Uni Grad’s Ultimate $US12,000 Eco Tiny House
This young couple has given themselves an incredible start to life! After graduating from university, Sam and Simone threw themselves right into a building a tiny house on wheels. Constructed as a DIY project, this tiny home cost an amazingly low figure of only AU$17,000 to build, which works out to be just over US$12,000 – essentially the equivalent of what one years worth of rent would have cost them. Given the high material cost of items in Australia, this figure is especially impressive.
One of the very clever things that they have done to save money on this build was to collect the essential high ticket price items first, such as the doors and windows, and then design the home around those elements. Custom built windows and doors can easily make up a large percentage of the cost of any build and being able to design around these is a great way of saving some money. They have also extensively used recycled materials, as well as factory seconds which can often be sourced at a fraction of the cost.
Between them, the couple studied wildlife and environmental sciences and they are passionate about living with a light footprint on the earth. A tiny house was an ideal solution for them, as it gives the couple a wonderful place to call home, while also minimising their environmental impact. They plan to put their experience with their degrees into practice on the 3 acre property just outside of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, where their tiny house is now parked by working on regenerative projects on the land through native planting and wildlife protection initiatives.
There’s no TV in this tiny house! Instead, the couple love to spend time together enjoying the great outdoors! They are treated to a plethora of nesting birdlife in the area and so bird watching and wildlife photography have become hobbies for the pair. They even have nesting birds just outside of their loft window, which they can watch each night before they go to bed.
The design of their tiny house matches their ethos in life. It’s open, spacious and completely connected to the outdoors. Large panoramic windows surround the home and give unobstructed views into the surrounding landscape, while an impressive collection of plants inside the home to their part to bring nature indoors for the couple.
Priority in the tiny home has been given to a lovely office space, which is especially important for the couple who are in the process of starting a sustainable online business, crafting and retailing their own sustainable clothing brand, Jungle Alley. Building and living in the tiny house has given the couple a perfect platform to launch their business, as they are able to save money and reinvest to grow their new venture.
In this weeks video, we give a full video tour of the home and explore lots of tips for constructing a beautiful tiny house while on a budget. Sam and Simone have really shown what’s possible if you’re willing to put your mind, and your hearts into a tiny house build. Be sure to check out the full video tour!
