We will go tiny while we build our house!
“Hi, I’m Fran, owner of Ruru Tiny Homes. Pleased to meet you and show you our yard! (…) No, I do not live in a tiny home. I have four children, and I fear that would be a bit much for a small space," is what I keep saying to people when asked if we live tiny ourselves.
Well, I guess that’s about to change.
A few years ago, my husband and I started to plan our dream home build and have worked hard for it ever since. While planning, consulting, and now even having earthworks underway, we have lived in a rental. As we all know, the rent for value in most parts of the country is eye-watering. And that’s not happy tears.
In our case, it comes with the free blessing of a fixed-term rental, which is now due to expire in September. And by September, our family of six plus dog won’t have a roof over our heads yet, as the new build hasn’t even got building consent yet.
Many of my clients approach me asking for options to live in a tiny home while they build, for very similar if not the exact same reasons we’re now into this journey:
Paying a mortgage and rates for a property yet to be built on.
Paying rent to a landlord.
Paying for the planning, consultation, and then, at some stage, for the construction.
Things add up quickly, and if you add normal life and the rising cost of living, for four kids who have desires, wishes, and needs, renting becomes a not-so-fun event.
In our case, we may have even considered renting longer if we had the option, but thanks to fixed-term contracts and landlords wanting to sell, we’ll be out. Soon. Very soon.
Luckily for us, our team in Whangārei had a free building slot approaching, which is rare. This time, instead of building a show home to display our designs, we’re building a custom adjustment of the Toroa XL for ourselves. A tiny house on wheels, on a 12x3m platform, with four bedrooms upstairs, a kitchen, bathroom, and lounge dining area downstairs. Plus, a pod for work, as both parents work full-time from home, and sometimes you just need space and peace and quiet to do this efficiently, as we all know.
Before you know it, the boys in Whangārei have already put the framing up, and things become very real now, as the tiny home for the tiny home builders becomes a reality.
For us, this is also an opportunity as a business to find out first-hand what it’s like to build with Ruru and how easy or difficult the decision-making process is. We’ll be our own team's worst nightmare, a client from hell, asking all the questions, wanting all the answers, and looking behind every nail twice. Ok, fair enough, that’s us anyway with a ridiculous high standard of workmanship expectation to our teams.
To make this an adventure and share our journey from moving from a 5-bedroom 1980s rental with 4 children between 1 and 11, and a dog with dirty paws, into a Tiny Home on Wheels, we’ve created our very own Instagram page ‘The Tiny Tribe NZ’.
If you’re wanting to find out how a Tiny Home with Ruru Tiny Homes comes to life step by step, follow us, like us, comment, share, ask questions, and please do send us tips and tricks for tiny home living with children of all ages and needs, from fall protection down and up the stairs to privacy and personal space for almost-puberty boys, we have everything at once!
Fran.
To follow our tiny home journey, please visit our Instagram profile, @TheTinyTribeNZ, where we share our everyday life in our lovely home.