An Interview with a Tiny Home Owner
We’re so excited to feature our customer, Crystal V., who owns a tiny home out in Washington State. The tiny home movement rose to popularity not only due to its architectural innovation but also because of the simplicity, whimsy, and environmental friendliness it embodies.
So if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like going from 4,000 sq. ft. down to 400 sq. ft., read on!
Crystal’s tiny home!
Tell us about the tiny home concept. What defines a tiny home?
There are many definitions for tiny homes and I will describe what I live in, the tiny home on wheels, or THOW. From my understanding, THOWS are defined as less than 400 s.f. and no more than 8.5 feet wide. The width is important because this makes the tiny home street legal for moving/pulling purposes. The concept of tiny homes came into play many years ago across the world. Personal situations typically bring a person to exploring the tiny home lifestyle. This could be anything from freeing yourself from all the bonds of materialist “things”, financial freedom (no mortgage!), ability to travel and pull your home with you, getting back to nature and slowing down what many live as a crazy, hectic lifestyle.
What inspired you to build a tiny home?
I sort of fell into watching the tiny home shows on TV and was hooked! I had a career that required many years of working more than full time. Looking to move away from this wasn’t going to be possible without what appeared as sacrifices. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always loved small places and would make a fort out of just about anything. Thus my attraction to living tiny! The sacrifices I made ended up not being sacrifices at all. Downsizing wasn’t too challenging because I didn’t find myself very attached to many “things” I had accumulated over the years. This can be very different for some, including many that I know and they think I fell off my rocker!! I love the outdoors and enjoy hiking and backpacking. I have told many people that I could live out of my backpack, and I mean this. Living in breathing closer to nature will no doubt add many years of living to my life.
What was your previous home like?
Oh my, I’ve lived in over 30 different places in my lifetime! Some of this was growing up as a military kid moving to different places. I’ve lived in one-bedroom apartments/condos to larger 3 bedroom homes. While living in these places, I’ve thought about which I prefer and I could never decide. Sometimes living in a small place I wanted something larger and then the reverse when living in something larger. What it came down to is the environment I live in, not the home. I absolutely love living in a tiny home where I can step out my front door and have the wilderness surrounding me. I live in a place with a community garden (there are four tiny homes total, not close to each other at all), fruit trees, chickens, and two households with dogs that are very friendly. I am loving life here.
The interior of Crystal’s darling tiny home.
How did you get everything to fit into your tiny home? What space-saving features does your tiny home have?
I seriously downsized in order to live in my tiny home. I found that this was not hard to do since I apparently wasn’t very attached to most of my possessions. This can be quite different depending on the person. My first transition was to a small one-bedroom apartment and I stored many in a storage unit. Over the next 9 months, I slowly sold or donated many things that I couldn’t take into my tiny home such as pieces of furniture. Most of my kitchen items came with me since I have lots of kitchen storage. A couple of space-savings options in my tiny home; the stairs to my bedroom lift up and under the stairs, I store all my backpacking gear. Another example is a small pantry space that has more than one pull-out shelf with an electrical outlet at the wall. With this, I can plug in a small electric toaster oven and just pull out the shelf when I want to use it and store it away when not in use.
When did you settle on the concept for your tiny home?
About four years ago. I was ready to begin the planning stages and that when I started contacting tiny home builders and settled on Seattle Tiny Homes. I worked hand in hand with the “then” CEO and designer on designing my home from beginning to end. At the end she told me I’d just designed an entire home, just on a much smaller scale. I loved the design stage of determining all of the finishings that I wanted to have.
Crystal organizes her plants on a Triple Easy.
How long have you been living in your tiny home, and how is it going so far?
I’ve lived in my tiny home now for three years and it’s going amazingly well. Much of this I’m sure has to do with the location where I’m parked. As I’ve already mentioned, I LOVE the outdoors and the quiet of nature. In no way do I miss rural living.
What do you love most about your tiny home?
I’ll sound like I’m repeating myself, but what I love most about my tiny home is the location where I live and being in a very natural setting. My tiny home is very well built and meets all of the required inspections if this comes into play in the future; meaning if laws change or if I plan to move elsewhere where someone may need to see inspection certifications. Some people build their own tiny homes and may not have this same certification, so I feel very fortunate to have this as well.
What are some (unexpected) challenges that you ran into?
Hmm. During the design stage, I wasn’t prepared to have so much conversation about toilets! Some day, the general public may become aware of the HUGE amount of water wasted on this planet simply from all the toilets being flushed. I did my research and wasn’t interested in composting toilets, but knew that I needed to be prepared for the possibility of not having hookup to sewer or septic. I landed on the incinerating toilet concept, which works fine, although runs off electricity. I will say that the one thing I find that I miss the most is a regular flushing toilet!!! I don’t currently have solar panels, but this would be needed to truly go off-grid.
Crystal’s spacious deck. Don’t you feel relaxed just looking at it?
What are some specific touches each of you decided on – aspects of the interior & exterior design – that make this home a true expression of who you are, and your unique tastes?
For one, I wasn’t interested in climbing a ladder to get up into/out of bed. My design is a “fifth-wheel” design that allowed my bedroom space to be over the fifth-wheel with stairs (5) leading up to the bedroom. With this design, I can also stand up in half of the bedroom space (not the case if you have a loft!). I also have a loft on the other end of the home, which I’ve turned into an office space/extra sleeping space. I also wanted an electric fireplace and this has added a lot of comfort for those days with much rain over the winter. Probably the addition I added of having a large deck built outside of my home has been the best, adding a ton of extra floor space.
Another shot of the Triple Easy next to Crystal’s tiny home.
Any final words of wisdom for prospective tiny homeowners?
If you have pets, their needs need to be taking into consideration. I had an indoor only cat for six years before moving into my tiny home. After trying many things for three years to make her comfortable with living in a small space, she only grew more aggressive. This was after a year of putting in a pet door to a “catio” on the outdoor deck space. According to the vet, some cats just cannot live in small spaces and I wasn’t going to just let her outside where she likely wouldn’t survive the outdoor forest environment. Unfortunately, she now has a new home. Bottom line; consider your animals when looking to go tiny!