Knowing where to begin when designing a tiny house can be a challenge! We have the advantage that Tom has previously done a few building projects, so knows all of the ins and outs of building a stable structure. For those who do not have this luxury, that’s okay, you end up at the same starting point as us anyway – YouTube. We watched many videos of people that have undertaken tiny house projects, and learned that it’s a diverse community, everyone from practicing engineers to those who have absolutely no idea how to build. It keeps costs down significantly the more of your own labor you can do of course – but it is not an impossible project for those less DIY-minded! My personal favorite YouTube channel is Living Big in a Tiny House – many of the projects are from New Zealand, and there is a wide range of great ideas on there (many of which we shamelessly copied in our own design). https://www.youtube.com/user/livingbigtinyhouse
We also had many discussions about what was important to us in a living space. I wanted a kitchen with plenty of bench space – having spent a few years in a tiny flat while studying with a less-than-adequate kitchen, this is something I wasn’t keen to compromise on again. I also wanted decent storage, which is something we found entirely doable after watching a few cleverly done projects. Tom wanted a large shower, without the clear plastic surrounds that he hates to clean! He also wanted enough space in the sleeping loft to not feel claustrophobic. I think it is important to discuss these aspects right at the start of the design process, as the entire dimensions of the house will depend upon them. We also discussed a few essential design features at this point, like our climbing walls up to both of our loft spaces. We drew many draft plans before settling on our current plan, which may still change when we start building if things don’t go to plan! I have attached a drawing of our current plan for those interested – as you can see, these do not have to be super technical!
Once you have settled on a floor plan, the next step is to find a site on which you can begin your project. We spent ages looking at sections, where nothing ever really felt “perfect” for both of us. I have an eventual dream of living by the beach, so in our design, we incorporated certain aspects which will make our house a bit more salt-resistant. Tom wants a bit of land on which he can do some bee-keeping. We looked around for a while, without feeling particularly inspired by anything on the market. Then, the perfect solution presented itself. A workmate of mine had bought a section about a year ago, and was sick of spending money on rent while she waited for consents and plans to be drawn up for her family home. So, she decided to buy a couple of pre-fabricated containers, convert a shed on her property into a bathroom/kitchen area, and erect a yurt for the living area. She has no idea how long the family will live like this – only that it is an improvement on spending $400 a week on rent which could be going towards their home! I asked her how she would feel about us starting our tiny house project on her section. She and her partner were very accommodating with this – they allocated us a bit of their section right next to water and power. Suddenly, we had a means to make our project a reality! Tom’s mum and her partner are donating the use of their caravan for the duration of the project, so we can go out and work on the site for the entire weekend. Tom is currently looking for a Califont so we can rig up a makeshift shower.
Once you have your site sorted, the next thing is to start gathering materials (I suppose if you are living somewhere with adequate storage then this stage could be begun way in advance – for us living in a flat with 6 others it was not especially practical). The first thing we sourced was a trailer to build on. Tom talked to a few different companies, before settling on one which could build our trailer for $8300. We are hoping this will be the biggest single expense of the project. Tom and his Dad did many calculations, and came up with a plan for the trailer.
I will note at this point that if your plan involves any metal structures, the planning and sourcing has to be a lot more meticulous as everything has to be done with the upmost precision. Since we decided to make ours a timber frame structure, we have a bit more flexibility in terms of changing the design and working around joinery if we can’t get the exact size we had planned for etc.
Our next step was sourcing timber, joinery and tools. The first thing we bought was a small trailer. Then, we began trawling joinery salvage yards. Some people source and salvage over a long period of time, collecting bits as they come across them for super cheap prices. We have 2 weeks to collect our timber and joinery before trailer delivery day. Unfortunately, most of the salvage yards were shut over the holiday period, giving us even less time.
One thing we could do over the holiday period was buy tools – the DIY shops certainly weren’t closing down! Tom was certainly not complaining about this part of the process – the words “kid” and “candy store” sprung to mind for some reason…
Meanwhile, we are continuing to research and develop our plans. Currently, we are researching lightweight solutions to tiling for the bathroom; small, lightweight fire ideas; and Tom is about to order parts for a composting toilet after the reading we’ve done around that. One of the things that makes this project so interesting is the ability to try things and do things differently throughout the whole process, without having the expense of kitting out a whole house or even full-sized room.
The Tiny People 