Veteran’s "Genius" 15ft Wide Tiny Home: No Loft, More Space!

Once I got out of the military, I wanted to come back home to Texas. So that means, where am I gonna live? I didn't wanna do the whole 30-year mortgage thing. That's what everyone does. That's everyone's goal. That really just wasn't my goal. And so I just did more digging, more research. What can I do? And then I saw tiny home living. It was just like a light bulb. This is for me. This is something that I can afford. And that's like the big thing, affordability. Especially in these days, being able to support yourself and be comfortable and not just live to paycheck, paycheck and making ends meet or being worried about the next emergency that's gonna drain your savings down. You always hear people who go tiny. I wish I did it sooner. However, I needed to take that time to really research and figure out if this was something that fit for me. And now that I've done it, I 10 out of 10 recommend it. You don't know, you wanna get out of the apartment, but you don't wanna get a house or maybe can't afford a house these days. This is an option. And it's just me in this home. However, there's plenty of people in this park around me who are couples, who are living in their home and have made it comfortable for them. This can be however you want. When I first went to the manufacturer to look at homes, I really had no idea what I wanted until I started touring them. One thing that I noticed that I didn't like is just how narrow they are. So when I saw this model in step foot, I knew immediately this was gonna be the model for me. There's a few tweaks that I wanted to make and I can tell you more about those later. One of the tweaks that I made is this island. When you tour these tiny home manufacturers, they have like a standard package that you can choose from and you're not always gonna like what they have and they're very limited sometimes. So I got this on my own. I like it cause it's more narrow. So it gives me walking space on the kitchen side as well as keeping the living area open. So those are the little tweaks that you can make whenever you're touring these homes and thinking about what you would want in them. I have plenty of storage. Let's say you don't like this big storage area and you want even more counter space. You can do that. I didn't need that. I have the island. If you're thinking about going tiny and you're worried about space, there's plenty of space. I keep all my seasonings in here, cups, plates. You have plenty of junk drawers. I have a lot of them. So plenty of space, plenty of storage. You're not limited. And a big sink. I have plenty of space to put things. I have plenty of space to wash dishes. The standard is those two sinks, really small, shallow. And I knew I didn't want that, but I did like the upgraded package that they had. So I upgraded to the stainless steel farmhouse and it came with these little cool gadgets and the grates at the bottom. It's one of the nicest sinks that I've ever had. It's perfect for me. I love it. So when deciding the like color scheme and options for this home, I didn't like the options that they had. They were very minimal and they didn't have the color that I would have wanted. So I opted for no backsplash. Whenever I find something that I like, I'll put up my own backsplash. And see, that's one thing that I like about these tiny homes is that you can buy them brand new at a lower cost than a regular home and customize it to how you like and how you live. So as far as cooking goes, it's pretty normal. Like I have my counter space. I have plenty of space for my little air fryer that I use more than my oven. I have my island. It also has a little flip up top. So you can make the space work for you. Another tweak that I made was my upgraded stainless steel oven. I believe they do just a standard grate top. And this is actually the glass top. And then I have this little plastic piece over it so that I can put things on here. So more counter space if you want. Also, my fridge. This is something, another tweak that I made is I decided not to get any fridge that they had. They had the one, like the apartment size fridge and then they had the French door all the way down. That didn't work for me. So I got my own fridge. It's like the 30 cubic, small, but it's big enough and it has plenty of storage. I mean, this is the one that I chose that I like that worked for me. So you may have noticed these white boxes on top of the fridge. They're actually battery backup for the fridge made by Blue Eddy, who's actually the sponsor of the video. So this is Blue Eddy fridge power and expansion pack. And its primary purpose is to keep my fridge running in case of a power outage. Right now, my fridge is plugged into the backup battery and the backup battery is plugged into the wall. That way it is always fully charged up and ready to go in case of a power outage. The way that I tend to do meal prep makes it important to me to have uninterrupted power. I eat a lot of meat and fish and so obviously spoilage is something I have to be cautious of. So having that backup power gives me assurance that I'm not going to lose all that meat in case of the power goes out. I also will cook meals in batches and freeze the rest for later. So I need to make sure my frozen stuff stays frozen. The fridge power has about two kilowatt hour capacity, which means I can run my fridge for about a day. They also have an expansion pack for this so that you can increase the capacity so that you can keep your fridge running for longer in case you're in an area that experiences longer power outages. I like how tiny living gives me more flexibility and freedom to travel more. And having this supports that because I can leave for longer periods of time and be sure that I'm not coming home to a fridge full of spoiled food. I like that this backup system is a slim shape because it fits nicely on top of my fridge. Most backup batteries I have looked at are a boxy square shape that would take up too much floor space in my already small home. It also comes with a wall mounting bracket so you can put it beside your fridge or vertically. That makes sense for your setup. Or you can place it on top of your fridge using the supplied feet. You'll notice here that there is another outlet on the back and that's because it's not limited to just keeping your fridge powered up. You can use it for basically anything that uses a household plug that you want to make sure it stays charged. For example, home internet or security camera. You can monitor the state of the battery through the BlueEddy app and the whole system is also compatible with Alexa, Google Home and Home Assistant. The system is also equipped with all sorts of smart features that will cycle the battery to help maintain battery health and even monitor the weather and make sure it's charged up before the storm. I love that having a backup battery helps keep me prepared for the unexpected things that life throws at you. If you wanna check out the BlueEddy fridge power or any other backup battery system BlueEddy has, click the link in the description. Now we're gonna head into the living room and I'll show you what I have going on in there. Here in the living room, you'll notice that I have a big wide couch, plenty of space to get real comfortable and also seat guests as well. And I can also move this ottoman over and it can be more seating. It's a wide couch, but I still have all this space to walk around and the dogs can play. With purchasing couches or just furniture in general, tape measure, tape measure, tape and lay it out. See how your space is going to look before you start buying furniture. Because I can remember I had my heart set on a specific couch, but it was way too big and it would have took up this whole space. So definitely like hold off on buying furniture, really get in the space and figure it out. Things that you like, take measurements, double check and really get everything in place so that you know like how is it gonna feel in here. So another thing you notice is that I have a lot of pillows, a throw blanket, curtains and artwork and still more to come. You don't have to be limited. This space, you can make it your own and it can feel comfortable and feel really natural to where you honestly don't feel like you're in a tiny home. You just, you're in your home. And you could be saving money because less wall space. I didn't opt for the built-in entertainment system. I kind of wanted to do my own thing because I knew I wanted to have like shoe storage because I have a lot of shoes. And then also my TV. It's a 55 inch and I love it. It fits perfectly in this space. But as you can see, you can go bigger if you want. Again, plenty of space in this area. So I just turned 30 in March. And for me, I know most people want like the big home, lavish home. For me, it doesn't feel necessary. I have everything that I need in this home. I can afford this home. I like being able to have the extra money in my pocket and I'm still living comfortably. This home is still mine and I'm still making it my home. There's still lots of things that I wanna do with it, which I can afford to do with it in this home. In a big home, that would take a lot longer. In this, it's happening a little bit faster. So the base price for this model, 2026, it was 59,000. With the added porch, the raised ceilings, the stainless steel appliances, it ended up being 76,000 in total. Everything, including taxes and all that extra stuff. For financing, I use 21st Mortgage. It's pretty hard finding a lender or a bank to fund a tiny home. So with 21st, it's like, it was natural, normal. They know what they're doing. You just have to send things to them that they ask for and call it a day. And I love that. Another thing to be mindful of whenever you are building out your home and customizing and you've got your budget and you're ready to put it on your tiny home lot or your lands, skirting. At least if you're in a tiny home part, skirting is required. I've done my research and all of them required skirting. And so for my skirting, it ended up being 3,200. And if you want like a fenced in yard, that's money as well. So think about those things when you're planning out your budget. I searched high and low to find this spot. A lot of nice tiny home parks are far out. And I have a job that I need to get to every day. I just researched tiny home communities, RV communities. I just did a lot of research. And probably a year ago, I found the Pines. And at that time they did not have the spacing for a 15 wide. And so that took me back to the drawing board. So another year went by and then at the last minute, I decided to look at them again and they had built out more tiny home lots. I got lucky. And so that's how I found my spot. For my lot rent, it's 650 a month and that includes water. And then my electricity, it's anywhere between like 50 to $70 a month. It really just depends on the month. My mortgage is 750 a month. And so with my mortgage and then my lot fee, it ends up being around like $1,400 a month. That's something that I can afford. It's like paying for apartment. Some people are paying more than that for an apartment. And this is mine. It's my home. If I wanna move one day, I can pick it up and go. Like it can go with me. So like I am paying this off to own it. But it's not a 30 year mortgage. Some people are paying this for like a car note. So it's doable. For this area, one thing I will say is that I do wish it was closed off. However, it kind of works out because it gives me a space to put my dog Kennel for my youngest one. Cause he's a little terror. But as you can see, like I'm not even filling up this space. There's still space to put more stuff. But I do like having this area for like overflowing stuff for like dog stuff, toilet paper, and just random boxes. Normally in this layout, the washer and dryer would go right here. And so you wouldn't get this extra storage. I decided to put the washer and dryer in the closet. It takes away a little bit from the closet, but once you see it, there's plenty of space. And then you'll notice right here that I added a little coat rack to just hang purses, coats and stuff like that. I really don't have space on that wall, but also this is like out of the way. So like if it's kind of messy and you have coats and umbrellas and all that stuff, it's kind of tucked back here away. So you can add stuff however you need it. In this bathroom, it's a little different from what you normally see in a tiny home bathroom. For instance, I have a tub. I don't have the glass half with the walk-in shower. I wanted a tub. I like to take a bath sometimes and I like to bathe my dogs. So I have that. And then with the curtain rod decorated, so it's a little bit different. Some people usually put shelves like over the window. I decided to go with the over the toilet storage area. And I love this instead of having it on the counter because it takes away from counter space. I also didn't go with their little medicine cabinet option. I decided no mirror, I'll put up my own mirror. So that's what I have here. There is some storage right here. And then this is where the water heater sits and you can access that on the outside of the home. So right here is the door to my bedroom. I love this. So I don't have to like go outside of my bedroom and come around the corner to come in here. I can just go bed to bathroom. And then it also helps if you have guests as well. So coming on through, this is my bedroom. I have a queen size bed and I have it orientated this way just to, I wanted more walking space right here. And I still have walking space on that side. I have 10 foot ceilings as well in here. That's the option you can have whenever you don't do the no lofts. It's very open, spacious. It doesn't seem like tight in here. And then I have my curtains to like hide the windows and everything. And then also you notice I have a mini split in here as well. So it keeps this area nice and cozy and warm or cold. However I want it. With storage, if you notice in my room I really don't have like a dresser out here or you know, the little standup dressers. All the stuff that I don't usually use often underneath this bed. So get a bed high enough with some space underneath for extra storage if you want. For this space, it is definitely a work in progress. Like the dark features, the dark comforter, dark curtains, white walls, like still more to come with this space which I can't wait to get into. And over here, this is where I decided to put my TV instead of on that wall since I have my bed oriented this way. It's a 55 inch. So again, if you want a bigger TV, there's space to do so. That's up to you. And also with my bed oriented this way, there's plenty of space. Like if you wanna put a dresser, you wanna put something, there's plenty of space to do that. Moving over here, this is my closet and it does have like a door to close it off if you want to. I decided to have the washer and dryer in my closet. Some people would like to have like a back porch and so that this whole area would just be like a walkway into a porch. I didn't want that. I still wanted just the more storage area in the closet and this works well for me. As you can see, I got a lot of junk, a lot of clothes. I still have some condensing to do but in the meantime, I have the storage to take my time on it. One thing about looking for a tiny home, think about yourself and how many things that you have and how many things that you just don't wanna let go of. Think about like how big you want your closet to be. I love this for me, like plenty of space to walk around, do whatever. Some people in like apartments, their closets aren't this big. So I love this. If you decided to get the loft option, then you get the stairs to go with it and they would be about right here and go all the way up. I decided I didn't want that cause it would take space away from the living room and I love having that open space. So that's just something to think about when you're choosing a loft or no loft and the reasons why you want a loft. Here we are in the front porch. It's a 15 wide by eight feet long. This is an option that you can have and I believe you can go up to 15 feet long if you want it to and I think like three feet is the shortest. I decided to put like a little patio furniture, a little set, a little TV right here. I love this so I can just sit and relax and enjoy the nature. Also I put up these roller blinds, shade blinds just for privacy because I am in a park and so like there are houses around and I like to come over here and like have my privacy and then also for my dogs so they can just be out here doing their thing and kind of minimize the barking at people. I also have this porch screened in and that was also like a task. I DIYed it myself and you know, it looks kind of DIY but it protects me from the little critters out there and it was a task, I'll never do it again. Have a professional do it. That's my tip, have a professional screening your porch because it's not easy. For me, getting out of the military and getting a new job, like I love where I'm at now. I don't have that 30 year mortgage. I'm living pretty comfortably. I don't have any regrets about the decision to go tiny. Like I love this decision for myself and I love it for others to try and do because I think especially in the climate that we're in, how expensive it is, like more people can do this and have a home, your home. So living with a community is, it's kind of funny because everyone around me is in the retirement age. So a lot of my neighbors are a lot older but they are the sweetest people and always trying to help and if I need anything, they're there and I love that. It's definitely a community feel and everyone here like just has like that same mindset of just living tiny and just being able to afford life. Thank you for watching. If you have any comments or questions for me, just leave them in the comment section and I'll get to them the best I can. Bye.