Alternative Living Spaces

Get inspired by the many stories from people all over the world who are living their dream lives in tiny homes, RVs, shipping containers, houseboats, and more.

Popular Alternative Living Videos

She Bought Her Vintage Railroad Trailer Home for $350 at an Auction

Hannah’s vintage railroad trailer is a great example of how a well-done conversion can turn a railroad trailer into a beautiful tiny home. Tired of moving and finding roommates on Craigslist, she wanted something of her own; something she could park in an RV park with rent she could afford.Her dad had work experience on the railroad and knew that there were trailers up for auction. Hannah showed up with a budget of $350 dollars and miraculously found something in her price range.

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This Tiny Home Features a DIY Bathhouse Made From Recycled Windows

A tiny home bathroom can be a make-it-or-break-it feature; it is perhaps one of the most important spaces in a tiny house. Emmet’s luxury DIY bathhouse is made from recycled windows, overlooks a beautiful forest, and turns his tiny home from a regular abode into a peaceful nature retreat.Emmet’s home is a tiny house made from recycled materials. It sits on a 40-acre organic farm near Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. The single-story home is 4 meters (13 feet) long and was built by Emmet himself, with the help of some friends.Emmet used recycled timbers, skirting boards, and other scrap wood that he collected. He estimates that 80 percent of his home is made from reused materials. The main new things he invested in were screws, nuts, and bolts.

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How a Tiny Home Brought This Senior Retiree Safety & Peace

Sally Sue’s story shows how tiny homes for seniors can be a good solution for retirees seeking to downsize.Her shipping container tiny home, the SS Freedom, is 160 square feet and features a custom-designed couch that doubles as a Murphy bed, with three storage drawers underneath. The tiny home also has an induction countertop stove and a microwave convection oven.Many people wonder “Are tiny homes safe?” For Sally Sue, the answer is yes. In her three-bedroom apartment, she’d often worry about intruders; but in her tiny home, she has a full view of everything and can know immediately that there’s nobody else there.This is especially important to her as a sexual assault survivor; the tiny home security that she feels has given her “pure joy” and allowed her to pursue a new life outside of the trauma.

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How She Turned a 10' X 11' Shed Into a Tiny Home on a Budget

Heather’s journey from shed to tiny home shows that with a little creative problem solving, you can take life’s challenges and turn them into a great adventure.Heather started her shed construction for work and storage space. However, when she separated from her husband, she needed a new home as well. So, she created her 10’ x 11’ shed home, which is located in Ontario on a property owned by her mother and sister.Being close to family allows Heather to nurture relationships with her nieces and nephews, while also having her own space to do whatever she wants, like having solo dance parties!

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Top Alternative Living Spaces

This Cute Train Car Tiny Home Was Made Using a WW2 Railway Carriage

Dan and Annabel’s tiny home in Colorado was once a WW2 train car. They decided to use their train car tiny home to create an artistic oasis in the woods, drawing on their backgrounds as artists who wanted to create something beautiful together.Their goal was to design a home that felt magical, starting with the garden and outdoor space, and continuing with the train car itself, which maintains certain decor touches that keep its history alive.In this video, Dan and Annabel share their story and tips for how to make a tiny house with a train car:

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She Sleeps in a Piano? This Victorian Tiny House is True to History

Shorty Robbins, a Civil War reenactor, has turned her love for history into a beautiful Victorian tiny house that is historically accurate as well as aesthetically pleasing. Her home is named Nawaka, after the summer camp that taught her independence and self-reliance in her childhood.The home entrance is a Dutch door. The ground floor is a parlor and sleeping area for adults, while the loft is a sleeping area for visitors. This is true to real life, where Victorian parents would have slept downstairs in their parlor and their children would have slept upstairs.

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Her Boho Tiny House Was Built Using Recycled Materials

Danielle knew that she wanted a place she could call her own, but with rocketing housing prices, she struggled to find an affordable housing solution. Thanks to space on her uncle’s 3-acre plot in Oregon, she was able to build a boho tiny house that combines the best elements of living alone while also staying close to family.Danielle’s tiny house was built using reclaimed materials, such as old barn wood for the walls, an old stained glass window that acts as the center accent for the living room wall, and second-hang mounted cabinets in the kitchen.In addition to being sustainable, the use of reclaimed materials made the construction of this tiny home extremely affordable, costing a total of $25,000.

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This Couple's DIY Tiny House is Made From Recycled Materials

Jen and Dave are a self-professed “regular” couple, but their tiny house made from recycled materials is anything but.Jen knew that she wanted to travel. She is passionate about her work as an ICU nurse, and traveling in their tiny house allows her to continue that work while moving to different places as a traveling nurse.For her, the tiny house is a means to an end, providing a comfortable and affordable way to travel, as well as insulation that means she doesn’t have to be constantly chasing the warm weather.

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How They Built a Tiny Home in Their Backyard to Live Mortgage-Free

Traci and Matt were considering a move into a tiny home for a long time. As carpenters and home designers, they loved the simplicity and financial benefits that a tiny home offered, but with three kids, a tiny home did not seem like a viable option.However, once their youngest moved out, the couple built and moved into a tiny home in their backyard. Their DIY tiny house on wheels is mortgage free and allows them to rent out the main house to help pay off that mortgage.

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How She Created an Off-Grid Garden on Abandoned Land

Eugenia Diaz is a designer and artist who built the tiny house of her dreams. Thanks to her unique vision, Eugenia now lives an entirely self-sufficient lifestyle, making the most of her countryside home and off-grid garden.In 2019, Eugenia decided to leave her job in the city and move into a camper van in order to spend more time out in nature. Then, at the end of 2020, she moved again—this time to a small village in the mountains of Portugal.Watch her amazing story in the video below:

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This Cute Train Car Tiny Home Was Made Using a WW2 Railway Carriage

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She Sleeps in a Piano? This Victorian Tiny House is True to History

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Her Boho Tiny House Was Built Using Recycled Materials

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This Couple's DIY Tiny House is Made From Recycled Materials

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How They Built a Tiny Home in Their Backyard to Live Mortgage-Free

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How She Created an Off-Grid Garden on Abandoned Land

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New Alternative Living Spaces

This Beautiful Hand-Built & Off-Grid Cabin is Inspired By Mushrooms

This off-grid cabin is a collaboration between artists that is both environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing.Joel and Stephanie have been living off-grid for 14 years and decided to build an Airbnb cabin on their property in order to share that experience with others. It was important to Joel that the building be beautiful: He knew that he wanted a flat-glass roof, a boardwalk around the building, and a cedar shake look. They worked with three other artists to make the vision a reality.

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Why This Couple Decided to Retire in a DIY Raised Roof Skoolie

Phyllis and Steve knew that they were interested in alternative home living and in traveling, but they weren’t sure exactly how. But after taking a bus road trip, they realized the skoolie life was the right choice for them - they love how this lifestyle allows them to travel and be mobile while working if they want to.It took 2 months from when they stayed up at 4am, watching skoolie conversion videos and coming to a decision, to when they actually got on the bus. Instead of waiting to get on board, they chose to learn from trial and error through skoolie life itself, trying different things during the first 3 months until they came up with a design that they like and works for them.

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How He Turned an Old Flatbed Truck Into a Cozy DIY Camper Home

Rory’s DIY camper allows him to live in comfort while traveling wherever he wants to go.After researching different options, Rory decided to build his own DIY camper and attached it to a flatbed truck. He loves driving his 14-foot flatbed truck, which has wide windows that provide great visibility. Because he made his camper trailer, he was able to make it bigger than the average trailer and to custom-design it to fit his needs.

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How Retiring Off the Grid Allows This Couple to Live Allergen-Free

Art and Mary are a retired couple who set out to build an energy-efficient, allergen-free home, and ended up retiring off the grid.They have a massive solar power system for the majority of their electrical needs. They process all their own firewood, and grow and forage a lot of their own food in the summer. Rainwater is collected for watering the gardens. Art and Mary are a really inspiring couple who have learned the best way to live off the grid that fits their lifestyle.

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They Transformed a Derelict Vessel Into a Stunning DIY Tiny Houseboat

What happens when a boat construction worker and a carpenter get together and create a DIY tiny houseboat?This stunning boat answers that question. Jason and Cayley worked together to build the boat of their dreams, transforming a derelict boat they bought for only $6,000 into a luxurious floating tiny home.

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This Whimsical Prefab Tiny House Even Features a Sauna

Prefab and fairytale aren’t often words that go hand in hand, but this tiny house by a lake is showing that sometimes a prefab tiny home can be a dream come true - there’s even a sauna!Kristie Wolfe is a tiny home adventurer, who has created unique tiny home Airbnbs across the United States, from Hawai to Idaho. When she took a road trip with a friend to Tenmile Lake in Oregon, she was inspired to create a tiny cottage house only steps from the water.

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