DIY Tiny House Tour | 17m²/ 180SqFt Eco-Friendly Home Built with Recycled Materials

Hey y'all welcome back to Alternative House channel. Today we are in Germany visiting Tina. She built her tiny house with help of her father and she has been living in it already for five years and today she's gonna give us a tour. Let's have a look. So welcome to the tiny house together with Ida. So that's that's the dog that's here and so yeah maybe let's have a look around or inside. How big is the tiny house? It's almost 17 square meters. So it's 7.2 times two and a half the trailer. Yes yeah yes and the little or tiny porch at the beginning so it's additional. And you built it together with your father? Yes at least I have to say he built it with a friend so he's a constructor and I just put everything on the on the paper. So I just I did a design and of course I help wherever I can but I wouldn't have been able to do it by myself. So I'm really thankful for my dad and his friend and for example my uncle he's an electrician. So I had a lot of people around me to to make it possible to to set it up and I for example I got the door and the windows from from a house of a family they wanted to throw it away and then I said okay I could use it can I can I have it please? And that was the idea behind because I knew I have my dad and he's like he's turning everything into gold whatever he touches and we have this the friends and they are quite skilled in working with wood and we have our my uncle and so yeah that's why I was kind of confident enough to set up this this project and so yeah and we built it. So we started in October 2018 and I moved in in September 2019. Okay so almost a year almost a year and you used a lot of recycled materials? I did but more for the for the wood. So as I already mentioned we recycled the window the windows and the door. Originally I wanted to I had the idealistic idea of to do the installation with the wool of my animals of my sheep because I wanted to to use it as yeah how to say natural as possible. Environment friendly. Exactly but it was not possible because wool is too heavy so we always needed to figure out to use light material to avoid it's getting too heavy. So because we still wanted to transport it on the road so unfortunately I couldn't do it with with the wool of my sheep. I had some trouble with wind because when we arrived here it was short before Christmas we had only the the tiny metal yeah and then the wind came from this side and then put the studs away so I was sitting inside and all the tiny house just crashed down. I was just I was kind of really horrified because I didn't for the first time at the beginning I didn't know what happened but then we found out okay it's just on the back that it it was standing like from this it was standing like that yeah and so we needed to fix it but but fortunately nothing happened inside so everything was flying around and some some glasses were broken but nothing serious was harmed. Yeah it's important to put on some kind of bricks. Yeah yeah and now we are we did it a bit a bit better. Here we have some surprises from the chicken so we're keeping the chicken and the sheep and goats for the eggs and for the meat. A couple of years ago I already did some some cheese from the goats but I don't have the time for that now but that's the idea for the future to process the milk as well but basically it's just a hobby. We are just keeping them I'm keeping them since yeah 10 years now so I'm a sheep and goat mom since 10 years but yes it's partly idealistic because they are special breeds and I want them to to to kind of survive or to breed them. Sometimes we sell lambs but if we have kind of animals or sheep and goats we can't sell we produce our own meat so we don't buy any meat anymore so the only meat we try to eat of course we don't pay attention if we are invited so that's that's fine so kind of but here for the setting at home we try to produce our own meat and just to consume that. It should be possible to kind of do it from A to B or from A to Z like to process it from the living animal to the to the meat in the end. So yeah that's it feels kind of good good for us to go this way. Yeah so that was one of the reasons you decided to build a tiny house? Yes to maintain the herd also so because I couldn't imagine to live in the city and come to the sheep and goats every day so the idea was to to live close or next to them and of course you really get used to them maybe it sounds totally strange and I'm that crazy sheep lady but I can tell by the sound they make I can tell which animal it is so which sheep it is so and I can even hear when I'm lying in bed I can even hear if a pregnant sheep starts to deliver so I can hear it from the noise that something is wrong and then I get up and then okay now it's time for you to get your lambs so you really get if you're keeping them so close and if you spend so much time with together with them you really know each individual and you know the character of them and you know what what's special about them and you know the the sounds of them as well so it's really important for us to to keep that lifestyle to be so close with our animals and yeah and then to sometimes to appreciate what they what they give us. So as you can see here there is a tiny house for the dog as well and it's quite nice to just not to bend down but to able to give the cuddles and this hate so that's that's kind of comfortable so we enjoy that. And it's the same theme as a house? It is it's actually what my dad did so I moved in and half a year later it was her birthday I mean that's those those dads who love the dogs and he came around with this house and he said oh I have a birthday present for the dog and then he just just gave the dog the house so he built it at home and then it was a surprise for me and the dog of course and he did it in the same style like we built the house. In the previous place I had a kind of a tent where I set up an outdoor living room and I really loved that place but as we moved here I didn't have a place to stay outside and of course in summer it gets really hot inside and you can't stay inside and so that's why I yeah to to set up a lounge in this area so it's quite quite comfortable. It's covered from the rain? Yes a bit and the sun normally I mean today is cloudy it could have been nice to have the sun today but we are not lucky for today at least it doesn't rain but the sun goes like this and even if it's really really hot it is it is in the shade so it's still quite quite nice and even with the wind to stay outside yeah and it's just easy you just climb inside. I really love this spot because you can relax a bit but still have a look on on the sheep and the goats so I really love staying here and just watch them. Looks very comfy. Yes it is. And there's second party than you. Yeah there is a possibility to set up the next layer. Guest room. Yeah but it's it's getting tinier and at least you need a ladder to go up. Yeah but maybe that's the next step to do something with the upper floor. And this is like some kind of fireplace? Yes that's again my dad built it. It was for my for my birthday. So everything comes for birthdays. Yes it's quite nice and I really love that. I mean I don't care about like expensive presents but I really love handmade things and especially if I really can use them. So it's kind of a fireplace but it's still nice that you can stay here and talk and have a chat and eat and drink here. And in winter we often stay around here eat some good stuff and drink some mulled wine. And you get it's quite nice because you get the heat from from underneath. Because normally you have those in Germany we say heat mushroom. Okay do you know do you know what I mean? Where the heat comes from it's like an umbrella. Yeah and the heat comes from gas. Okay I didn't know that. And then you can just feel the heat from from above and the heat goes goes away most of the time. And here it's quite nice because the heat is coming from the ground and it goes up and then you can feel like okay it's around I don't know minus five degrees and you still feel comfortable staying outside. This porch is like a hallway to leave your shoes? Yes it's quite comfortable and handy especially when it when it starts raining. So you can leave your stuff here and I mean if it's getting too hard rain so it still gets wet but for this if it's just normal rain that's just perfect. And sometimes yeah it's just nice to to stay here. So sometimes when I came from from work I'm just sitting here with um yeah something something good to drink and uh yeah just enjoy the sunset and enjoy uh yeah the sheep and the goats. It's quite quite nice. Welcome inside! As you can see that's uh so you you enter the house and then you're standing straight away in the kind of living room and um I really like this this couch because um I was kind of arguing with my dad when we did the interior because he said oh no that's too big and just put uh put the sofa like a two-seat uh sofa but I said no I would like to um uh to have my legs uh or to have a bigger space for uh for sitting down and I don't regret it. So it was um I know it's it's it's narrow and it's getting quite close to the oven but uh it's still okay so it works uh it works very well. And in winter it's super cozy um so we use it with uh just with wood and um I always wanted to have an oven with a window because um if I if I uh heat with wood I would like to see the the flames and the fire and so yeah that's quite nice sitting sitting here in in winter enjoy a cup of coffee or tea or whatever and um just just relax in front of uh in front of the oven. And I like this huge window it's like DIY project or it's for some greenhouse is made because it's interesting shape. Yes it is but it's actually um a window for shopping center and I thought it could be um quite nice first to get some light inside and additionally uh to get some space as um uh you know we have to we had to keep the limit of four meter um and so I couldn't and for the for the for the weight um so we couldn't uh have it um like in the loft uh until here so we needed to reduce the material so that's it's coming down here in front uh next to the door and the idea was to put this window um to get some space like to not to feel uh like in the cage or to be uh uh to to be or to feel like in a too narrow uh narrow space. Yeah it brings so much life. It is I love it and it was also a thing I argued with my dad because he said oh no you already got so many windows and you don't need a window over there and I said oh yes I need it and I um I don't regret it so it's uh it's perfect and um maybe what's what's a bit funny um because as I um already mentioned uh these windows are coming from the house um and normally uh you have the handle on on this side but we needed to uh turn it for from an angle of 90 degrees if I put it uh like this um I wouldn't have the space for for the sofa it works quite well but uh we didn't think about um the area uh which is needed for the for the uh dropping water of uh of the rain because uh normally you have it um you have it on this side um because we return it so we needed to um adjust the windows to avoid water coming down so that was one thing I didn't expect we needed to find a solution for the special uh window angle yeah but it works it works it works now it's fine uh because in the beginning uh the rain was just coming inside um but uh but now it works and the roof window had no issues no that's fine uh so that's the living room then uh you come to a tiny working space so it's uh it's a table to fold it down but I never do it because I always have my uh my um notebook here and uh then uh we come to the kitchen place and it's kind of of course the center in a in a tiny house because the table is just needed for everything um so for the kitchen stuff for working for um yeah just sitting and chatting for eating uh behind this door um I have my um my clothing so and it's it's always messy so for example I put something under uh on the door as well uh to to use all the space um or additionally try to use the space on the on the doors as well like I put um what's it called from the pots um so yeah is it the lead uh so the leads from from from the pot and it's clever because then it's like kind of not so messy it is because I hate it I hate it when you put the pots outside everything is just crashing down and makes some terrible noise and uh so so here it's uh kind of organized and normally I'm not an organized person but uh the tiny house um forces you uh to to be organized and um what I really like is the huge uh fridge freezer freezer combination so it's a as I'm living here full time um I need uh enough space for for for yeah all the food and and stuff and that's uh yeah and it's very interesting like it's actually the open wardrobe and you still made a door but from this side you can see yeah I the idea was to uh to close it um to to build something to um to avoid you can look inside but uh you know this uh this is this kind of project you always say I will do it later but you never do it so so I got used to it and that's that's fine I can I can live with that and I don't mind if you can look inside and and even the stairs um it was really tough to design them because I wanted to uh to use the space inside um but also to uh to avoid um a too steep uh too steep uh steps because if I would have done just uh stairs like this it's quite high to uh to step here so that's why I did it um um diagonal um so I have to have a nice way of getting up and uh still can use it for for storage it looks like something is missing here uh so so normally our people tend to say oh you you missed some stairs so I should have put uh I um we need some more uh more one more step one more thank you one more step but uh actually no you don't need it because uh that's quite comfortable because if you stay here you just go like this and then you are um you're in the uh in the bedroom and uh in the loft because if you go down I don't need uh I don't need a step here that's not necessary that's quite comfortable to go like this so I don't have to go backwards so I just need to pay attention to this hook with my hair because in summer when it's uh when it's getting too hot I put a blanket here to get some shade um that's the bedroom at least I can can sit here like this yeah it's more spacious than it looks from the bottom yeah I mean it's it's getting a bit tough for my boyfriend because he's he's taller than I am so he couldn't sit like this yeah but uh it's still fine uh you just go here and then you lay down in the bed so you don't have to uh sit upright yeah that's fine and you have a cozy window there yeah it is a tiny window um because I always like to have a look uh yeah what's going on um especially with the sheep and goats and that's uh the picture always in the morning when I wake up the dog is waiting here and saying good morning to be honest I never um calculated what I spent I think it is around 15 000 oh that's amazing uh so it was 5 000 for the trailer right and I think I didn't put more than than 10 000 uh for the for the construction and interior maybe it's it's a bit more for for all the stuff but uh it's definitely less than 20 000 so it was one year of building but I guess it was like spare time evenings it was not like full-time we are all uh full-time uh working and we did it just after work and uh during holidays or um at the weekends um so it was not possible to have uh like a month or two um to build it from uh from the beginning until the end so that's why I needed a year but we did it uh because we are full-time we are full-time working yeah and I'm a biologist and teacher okay yes so I was uh working for a conservational project a couple of years and then um I did uh some uh some some I was kind of a tour guide and I um I felt like okay it really makes makes me happy to uh to give knowledge to uh to other people and that's why I decided uh to study a bit to become a teacher and uh so yeah that's why I'm teaching biology in school it's cool so you have some uh some privacy uh with the door um so I mostly have it open because uh when I'm on my own I don't because I don't mind but um yeah it's it's nice for for having guests at least you can close the door and have some some privacy in the uh in the bathroom and um yeah I think here is everything you need here's a washing machine a composting uh toilet um the shower is quite um quite big for a tiny house and uh yeah there's there's nothing I'm um there's there's nothing I miss uh to be honest so so everything is uh it's here what I need um I was um I was looking for solutions like to to include uh the lightning for example with this uh with this area here for the uh so it has some some storage inside and um and I can even connect uh the the music box with it uh so um I can use for a couple of yeah features yeah that's quite of course it's getting a tinier but I think for a tiny house the um uh the bathroom is quite uh spacey um yeah it's quite big it's like one and a half meter yeah um because I needed to decide uh here uh I could have done I could have put the the wall here but then it would have been very tiny um so I decided to to go to the next um wooden slot and that's why it is here and that um makes the um makes the bathroom a bit uh yeah a bit more open and yeah so it's just next beam here so you have beams and then yeah to make the wall and and you have electric boiler and uh exactly that's that's the one here and um it looks quite well when when we arrived here I didn't have um running running water for yeah so I needed to live from water from from boxes um or tanks uh from for half a year even uh through the winter that was quite challenging but now we have the official uh water system connected and that's just that's just fine so you have all hookups here yeah and you have still composting toilet yes uh yes because um I don't I don't we don't need to flush uh use use so much water I'm totally fine with that yeah that's that's totally that's that's I'm understood often people are a bit uh especially in people who haven't been here to this tiny house um sometimes a bit uh yeah a bit more they're not that confident using it but as soon as they did it they say okay that's fine there's nothing special about it it doesn't matter if you put some uh some wooden pieces on it or if you flush it down so that's that's fine and I like the way I did the pipes with bamboo we had them it was a leftover from I don't know where it came from but it was yeah it's again recycled material and uh we decided to uh to hide uh um yeah to hide it and uh this ladder is for something specific yes sometimes to to reach uh to to clean the window all right but uh more for the for the dining uh area so my boyfriend often sits on the on the chair over there and I take uh the the ladder and uh it's my chair okay so it's a removable multipurpose yeah movable chair I put it there and then I just sit there and then put it back to have the space in the kitchen yeah all right thanks for showing me around