When Pete was asked to help design a tiny house community that would be used by the homeless population, he realized he was suited for the job because he was living in a 1200 square foot house. So, he started designing his own tiny house so he could learn what it takes to live comfortably in less space. He now lives in and loves his 125-square foot tiny house on an 8’x18’ trailer in British Columbia!
His beloved green and white tiny house was built as economically as possible using reclaimed and re-purposed materials. One of his rules was that he wanted to design a house that was self-sufficient and had a low carbon footprint so all of the doors, windows and cabinets were recycled from his local ReStore.
The beautiful ceilings are made from tongue and groove wood from locally milled timber. All of the windows, doors, and cabinets that you see are recycled and we think he did a great job at pulling it all together. He has plenty of storage in the kitchen and even has a separate dining/work area.
Another goal of Pete’s was to not have any wasted space so even his bed is hiding storage. A large roll-out drawer is under the mattress where he stores bulky items and a large water tank.
The Helm—2-Story Container Home close to Magnolia Market
That same bed doubles as a living room when he has company over.
One of the re-purposed elements in the house is this Japanese-style tub that Pete fashioned out of a chest freezer and shower pan!
The composting toilet has a Separatt diverter insert and peat moss is used as a cover on top of the initial straw nest.
Pete made sure that he had plenty of storage in his tiny house and that he had room for a washer/dryer unit. This space is used for his hanging clothes as well as all of his laundry needs.
Here you can see the floorplan for Pete’s tiny house. He intentionally left out a loft because he didn’t want to have to climb up or down a ladder at his age. His goal was to keep the plan as simple and easy as possible with as much storage as possible.
Pete loves his tiny house and now feels like he’s able to design homes for the homeless that they can live in with pride and dignity.
We love that he gave up his comfortable home to find a way to better serve others and in turn found a new life that he loves even more than before!
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