We Built a Tiny HousSe That Feels HuGe + PurcHaSed Land

The county just blatantly would say, no, that's an RV. You can't live in it. Or that's too small of a space for you to live in. I think that's silly because I think this space is very large for two people to live in very comfortably. Even though we're living tiny, it doesn't feel like we're living tiny. It doesn't feel like we have to make any large sacrifices to be able to still live this lifestyle. Actually, we have more storage in this tiny house than we ever had in any of the places that we lived, like in traditional houses. My favorite part of the tiny house, something I had to fight for with my wife. She got her full-size kitchen. I got a full-size bathtub. I put 18 windows into this house. Just makes the house feel so large and open. Will you join me? Will you make this house our tiny home? Hi, I'm Rachel. And I'm John. Welcome to our DIY tiny house in the Redwoods. We were wanting to buy a house and a lot of the homes within our budget were going to need a lot of work and renovations. The process of building a tiny house was appealing to me because it was a cost-saving measure. Because we could build the house for a much smaller amount of money, live in it, save money, and then eventually build a nest egg up to buy a real property. We finished the design. We started the build. And so between June and October, we went from trailer, fresh off the lot, to a house that you could live in. When you get to build your own tiny house, you get to customize it to the things that you really want. We added heated floors for the house, which we didn't have before. We couldn't afford probably a full-size house. But for the tiny, it was only a few hundred bucks. So those little things were nice because it was smaller. The cost of doing these extravagant things wasn't extravagant itself. It was a wonderful thing to be able to add. The house all in, which included the deck, the fence, was $80,000. We did live in this house for seven years. Our plan always was to eventually transition into buying property and into a traditional home. And so once we were able to pay off this house, we were able then to start saving money. We looked for about three years, pretty hardcore, for a property that would accommodate the tiny. Because we didn't want to lose the tiny. We'd put so much of our time and energy and love into this house. It was heartbreaking to think about it not coming with us. And then we kicked around what we wanted to do with the tiny. Why have a space that isn't being used? So we only have so many friends and family that are going to come visit us and that we can put in the house. So we decided, you know, let's open it up to people in need in the area. So we have this as kind of a midterm rental setup. So nurses and other people that are just looking for a part-time, multi-month furnished rental can use it. The deck was originally at the other place, five miles down the road. We took it apart, brought the pieces here, and then re-envisioned it into the new deck that we have. It's a little smaller, but the design is very similar. So my wife being a vet tech and us having five fur babies, we put in an enclosed side and backyard. Which runs right up to our front property redwood fence. Everyone seems to really enjoy it and it's easy access for the pets. This is the mechanical kind of side of the tiny. So you've got the condenser for the mini-split right there. This is the water line feeding the house. It runs through two pre-filters and a water softener that are hidden behind this lovely little box I made. And just behind there you'll see our two propane tanks that gas up the hot water heater and gas up the dryer. And then our power connection is right there on the ground next to everything. Now we're entering in what we call the living room space. I wanted just to have a space where when you come in you didn't have like a pile of shoes in your little walkway. So we built these cubbies to just hold shoes. Here we have a two person couch. And the nice thing about this couch is they are reclinable. So we can go ahead and lay fully out on this couch which is really nice. The other thing is since I didn't really leave a lot of space on the walls for a television. Since I wanted to have lots of windows. We thought it would be a really great idea to add in a projection screen. So over our French doors we have a projection screen that lowers down. That covers our French doors that we utilize as our television. And actually it's a double bonus because it turns it into like a little movie theater in here. We had some butcher block countertops left over. So John was actually able to utilize the butcher block and had made these floating steps. And so he went ahead and custom made all of the iron rods that bolt into the framing of the house. And it kind of gives this concept that they're just kind of floating in space. So it didn't look like a big box that would kind of close the space up. A lot of time people will build in more storage under their stairs. But since we had already so much storage done in the kitchen. And we were living in this tiny house with two large dogs. And so we decided to make this custom bunk beds for the dogs. One would sleep up here and the other one would sleep underneath. Another thing that I really loved is brick wall. I just love the colors and the warmth that it brings. I think trying to put a brick wall in a tiny house was going to put too much weight on the trailer. So an alternative is wallpaper. And so this brick wall that I have is actually wallpaper. And so that extends from the living room into the kitchen. In the kitchen is a different paint color than the living room. And the bathroom and the bedrooms all have different color. And that's just because I wanted to give those space just their own signature in a sense. This bedroom is a little larger than we originally anticipated. As my wife's kitchen design kept expanding, so did the above the kitchen bedroom. So the bedroom was originally going to be I think four feet narrower. We also added these blackout curtains. They're wonderful. You can sleep anytime of the day. We also have a great TV up here. So if you're wanting to spend a little time away from your spouse or whatever person you're with, you can come up here and watch the TV up here. So overall it's a great space and it's fairly roomy. I'm six foot two and I still have decent clearance above my head. Welcome to our tiny house kitchen. First thing you'll notice when you come into our kitchen is these butcher block countertops. This idea came from a house that I was staying at in Berkeley. And this lady had this beautiful kitchen and she had these beautiful butcher block countertops. So when we were designing our tiny house, I had asked John if this was something that we could go ahead and put into the tiny house. I love the concept of natural wood brings in a lot of warmth and it just maintains really well. Being in a tiny house, I wanted to try to keep the space feeling very open and bright. And so by accomplishing that, I put 18 windows into this house, allowing all this natural light to come in and wherever you look throughout the house, you could always see outside just makes the house feel so large and open. This window is my favorite. So this is our accordion window, which opens up. That window costs as much as the other 17 combined. Yes, I know. It's including the door to combat, you know, having less storage on the walls. We have lots of storage under the cabinets. And so as you can see, we have lots of drawers here. Actually, we have more storage in this tiny house than we ever had in any of the places that we lived, like in traditional houses. Another fun, unique thing about our kitchen is making sure that we're utilizing all the space as as efficiently as possible. So with that said, not only do we have one Lazy Susan, we actually have two. So this corner does both open up and we have double Lazy Susan's on either side. And that provides so much storage underneath the cabinet trees. Another thing that you think about is like where would you like keep a trash can and you're recycling. And so that was another option that we had when we were designing. So we were able to have another pullout drawer that offers trash and recycling that just makes it very efficient. And then it's just tucked away and you don't have to look at it and don't think about it. I always wanted to have a farmhouse sink and I didn't think I would actually be able to have one in a tiny house. But then John made it happen. And so this is my double farmhouse sink. So that gave me lots of space for washing and also drying. So that way I didn't have to put a lot of wet dishes onto the counter. I was able to design this tiny house where accommodated full size appliances. I am a big baker and a big cooker and I having full size appliances was a big thing for me to continue to have in a tiny house. And so as you can see, we still have a full size stove, a full size microwave. We have a full size pantry that holds and stores lots of food. And then we also have a full size fridge. Even though we're living tiny, it doesn't feel like we're living tiny. And it doesn't feel like we have to make any large sacrifices to be able to still live this lifestyle. So another concept with tiny house building is we wanted to live in a house that was very functional. And something that you could live in 24 seven. So a big thing for us was we didn't want a house that we had to constantly transition or move to be able to utilize a space. So what we did was we went ahead and extended the butcher block countertops to this space over the wheel house. So this has a space underneath so we can sit here and eat just like a normal kitchen table. And it's nice because it doesn't move and it's just here always to be utilized. For most people with tiny houses, the biggest challenge is just trying to find a place to put it. And at the time when we were building our tiny houses, it was still a new concept. There weren't any laws really in place. It was terrifying to think about having to break the law in order to live and stay in the state and be able to still afford it. The county just blatantly would say no, that's an RV, you can't live in it. Or that's too small of a space for you to live in. I think that's silly because I think this space is very large for two people to live in very comfortably. Over the years we watched how the industry has changed and the rules have changed and the laws have changed to where it's now becoming more accepted. Tiny houses aren't that bad. They're a solution for our overcrowding population and our lack of housing in our county. So now we can head into our second loft, which we had named the lady loft. This was a space that I used mostly for storing my clothes and some of my more personal items. This is our ladder that John built for getting into the second loft. We wanted a kind of like a push ladder so that way we could kind of push it away up against the wall. So it's kind of, you know, out of our walking space when it's not being utilized. But then when we do need to use it, we just go ahead and pull it out and then we can go up. Up here in our loft, we have a large clothes hanger here. So this is where I kept most of my clothes. We also have a couple cubbies just for some extra storage. And then we had this as well for extra storage. This is a shoe rack that we mounted onto the wall. So this is where I just kept some of my off-season shoes like boots. And then we had put a twin size bed up here for just an extra space for visitors or when my mom was visiting us for her to sleep. Welcome to our tiny house bathroom. So this is our sliding barn door. I built it out of pallet wood, recycled pallet wood. Just slides right over. When you come in, we've got the vanity on the left and our medicine cabinet above. Over here on the other side, we recently upgraded the washer and dryer to a stackable unit. Just behind that, we've got a folding table below a storage. There's some drawer storage here. And on the other side, my favorite part of the tiny house, something I had to fight for with my wife. She got her full size kitchen. I got a full size bathtub. And I love this guy. One thing that's nice about this new location is we were able to move off of a gray water system onto a septic system. And we've recently upgraded to a flushable toilet. So the tiny house living has definitely changed our way of life. When you go tiny, you have to start thinking about, well, what do I need? What's going to fit? What's most important? And also, you can afford nicer things because they're going to be a little smaller or you don't need as many of them. And I think it's important to just be mindful of all the stuff that we have. Eventually, it's just going to become landfill. And living tiny has really just changed our life and has changed our way of thinking. So now, even though we don't live in this tiny house full time, we've told each other that even though we have more space, we don't need to fill it up. Have what's important. Have what's necessary. And then that's all you need. If you liked this week's episode, please make sure to like, share, and subscribe. And check back soon because we have new Unique Home Tours publishing all the time. 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