The Very Small Home by Azby Brown

Tiny houses seem to be all the rage these days. I’ve seen them profiled on talk shows, on news programs, and online. If you want to go back to the start, a great place is The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited Space by Azby Brown.

First published in Japan in 2005 and in English in 2012, the book profiles 18 very small homes in Japan - their layout, the features that make the space seem larger, and their techniques for packing a full life into a small home. The brilliant designs for storage are fascinating. 

If you seriously dream of moving into a home like this, the first step is to read another book — Goodbye, Things. You simply can’t cart around as much stuff as the average person and dream of a very small home.

Despite the recent profiling of tiny homes, much of this may not translate across the Pacific - with the lack of architects used to designing small spaces, the lack of craftsman to build from those plans, and the lack of similar building materials. 

Even so, when when I dream of a home I will dream of these small spaces.