Christina And Jon Loved The Idea of Living Minimally in a DIY Tiny House!

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Christina and her boyfriend Jon living in a DIY tiny house with their dog named ‘Sammy’ and a bird (quaker parrot) named ‘Peter’! Before this happens, Jon was in law school and they wanted an option other than renting an apartment to save money and live more freely and affordably. Consequently, after watching a ton of Tiny House tour videos on youtube and seeing Tiny Houses on Pinterest they were drawn towards a minimalist lifestyle.

However, they have decided to build the house on their own since Jon and his dad had experience in the construction field. Also, they wanted to cut down the labor costs, and build something they truly wanted! After that, the family has started the build in August of 2018 and moved in around March of 2019, so they’ve been living tiny for a year and a half now.

I would say a big way to see if you can live in a tiny house is to rent an airbnb and stay in one for at least two or more days! That really helped us to see how much space we would want and allowed us to see what we liked/didn’t like in someone else’s design.

– Christina

It is a 32×8.5x13ft tiny house that includes all of the things they really need, such as a couch with storage and a pull-out bed, a normal-sized fridge, a 50-inch tv, washer/dryer combo, and a bathtub. This tiny house features two loft areas such as a 10 ft bedroom loft with a queen-size bed. And, a 6 ft storage loft, with a bookshelf, craft supplies, and a bean bag chair.

DIY Tiny House In Florida

“The most challenging part about the tiny house is probably the fact that we both have different sleeping schedules, and since we’re kind of in one big room, lights and sounds are more likely to wake one of us up,” said Christina. So to help with this, They usually keep the place quiet when walking around and doing things if the other is sleeping. Currently, their house parked on Jon’s parent’s property in Central Florida where they have a spacious yard. In other words, there is lots of room for their dog, Sammy, to play outside and also for them to have a garden.

The walls of this tiny house are built using SIPs (structurally insulated panels). Its 3-inch thickness makes the living space wider and brighter. Above all, this 384sq.ft DIY tiny house also includes a desk for Jon that also can be used as a kitchen table. The total cost of the built (including furniture, appliances, and everything else they needed) was around 45,000$.

We would love to thank all of our friends and family for believing in our dream to build our own tiny house and for all of the support they have always given us!

– Christina and Jon

Are you inspired by their story? Here is another thing Christina says, “Another piece of advice is to tape out a layout that you think you would want and see how it looks/feels. Go to tiny house festivals as well! Talk and meet other people who are living tiny, and watch as many videos as you can; do your research! One issue that seems to come up a lot is whether you want to be RV certified or not. And the difficulties finding a place to park”. Finally, Christina and Jon have a plan to start a youtube channel or a blog site to inspire others on a tiny lifestyle. In the meantime, you can follow them on Instagram here!

Watch their story in video format!