees and neighbourhood activity.

If you think about it, these are two features that can’t be fixed by decorating. Improved, maybe, with clever lighting and concealing drapery; but this is not a fix if you crave natural light and attractive street scenes.

In the end, the condo that I bought has a great number of features from my wish list. As they say, if you don’t know what you want, you’ll never get it.

When it comes to downsizing, establishing priorities is paramount. When choosing a smaller home, you are also considering differences in lifestyle and, usually, eliminating possessions. My list of priorities would be different than yours. In my experience, the process itself was revealing.

When searching the library catalogue for books, if you use a simple keyword search “downsizing”, you get a list that includes many books on business downsizing. More helpful subject searches are “moving household”, “older people housing”, "small rooms decoration", “orderliness” and “simplicity” - depending on your goal.

Here are some books that are definitely worth exploring.

Downsizing your home with style: living well in a smaller space (2007) by Lauri Ward. The reasons for downsizing are varied: empty nesters have too much space, couples merging households, relocating from the suburbs to the inner city, pursuing a dream job in another city or a just a quest to simplify your life.

“Whatever your motivation, moving is always stressful, but downsizing is more about adapting than it is about moving,” says Ward.

She provides a practical handbook for assessing the things you own for your new space. She looks at multifunctional furniture and spaces, repurposing possessions, as well as camouflage and storage. She offers design tips for decorating small spaces and housekeeping tips for maintaining them. Ward has a great blog which you will find on my list of favourites.

The best of the rest: downsizing for boomers and seniors by Doug and Judy Robinson, addresses the options available when the home you are occupying is no longer meeting your needs. They explore downsizing to a small house or condo and supported living. As well, they provide strategies to age in place and examine intergenerational households.

Lighten up: love what you have, have what you need, be happier with less (2011). I love the title of this new book by Peter Walsh that encapsulates his philosophy. “I am going to show you how to live a life of abundance on less in a way that doesn’t plunge you deeper into misery and despair, and my belief is that with a changed mind-set will come a sense of calm, authentic personal identity, and… yes… happiness,” he says. Quite a promise.

Walsh is a “clutter expert” who has been a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show and hosts his own program on her network.

Stop Clutter from Stealing your Life: Discover why you clutter & How You Can Stop by Mike Nelson (2008)

If you are overwhelmed by the stuff of your life, check out this title.

Nelson is a reformed clutterer and zealous about it in the way that reformed people often are. But he has a sense of humor about the problem. In a chapter titled “40 Ways to Leave Your Clutter”, number six on the list is

"Shoot the next person who tells you, “If you haven’t seen it in six months, you don’t need it.” If you haven’t seen it, how do you know you don’t need it? By their reasoning, the lost tomb of Ramses had no value."

Nelson explores the psychological baggage of clutter and provides practical and emotional solutions.

You don’t need to be coy Roy; just get yourself free.

Next week: DECORATE AND UNDECORATE, two new books from bloggers.