Empty Nester Builds Gorgeous Off-Grid Tiny House for Herself

welcome to my tiny house my name is jennifer miller and this is called the harry respite and i have been in here since january 2021 just about three or four months so i used a tiny home builder that's local named uncharted tiny homes and they offer just basic options for your tiny house and then you can customize them however you want so originally here in the kitchen this would have been a galley style kitchen and it would have been located a little bit further in the house and i decided that i preferred a u-shaped kitchen i wanted to have some stools to be able to sit kind of at a bar area and then also be able to walk into the kitchen that just to me seemed more logical for the way i wanted this place to be set up and so we created a u-shape which includes a propane three burner stove i also originally thought i wasn't going to do a dishwasher but then i realized who am i kidding i need a dishwasher and so had a smaller compact style dishwasher installed a beautiful sink with the window looking out to the back area of my property which is wonderful and then i originally had a larger stainless steel refrigerator selected but realized that i probably needed some more cabinet space and not so much refrigerator and freezer space and so i went with a more compact 10 cubic foot refrigerator which works perfectly fine for me and so then we just kind of worked the u-shape around there to create storage including having open shelving over here and i love the idea of open shelving because it keeps the whole space open and obviously i like to display some of my dishes and that kind of thing on those as well i have a drawer underneath here which is for pots and pans that i use i won't show you the inside of this one because it's stocked full of tupperware and chip bags i and then i keep all my cleaning supplies underneath the sink this cabinet area is more of a pantry area for me and then up above in the taller shelves which obviously i'm not that tall i can just put some of my more personal personal glasses and dishware that's been handed down to me throughout the years and then this as well as also additional storage in the kitchen and for me it works out perfectly with the refrigerator here i can hide this area back here and tuck it away which hides my coffee maker because i do not survive without a cup of coffee every day and also a microwave and a toaster so all the appliances can kind of tuck away in the back and you don't have to see them when you first walk into the [Music] house so i actually set up a five-year plan to go tiny so like most people i caught wind of a tv show and started watching tv shows on tiny living and caught the bug and so i knew i was currently living in a regular house about 1400 square feet and i had two boys and they still needed to get out of high school and get into college and and so i started a five-year plan and i basically spent those five years gleaning tv shows going out on social media trying to find out as much information as i could going to local home and garden shows and eventually found my builder and then you know spent time getting the boys graduated out on into college and onto their own and being able to um just be able to sell the house moved into a rental for a year and then uh built the house while i lived in the rental and uh it was five long years but i was patient and a lot of flexibility and a lot of careful planning but i did it and i set my goal to be able to move into my tiny house by the time i reached the age of 50 and i turned 50 last june and so i did it [Music] so i actually live in my tiny house with three dogs and one cat and finding areas that i can make pet friendly was very important to me and one of the hacks that i found on pinterest was actually using these which are for planter pots to hang planter pots but i installed them on my walls inside the house and for my two bigger dogs i can just place their dog food bowls in them like that and they're at the correct height for them to eat out of the bowls so i created kind of a rug area with the water bowl they've got their basket full of toys who doesn't remember mr bill and then of course we do have another dog bed here right in front of the fireplace which is one of the favorite spots for them especially on a cold windy day this is one of my favorite spots in the house right here this is the hangout spot remember when i said that i switched kind of the layout of this floor plan originally part of that was because i wanted to create a cozy space that i could sit here and relax and watch tv what if i'm not feeling well one day and i just want to be one of those people that stays in my pajamas and is bundled up in a blanket with a fireplace going and just watching movies waiting for myself to feel better well this was the space that i wanted to create and so i created a warm cozy place by putting a day bed instead of a regular couch in here which now serves the purpose of another sleeping area should i have a guest come and stay with me it also gives me some additional storage underneath it it faces this wonderful fireplace and tv kind of entertainment center on the other side so this is kind of like my lounge relaxation area i also included a hook up here which allows me to hang a hammock chair and let me tell you with three dogs who hog most of the rest of the space in here this is where i like to relax and watch tv all right so manny has joined me this is manny one of my dogs and um you would think that this is it for the living room and you would be wrong so i also wanted to create a secret workspace for myself within the tiny house i've been working from home for a little while and needed a place where i wanted to be able to work but i wanted to hide it when i'm not working and so you think this is just a basic metal ladder to get up into the loft area but slide it over here and it becomes my workstation so here's my workstation you can see i've got a lot of equipment down under tucked underneath and it works absolutely wonderfully i have a little secret window here i can peek outside while i'm working and i absolutely love it and yes so there is actually a loft area in here too and i've got two twin bed mattresses up here and then just a shelf and a lamp very basic and simple but it's another guest area that i can have people come and stay with me and then you'll notice windows on either side when these windows are both open the cross breeze that comes through here is absolutely amazing it and it filters down to the bottom area of the house too it's great [Music] so the pros and cons of living tiny especially in my tiny house this one is slightly wider than the typical tiny house usually a street legal tiny house will be eight and a half feet wide this is a ten foot wide tiny house and so i can't move it myself so i guess that could be considered a con not that i ever really planned on moving it myself anyways but um you would have to hire somebody to be able to move it because of the 10 foot it takes one of those wide load kind of tags on it to move it but it is movable pros would be uh just a smaller footprint being able to live in a smaller place to me it's much more cozy and comfortable and just easier to decorate plus you get to splurge a little bit because you're not spending so much on such a large square footage of appliances and different things like that another con for animal lovers is having pets and how quickly it can get dirty so just making sure that you have kind of a cleaning plan good cleaning supplies and that kind of thing to help keep the area clean a little bit better so another pro also is just the energy cost savings especially having it constructed off-grid it might cost a little bit more at the beginning in the total cost for that but to have solar power to be able to come in and be able to use that is definitely an energy saver i actually don't pay my own personal electric bill because i rent on property and so that goes into my rent but definitely losing that bill was a highlight for me [Music] this i guess i would call the respite part of the name of my tiny house the harry respite and this is my incredibly comfortable bed you may notice that it's elevated a little bit and that is because it is on a hinge and the bed does lift up and there's storage underneath it as well as some of the solar equipment for my solar system that i have on the house so this house is built to be completely off-grid although it's not currently it is off-grid capable also this is a custom-made headboard i made this headboard myself and if you look at it it's it's got a map design on it and it is an homage to my father who traveled a lot and we lived overseas for years and so i wanted to put this in which kind of reflected the traveling that we had in the history of our family so that was specific to my father so whoever said you can't have a lot of closet space in a tiny house this is a closet space wall to wall i believe it's an eight foot stretch of closet and this is not only just for my clothes here in the bedroom but it is also a utility closet so i designed the closet so that i have two opening doors this is mostly longer hanging clothes and shoes down at the bottom this side opens and it's got the double hanging shelves in there for clothes i know i need to purge some more clothes for sure and then this is more storage and dressers dresser drawers built into it so plenty of storage for everything i need it still needs a little bit of cleaning and then this is the utility closet so brooms my swiffer any supplies my yoga mat anything like that goes into the utility closet so this was fantastic ikea and originally we thought we were going with a slightly shorter version but this was the exact height to the wall of the bedroom and so it fit perfectly and i absolutely love it so this was a really great find at ikea as well these are actually shoe storage containers and they can wall mount they're stackable too and they actually kind of slide into each other so i think you could probably just leave them loose somewhere as well unless you're traveling with your trailer and then you probably want to make sure that you secure them but i use them for dog leashes my dog supplies these two are actually all full of dog supplies clothes treats that kind of thing and this is winter gear up here which obviously i'm in arizona i probably don't have to use that often but i keep some scarves hats gloves things like that in the top one they work great so this is actually a pretty large bathroom for a tiny house and i created it on purpose because of the three dogs that i have using that sliding door i can close this area off and kind of keep them trapped in the bathroom and then they still have a doggie door down here which allows them to get out into a dog run that we attached to the tiny house so that kind of helps keep some of the when it's a rainy day or something like that it kind of keeps the mud from getting all over the tiny house on this side of the bathroom you'll see we installed just a standard i believe it's a 30 inch cabinet and sink area and then this is an lg wash tower it looks like a stackable washer and dryer but it's actually one single unit energy efficient it's certified for asthma and allergies and it actually works really great i'd opted to go for this instead of a washer dryer combo only because this little one is a geriatric dog and has messes quite frequently and i just really needed to be able to wash quickly and get things cleaned i'm not a bathtub girl so i splurged a little bit on my shower and so here it is it's got a beautiful rain shower head and then also a handheld in there and then a little spa stool for us ladies that have to you know be able to reach and shave our legs and that kind of thing and so i just really like the aesthetic look of this shower and it's worked out perfectly it opens and closes here on the corner and so this is perfect all right so i opted again for a composting toilet um this is part of that off-grid package that i originally opted to do with my builder and i have to say it actually is wonderful no issues with it there's absolutely no smell with a composting toilet as a single person i probably only have to clean the back side of it maybe every two months i could probably go a little bit longer but that's kind of the schedule i set up for myself and then i added some additional storage there's some more open shelving here and then there's also this mirror and a cabinet in here that stores a lot of jewelry and some other bathroom supplies so now we're standing on the outside of the tiny house in the front and this is my deck this is actually one solid 21 foot long wood pallet and luckily i didn't have to build an entire deck i just used this big long pallet sanded stained it weatherproofed it and added it as a deck off the front of the house and so this is kind of my gathering place there are gorgeous sunsets to look at and great sunrises as well so i always tell people you're invited to come over for a coffee sunrise or a beer sunset [Music] i have learned that i don't need a lot of junk i don't need a lot of stuff to be happy and to be comfortable uh i've learned what's most important to me which is family friends and of course my animals that uh are with me and um i just overall have learned that i do actually have some good amounts of patience and flexibility and this really allowed me to hone in on my creativity to be able to custom build a home and design it exactly the way it fit my lifestyle it was just perfect so i'd like to thank all of you for coming and taking a look at my tiny house today i hope you enjoyed what you saw if you wanted to see some additional photos and whatnot you can find me on instagram and that is at jlo underscore og 70. [Music] you

Channel: Tiny Home Tours

Views: 429,079

Rating: 4.9534912 out of 5

Keywords: tiny house, tiny house on wheels, living big in a tiny house, tiny house movement, tiny home, small house, small house design, alternative living, architecture, affordable home, off the grid, small space living, tiny house life, diy tiny house, diy home, tiny house nation, tiny house living, tiny house design, tiny house hunters, tiny house giant journey, tiny house big living, tiny house tour, tiny homes, tiny home build, tiny home tours, tiny home village

Id: YYcBLCwOqLc

Length: 16min 48sec (1008 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 09 2021