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.
Dave worked as a professional pastry chef and a stained glass artist, so his aesthetic sense is impeccable. He applied his talents—and his frugality—to building a tiny house with recycled materials, sometimes driving for hours in order to pick up different secondhand goods.
In addition to being sustainable, this also helped finance the cost of the build, since Dave would sell the stuff he didn’t use and pour the money back into the house.
Dave’s hand can be felt in many of the house’s decorative and functional elements. The stained glass windows on the door and the shower window provide beautiful ways to let in light while also maintaining privacy.
The foldable deck creates an outdoor space to hang out in when the weather is nice, but can be pulled up when it’s time to travel, using a pulley system that Dave designed.
He also designed a similar system to move their bed up and down because they did not want to have to climb up to a sleep loft every night or have the bed taking over their living space. This was especially important to Dave because of his arthritis. Their bed has a few different heights, though they tend to sleep in it at bunk bed height, meaning there are a few, but not too many, steps to climb, which also double as storage.
Tiny house made from recycled materials
As Jen and Dave offer a virtual tour of their home and share memories of the process of building a tiny house made from recycled materials, showing how arts and practicality can coalesce in tiny home living.
For more tiny home stories, discover this boho-style tiny house made out of recycled materials or this colorful tiny home that made a Gen Z-er a first-time homeowner.
To see more videos, check out the Tiny House Expedition YouTube channel.
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Beautiful !!!
As a former professional stained glass artist whose late husband was a glass artist specializing in hot and carved glass as well as being a woodworker, gunsmith, and jeweler, I am very impressed and delighted that you followed your dream! Thank you for sharing your creativity!