Tiny houses are a new trend in architecture and sustainability taking the internet, TV networks, and Pinterest boards by storm. The idea of living in a sprawling McMansion is no longer appealing, since those houses require extensive resources and typically have huge carbon footprints. Tiny houses are beautifully designed, sustainable, and totally adorable. If you’re a tiny house addict, check out these apps. They’ll give you a daily dose of innovative design and help you plan your own tiny home.
Lil’ Tiny Homes
Image via Apple.com
The Lil’ Tiny Homes app is free to download on iOS and Android, and it features pictures and blurbs about real tiny homes. Click on pictures to see more details, read information about each tiny home, and save lists of your favorites. The app gives you an idea of how much some of these amazing and innovative tiny homes cost to build, whether they used recycled materials, and the architectural styles featured in the homes. They’re fun to look at if you’re just into browsing tiny homes, and they’re fantastic inspiration if you’re currently planning your own tiny home.
myUse
Image via Apple.com
Part of the appeal of tiny houses is their sustainability. In a small house, you use less of everything, conserving resources for the planet and everyone else who lives here. For $1.99, download the myUse app on your iOS smartphone, and start tracking how much energy, gas, and water you use.
With the myUse app, you check your gas, electricity, and water meters and input the data into the app. The app performs calculations to determine how much your energy use costs, and it predicts your use for the next month based on your previous numbers. Employ this app in tandem with your other sustainability efforts to see how much energy and water you’re saving. Use it to transition your energy usage to amounts you’d find in a tiny house, or use it to find out just how much your new tiny house is saving you.
Tiny House Magazine
Image via Apple.com
The Tiny House Magazine app is free to download on iOS devices, and it offers an inexpensive subscription to the awesome Tiny House Magazine. Get a single issue for $4.99 or a subscription for $3.99 a month that automatically renews until you cancel it.
If you love small homes, Tiny House Magazine is one of the best resources you can check out. The app offers an interactive view of the magazine, including videos. You’ll get tips on how to live in a tiny house, pictures of current tiny houses and their owners, and listings for miniscule spaces for sale. It’s a great resource for those who are actively searching for a way to downsize as well as for those just intrigued by the movement.
MagicPlan
Image via Apple.com
Whether you’re trying to plan a tiny house or you simply want to reduce the amount of space your things take up in your current house, the MagicPlan app is a wonderful piece of technology to have in your back pocket. To start using this free app, take pictures of your existing spaces, and MagicPlan generates a floor plan based on those pictures.
The floor plans include measurements and are editable. Not every feature is free, but essentially you can use these floor plans to rearrange your furniture, test out renovations, and virtually redesign a room. On a phone with a huge, high-quality screen like the iPhone 6s from T-Mobile, the MagicPlan app couldn’t be easier to use. Add items to the floor plan to get an overall estimate for a renovation or redesign. Use it to create new floor plans for the tiny house you’re dreaming of, too.
Once you start exploring these apps, you won’t be able to wait to design your own tiny house. It’ll save you money, reduce your carbon footprint, and give you free reign to design the space so it best suits your lifestyle. Tiny houses are amazing feats of architecture and sustainability, so it’s no wonder everyone loves them.