Even with the first home owner scheme and home loan deposit grants, it can be difficult to break into the housing market and find the home that suits your lifestyle. Tiny Living in a Tiny House is more affordable and is connecting multi-generational families with the land and each other.
Aussie Tiny Houses is founded on the belief that you will get more out of life by going Tiny and we’re thrilled to share this conversation we had with Amanda Lee, our customer who’s been living tiny in her Aussie Tiny Houses for a year.
What took you from liking the idea of Tiny Living to building your own Tiny House?
The catalyst for me was selling my house and manifesting the kind of life that I wanted for myself and my two daughters, who are 8 ½ and 3, going forward into the future. My best friend Emma encouraged me to go tiny after initially looking into granny flats and container homes. A tiny house on wheels fit all of my criteria and I loved the idea that I could make it into whatever I wanted it to be.
Why did you choose Aussie Tiny Houses?
I came across Aussie Tiny Houses on Google and loved what I saw, so I rang them and went to meet up with Fabio and everything just clicked. I loved the workshop, the people, how they conduct business, the fact that they genuinely care and really listen to you, they are so passionate and I love that they do regular community work and really give back to the community. Fabio is one of the loveliest people you could ever hope to meet.
What was the design and building process like?
The design and building process were so easy and all just flowed. I decided on two tinies as I wanted to allow both of my girls to have their own bedroom as close in size and layout to their previous rooms as I could. Both of my girls are autistic so keeping things as close to the ‘same’ as I could for them would help them transition better to our new life. They absolutely love their rooms and our tiny house (they call it ‘their cabin’ and ‘mummys cabin’).
There is so much room in our tinies, especially that we have the two. I really like it that at night once the girls are asleep I can go into my cabin and do whatever I like (make a cup of tea, watch a movie, do a workout etc) without worrying about waking them up.
How did you find land and connect to the utilities you need?
The plan was always for us to move into the side paddock on my parent’s property, so going tiny was perfect for that. Having the tinies on wheels means that when we relocate in the future onto our own land we can simply tow them there and the paddock will return back to pre-us state! Even the deck that my dad built for us is built on hardwood pallets so no digging into the land. The only thing that is in the ground is the big deck roof but that is made as a kit so can be disassembled and relocated too.
We have a 5000L rainwater tank plus two smaller tanks for the gardens for our water. We have had to top these up from the water lines that fill the paddock troughs especially during the drought but that is as easy as hooking up a hose from the lines into the tank.
Our power is run underground from my parent’s property and we use their solar. I had originally planned to go off grid with solar myself but it made more sense to hook into mum and dad’s solar while we are living on the same property.
Our internet is also run via cable underground from my parent’s property and we use a router in my cabin to get wifi. The steel frames on the tinies mean very little phone reception inside and no wifi signal unless boosted from inside, it also made trouble for the various video monitors and systems I have set up for my girls in their cabin so I can hear and see them from in mine but we sorted it out pretty quickly!
I have gas for the stove, oven and hot water which my dad changes for me as they’re too heavy for me to lift.
Our toilet is an Eco Loo 750 composting toilet, it is mostly great in that it saves so much water and is better for the environment in my opinion. We have to level out the chamber once every 2 weeks or so as it goes into a mound, and empty the chamber once a month. We could set it aside for a few months and compost it down, however at the moment it’s just as easy to empty it into my parent’s spare septic tank which runs out into trenches (another job my dad does for me as I can’t lift it on my own – thanks dad!). There is never any smell inside the house, however there is a smell outside the house from the breather pipe sometimes if the wind is going in the wrong direction. If I had my time again I might consider going for an incinerating toilet as that means less work for my dad, but I would need to research that more.
What’s it really like living full time in a Tiny House?
We love living in our tinies. I don’t think I’d ever go back to living in a regular house. I have so much free time now with less time cleaning etc. It takes me half an hour to do a full clean of both of the tinies – as opposed to 45 minutes vacuuming our old house just that alone!
Nothing is cramped, we have so much storage and a full-sized fridge, pantry, oven, shower etc, I didn’t want to skimp on anything. I love sitting inside and looking up at the exposed beams on the ceilings, sounds weird but it’s one of my favourite parts about the tinies. So many people (visitors, tradies etc) that I’ve had come over are just amazed and comment on how big they are inside and how fantastic they look. I haven’t had a single person not like them (or not that they’ve let on anyway!). We have great breezes through the house and great views from all the windows (I designed them with this in mind). In winter the stove and oven warm the whole cabin up, the downside though is that in summer it makes it hot also, but nothing that can’t be overcome by turning on the aircon!
What’s it like working from home in a Tiny?
Working from home in a tiny house is a breeze. I am an Early Childhood Consultant and Parenting Mentor through my business Amanda Lee Consulting. I help families overcome any challenges they may have with their little ones (eg behavioural issues etc), I help families organise their homes in a more child friendly and decluttered way and I also help families with little ones with higher/diverse needs eg autism, ADHD etc. A lot of my work is done by video consultation which means I can easily work from the tinies around the needs of my girls. Other consults I do are in the family’s home so that doesn’t impact our life in the tinies at all.
What would you say to anyone thinking about going Tiny?
My advice to anyone considering going tiny is DO IT! It is the best thing ever! What is the worst that could happen? You could hate it, so just sell your tiny to someone else as there are so many people out there now wanting to get into the tiny house lifestyle and movement, if that’s your worst-case scenario then that’s hardly terrible! Less stuff, less stress, less waste, less expense, more time, more happiness, more making memories – well that’s what it has meant for my girls and I. Life is too short – if you’re thinking about going tiny then just do it!
To learn more about Amanda’s journey and get the insights into the inner workings of a functional and thriving Tiny House, check out the podcast below hosted by our friend Lesley O’Brien. Listen on to discover the power of Tiny House Living!
Find Amanda Lee Consulting on Instagram or her work website amandaleeconsulting.biz.
If you think that Tiny Living is also for you, visit our website to see our range of tiny houses designs and get in touch. We would love to be part of your Tiny Living journey.
2 COMMENTS
midscale
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Aussie Tiny Houses
4 years ago AUTHORThanks for following 😉