Necessities Of Building A Tiny Home Owner Shannon Soine

Tiny homes are a thing—from modern, luxe abodes on wheels to moss-topped A-frames nestled in forest settings, living little has become something of a movement; and it comes at no surprise. There’s no denying the draw of owning a home while also being able to hit the open road at will. For Shannon Soine and her husband, it was just that—they sought a lifestyle change and the ability to travel as much and whenever they wanted.

Their first foray with tiny home living was when they left for their honeymoon in 2012, cruising along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica in their SUV. They explored and moved as they pleased, catching waves and noshing on road-side ceviche along the way. After that, there was no turning back. The two began documenting their journey on their blog, which also highlights other travelers with similar lifestyles as well as tidbits around zoning and . Now, their home base is a 210-square-foot abode parked on a farm. As their place of respite when they’re not jet-setting around the globe, it’s a modern sanctuary with stylish, boho-infused interiors. While it looks effortless, it takes quite a bit of thought to put together a small space that works. Soine shares her necessities and tips for making tiny living every bit as beautiful as it looks on social media.

Light and Airy

Tiny living equates to living more simply with less, which means picking out some absolutely necessities. Soine’s biggest “must-have” was an open floor plan and lots of windows to make it feel larger.

This and That

Multipurpose design that shifts with needs is another major factor. Their MiNiM Home by Brian Levy allows them to tuck the bed away when not in use. She divulges that they’ve been living in this house for nearly five years, and isn’t sure if they would have lasted this long had it not been for their specific layout.

Simplify

“I think anyone can live more simply by paring down what they own. In our 1,600 square foot house, I used the guest closet to house extra clothes that I never wore. There’s no reason for that; just leave the closet empty! It requires constantly going through your wardrobe (I do at least four times a year) to decide what you’re using and what you’re not. I think minimizing your space as much as you can (210 square feet isn’t for everyone) can free up more of your time and money to do what you want.”

Be Practical

“When we were getting rid of our stuff, our first round consisted of asking ourselves, ‘Have we used this in the past year?’ If the answer was no, it went. Luckily, I’m a pretty decisive person. Then we just kept narrowing it down from there. I also tried to think about whether I would be able to replace it if I missed it later on. We tried to keep only the things we really loved or used all the time.” 

Go Big

Their original kitchen in the space, while offering more room didn’t suit their needs with a sink “about the size of a dinner plate” and a refrigerator that couldn’t keep up with their love of beer and wine. So, they upgraded with more sizeable appliances. 

Hide and Seek

In a small space, storage is always an issue. They originally had glass-front cabinets in the kitchen and open cubbies for storage, which often looked cluttered. To clean it up, they shifted elements around and incorporated white cabinets to hide their supplies and brighten up the space. Soine admits she’s a fan of hiding messy items behind doors and turns to Ikea for customizable storage options.

Compartmentalize

Their closet is ever changing and has been redone multiple times. To maximize space, they’ve added a shelving system and closet rod, retro-fit two Komplement drawers from IKEA with added hardware for folded clothes. Soine also switched to lower-profile velvet hangers to fit more clothes on the rod. As it serves multiple purposes, the office is another area that she reconfigured to take advantage of wall space with cabinets, drawers, and a mirror. “We also built a cabinet to hide the A/C unit and painted the back wall white to brighten the space. We gained a ton of storage, and still don’t even use it all.”

Pretty Luxe

“One of the great features of a tiny house is that you need far less material because the space is so small. You can afford to go with nicer finishes because you don’t need much of them!”

 Earthly

“I stick to a neutral palette of black, white and wood, with lots of bright white. We’ve changed out lots of cabinets and storage to white. I’ve also become quite obsessed with plants, so add green into that palette… it’s a tiny jungle in here and I love it!” 

Spark Joy

“Find ways to display the beautiful things you already own! Put that beautiful leather handbag on a wall hook, or put your beautiful ceramic mugs on open shelving. They’ll bring you joy every day!”

Embrace Reality

While it all sounds very romantic, it’s not always a cake walk. “We don’t have a bathroom door, so noise-cancelling headphones are a necessity and reality,” says Soine. “We have an incinerating toilet, and some people are honestly just weirded out by it. I’m pretty sure my mom stops somewhere before she arrives just so she won’t have to use it! It’s not for everyone…” They’ve also faced struggles with frozen water lines in the winter; their first season in, they had to wash their dishes in the bathroom for two weeks as water pooled in the drain pipes in the walls and froze.

Tough It Out

“It’s really difficult to find a legal place to live in a tiny house. I wrote a blog post describing what we went through trying to purchase land and eventually landing in someone’s driveway and then the farm we live on now. It’s worked out for us, but we’ve also seen people abandon tiny living entirely because of this struggle.”