Japan is famous throughout the world for it’s high population, cramped living conditions and downsized architecture. Even by Japanese standards though, this tiny Tokyo apartment is a lot smaller than usual. At only 8 square meters (82 square feet) this simple home is so small that it’s occupant Emma is able to reach out and touch both walls. Thankfully, some clever design elements allows the micro apartment to be a very functional and cosy home.

Adrienne and Dave are no ordinary couple and they have come up with a truly unique plan for their retirement. After selling the family home to their son, the couple built a Tiny House on wheels where they plan to spend their golden years in style! 

2016 has been an incredible year. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed bringing you tours of all the amazing tiny houses I’ve discovered on my travels this year. Here is a list of my favourite 5!

If you’ve ever dreamt of living the van life and traveling the world, then this is a project that you need to see. Michal and Hana (originally from the Czech Republic) arrived in New Zealand with one year to travel the country. In order to make their journey comfortable, they set about converting an old Ford Transit ambulance into a stunning home on wheels.

Ness and Jess are two incredible ladies. After moving to New Zealand, they decided to begin their new life in a strange country by building a Tiny House on wheels. With minimal building experience but lots of passion, this dynamic duo have designed and constructed a true tiny masterpiece.

When we first me Lily Loveheart Kemp, she was living in an incredible pop-top caravan that she had renovated and which was parked in a backyard in the middle of Auckland City, New Zealand. The following winter, she packed her bags and began an incredible journey, traveling to the United Kingdom and together with her partner Ryan, converting an LDV van into a brilliant home on wheels, which they would live in while traveling around Europe.

When Antje wanted to build her own small dream house but was told that she must construct a home greater that 150 square meters, she started to look for alternatives. After spending some time researching her option on the internet, she decided that a Tiny House on wheels would be perfect for her needs. 

Shipping container homes have undoubtably exploded in popularity over the past few years and that’s no surprise. The lack of affordable housing options in many areas has lead more people searching for alternative options. As far as those options go, shipping containers make a lot of sense. They are easily transported and are structurally sound. That makes a great starting point for an affordable and quality home.

“McMansion Hell” rips to shreds the facade of expensive, so-called luxury homes, exposing them as cheap and terrible investments.

Many people would be really apprehensive when it comes to the idea of moving into a small space with a young family. The challenges such as lack of space and privacy are obvious. Perhaps what’s not so clear though, is the benefits. Josh, Naomi and Kilaian took the plunge, selling their three bedroom home in Christchurch in order to purchase a house truck where they now all live together full time.

Oli and Holly are a couple who aren’t afraid to break the norms. When they made the decision to build a Tiny House on wheels, this couple constructed a home that would truly suit them and their personalities. It’s filled with quirky, unique features and clever spatial design. 

This small home on wheels is smart, modern, incorporates passive design principles and was even designed to withstand earthquakes! For those who love the idea of getting into an affordable home but are afraid that a Tiny House on wheels would be too small, this may be the ideal solution. 

For many, the idea of building a Tiny House on wheels is a wonderful pipe dream, however young kiwi furniture maker Annelies Zwaan has turned that dream into reality by building her very own cottage-in-the-woods style Tiny Home.

A 20ft Shipping Container can be a challenging space to work with when constructing a home. Thankfully, with years of experience building super-yachts and racing boats, shipwright Evans is no stranger to working in small spaces and when it came to building his own home he has done a truly spectacular job of, quite literally, thinking inside the box.

From the very beginning of this project, it was essential for me that my Tiny House be powered entirely though clean, renewable energy. Solar power is the cornerstone of this philosophy and so having the solar panels installed on the Tiny House feels like an incredible milestone.

This cosy forest-den certainly won’t be everyones cup of tea, but this house which was constructed almost entirely from reclaimed materials and cost only 12 dollars to build has served as a comfortable home for David Gell for over 5 years now. 

This house truck, known as Csepellina is simply incredible. It’s not often that you come across the kind of craftsmanship that constructed this home on wheels and when you do it needs to be celebrated!..

It’s been some time since my last update on my own Tiny House project and lots of people have been asking for one! In this video I talk about what has been going on, some of the cool new features that I’m adding to the house, and where the project is heading now. To keep up-to-date with the latest news on the project, make sure you join the mailing list!

  Gypsy Vardo Wagons have become something of a symbol of freedom. The home of the traveller, yet home none-the-less. For Frenchy, a young woman from Wellington, New Zealand who works in performance arts and frequently travels, building her own Gypsy-Vardo-Style Caravan was the ideal housing solution.

This van is a wonderful example of great small space design! It’s a comfortable space for long-term living, but still can be taken to the most adventurous of locations! John McElhiney is no stranger to adventure having lived and traveled throughout some of the harshest regions of the planet. Currently living in Wellington, New Zealand, he set about building an expedition van that would allow him to visit the most remote regions of the country (and perhaps even overseas).

When we first met Brenda Kelly from IQ Container Homes, she was living in a brilliantly designed 20ft Shipping Container home. Since then, she has completed her slightly larger shipping container home, which is constructed from a 40ft and 20ft shipping container that have been joined together.

Living in the Lotus really has been a wonderful experience. Over the summer, this place really has been a spectacular home and get-away for me and life there has at times been nothing short of enchanting. It hasn’t always been easy though, and with my time in the Lotus now coming to an end, I would like to share with you my experience of living in a belle tent, and look at some of the pros and cons of tent living.

This off-the grid Tiny House is truly exceptional and now that Briar has moved in, it’s been transformed into a real home. When we first saw this home it was still at the workshop of boat builder Jeff Hobbs. Since then it has journeyed to it’s new spot where it sits beautifully amongst the natural setting of this small section.

One of the great advantages of living away from the city lights is the spectacular view of the night sky. Flooded with light pollution from population centres, it’s easy to forget the marvel of nature that spreads across the sky each and every night. One of the things that life in a tent has taught me to do is slow down, and pay more attention to the natural world around me. 

Molly and Al lived an incredible life together on the road before finding their own idillic piece of land to set up a small homestead in the South Island of New Zealand.

  The small roof area over the bathroom of our tiny house was a bit tricky to tackle as it needed a much lower pitch of roof. In this video Alan from BioBuild explains how to install a low pitch corrugate roof.

Because of their shape and the strength of the materials they are made from, Earthships can be built as incredibly robust survival shelters. This example is currently under construction in Te Puke (New Zealand), where local organisation Fruit of the Pacific is helping to teach seasonal kiwifruit workers from Vanuatu, how to construct these survival shelter Earthships. Many of the workers were affected by Cyclone Pam, which tragically killed 24 people in Vanuatu and left thousands without homes.

We’ve been hard at work over the last few days putting together this great little kitchenette.  This super simple, DIY kitchenette was actually converted from an old sideboard, making the build incredibly simple and very cost effective.

In the past, people haven’t really viewed tents as a viable option for full time living. High quality canvas tents such as the Lotus Belle Tent are changing that perception and we are really excited to have the opportunity to test out this form of simple, low-impact living. Already these tents are incredibly popular as part of the ‘glamping’ movement, but we are keen to show that they can be much more than just a camping tent!

Underhill is an incredible hobbit-home like, eco-cave house built into the hillside of a Waikato (New Zealand) farm. The house is cleverly constructed to resemble a cave. With no electricity in the house, the stone, wood and rustic features truly make you feel like you’re stepping back in time.

In this video Alan from BioBuild Ltd shows us how to install the window head flashing.

With house prices in Auckland City (New Zealand) going through the roof, 22 year old Lily Kemp decided to get a bit creative in order to escape the rent trap. For her, inspiration struck in the form of a vintage pop-top camper which she found on TradeMe (similar to ebay) for only $1,000. 

Our solar system is being installed on the Tiny House! In this video, we meet the team from Solar Group and watch the first part of our solar install. Because the roof of our Tiny House is so small, we needed a custom solution so both the hot water tank and the solar panel could fit on the roof. Thankfully, Roy and the team from Solar Group were up to the challenge!

This week our house moves one step closer to being completely enclosed as our windows are installed! In this video, Alan from BioBuild Ltd shows us how to install the window flashings, sill support bar and the windows themselves.

Windows and doors make up a very important part in the design of any house. They also have a very large effect on the thermal performance of a home. In this video we talk to the team at Windowmakers Ltd about how aluminium joinery is made, and find out more about the options on the market. We also get to watch some of the construction of the windows that will be going into our Tiny House.

It’s been a year since we last caught up with Shaye and Tom in their tiny house and since that time a lot has changed! Their tiny abode has transformed into a wonderful home for their growing family, which now includes newborn daughter Hazel. The new porch area makes a wonderful addition to their home, helping to create more indoor-outdoor flow and providing a bit of added protection from the elements.

In this video we look at how to install a corrugate roof on a Tiny House. The roof is an incredibly important part of any building and in order to have a water-tight house, it’s essential that you take your time and do things right. Thank-fully, we have the expert help of Alan Drayton from BioBuild Ltd to help us out.

For a long time we have dreamed of being able to lie in bed at night and look at the stars through a skylight. Thanks to our new GGL CK04 roof windows form Velux, that dream is now a reality...