A few years ago, my husband and I came to the point of realising that ‘normal’ was never going to give us what we wanted. We didn’t want the 9-5, the huge house (and mortgage), every moment spent cleaning and our whole live spent trying to keep up.
We wanted freedom. The freedom to follow opportunity, set our own work schedule and live by our own values. We realised our goals in a nutshell were Self-sufficiency – as much as possible without giving up our freedom and our plans to home-school, volunteer and explore. Family time where we really get to put in the quality time with our kids while they are still little and wanting our time. And control – or as much control as we really have in a world that’s always working.
Like magic – we wrote down our list and suddenly appeared this idea of Tiny Houses. It was after posting in a mum’s group about our desires that a friend suggested I search for Tiny Houses. So, we researched. A lot. For most of a year! We paid for engineered plans to get an idea of materials and cost which showed us this was a viable option! Next step was to order our trailer, jump in and do it! After 11 months of work there we were standing in our new home! We have lived in our DIY Tiny House on Wheels now for coming up to a year and a half! This has been an awesome, wild and fun time of learning and transitioning done WITH 2 small kids!
If you are at that same point and wondering how you could do the same, I want to give you the very first thing you need to do. This is your homework. Ready?
Work out what you want from your home.
Everything. Budget. Style. Location. Design. Time frame. All come down to this. You need to know exactly what you want from your home. It sounds obvious right? Well I guess in a way it is. But this is the absolute foundation of planning your project. Knowing where you are going to end up is vital!
So work out what your goals are.
- Do you want something as cheap as possible?
- Do you want to travel?
- Do you want the flexibility to be able to move it?
- Do you want to be off grid?
- How many people will live there? For how long? Permanently or just part time?
- What can you afford to spend?
- How much time do you spend at home?
Get your intention right before you do anything else. I’ll give you some examples of why this is so important.
Let’s say that you really want to travel for 2 years and explore the country in something as cheap as possible, sell it and then go back to ‘normal’ life. I can tell you a Tiny House on Wheels is unlikely to be the best option for you. A bus conversion project or even a caravan is probably more suitable.
Now let’s say that your goal is to live full time, save up money and then use your new asset as a home base while you build a home perhaps even setting it up as a B&B as an income stream. That sounds like your intention is to build something comfortable and practical that is going to last well! A Tiny House sounds PERFECT.
Both of those options fall in the realm of Tiny Houses and both are amazing options! But do you see how different that path is? Setting your intention is vital! The thing I love most about Tiny Houses is they way they can be completely built to your vision! You need to have that clarity around your intention first though so you can set your direction.
Once that is done then you can sit there with Pinterest or Tiny House TV shows making a list of the functions you want or need in your home. This is the fun bit.
The clearer you can make this picture of what you want the easier it is going to be to start drawing up plans, making estimates, working through logistics and planning!
I found it really helpul to have a notepad nearby whenever I was looking at Tiny Houses online. I made a list of my non negotiables for my house. These were the things like a full size oven and 2 separate lofts that for me were vital pieces of the puzzle. Then I made a list of the things I wanted but were not essential. Some of them eventuated and some did not. The point of the exercise though is to get a picture of what you need in your home so you can start thinking about the floorplan with your intentions in mind.
How exciting is that? So, what are you waiting for?
If you have read this but you are still feeling a little overwhelmed I encouraging you to reach out to us at www.mecoblue.com and one of our helpful team will help talk you through your goals and intentions so they become clearer for you!
Good luck in whatever path you choose. I truly believe that your Tiny Living Dreams are there for a reason.
Sarah
