Where To Start? The Beginning of Your Tiny House Journey!
There’s so much to think about when planning your tiny house build it can be so overwhelming! If you’re building your tiny house yourself you might be doing this all for the first time, and even if you’ve built before, building tiny is something to look at from a completely different perspective! Hopefully I can help by giving you some ideas on how to plan your tiny house build so that the home you create is purpose built for you!
Type of Tiny House My tiny house is a shipping container conversion, you might want to construct your tiny house from different materials, you might want a mobile tiny house, you may be after a smaller tiny house or a tiny house with a loft, there’s so many options to choose from! I chose a shipping container for many reasons…I loved the industrial design look, the size was perfect for me, having the structure already built was also a huge plus for me! So have a think about what type of tiny house is going to suit you the best, what designs you like best, if you’re tiny house is going to be on wheels and if not where your tiny house is going to be located!
Design The design of your tiny house should be something you love! A small space can look absolutely fantastic with a well executed design theme! Deciding on your design theme can determine the inside and outside look of your tiny house and may also influence your choice of building materials. The internet is a wonderful source for design ideas with so many images available to look through, spend the time to pick out something that’s perfect for you!
Build your Tiny House to include the things you love! We all know that living tiny means minimising some things and for a lot of people that’s one of the things that draws them toward tiny house living, but living tiny shouldn’t mean giving up the creature comforts we love! Make a list of your must haves! For those of you who love to cook you might want to put emphasis on your kitchen design, for those who enjoy gardening you may choose to incorporate an indoor or outdoor vertical garden on your tiny house. You might decide you can’t go without a bathtub in your tiny house! Almost anything is possible if you know what your absolute must haves are and design and plan accordingly! For me, I had to have huge windows to maximise the gorgeous views and I had to have a proper fireplace!
Utilities in your Tiny House Choosing what type of utilities you’ll have in your tiny house should probably be your next step. The options available to you will depend on the type of tiny house you build and the utility options available in your location. You’ll need to decide if you’ll be connecting to mains power or opting to go solar. You’ll need to consider your water availability and how much rainwater collection and storage you’ll need plus the type of hot water service you’ll use. Will your tiny house be electric or gas or a combination of both? Will you be connected to a septic system or will you use a composting toilet? You’ll want to consider the availability of your internet connection and tv subscription connection. It’s important to weigh up the pros and cons of all your options to decide what’s right for you. I’ll talk a lot more about each option in more detail in future blogs, for me in my tiny house I chose to go completely off grid solar, I have ground mounted solar panels and battery storage. My tiny house appliances including the hot water service are all electric. I don’t have mains water so I’m solely reliant on my rainwater catchment…I do have an option to have water trucked in when needed too as a back up! My tiny house is attached to the septic system so I have a regular toilet. My internet was connected via ground mounted satellite dish and same for tv subscriptions. If you want to ask me any questions about utility choices please send me an email via the “Contact Me” page on this blog, I’m happy to answer and help as best I can.
Once you’ve decided on the type of tiny house you want, the design you’d like to create and you’ve chosen your must have items to include in your design and then finally your utility selections, the choices that follow should fall into place a lot more easily!
Thank you for visiting my very first blog post, I hope it’s been informative enough to help get you started on your Tiny House journey!
I’ll be posting each week, usually once a week on a Monday. My regular posts will be about a different specific topic each week but this coming Monday I’ll continue on to give you a brief outline of the steps I took to get my tiny house from my ideas and wish lists to being built!
Jen 🏡