Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast

Alex is a reuse expert who embodies the reuse lifestyle. In 2008, Eaves began what he calls “the reuse life;” avoiding disposables and finding reuse solutions for his needs and wants. He recently completed a ~100 square foot box truck made from nearly 100% reusable materials. You won't believe what it cost! In this interview, Alex helps illuminate what the difference is between reuse and recy...

When I built my tiny house 10 years ago, I missed out on some of the more modern smart home things, like smart locks and smart thermostats. I’ve spent the last few months modernizing the house to make it work as an Airbnb in its current location. In this episode, I review all of the things I purchased for my tiny house in 2022. Whether you’re planning or building your tiny house or already living...

Designing for small places has its own special challenges. Who better to talk me through approaching the design of your tiny house than an experienced designer who specializes in small spaces? Sarah Bronstein, who both designs for small spaces and lives in an Avion LaGrande travel trailer, talks to me about her own transition to living tiny, her favorite interior design products for small spaces,...

2022 was an incredibly busy and wonderful year! This week, I give you a recap of the Tiny House Summit, an update on my personal tiny house, and I also share some of my favorite episodes of the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast. Thank you for listening to the show every week. Happy New Year! Full show notes and images at thetinyhouse.net/243 In This Episode: My biggest business and teaching accomplishm...

Why are tiny house festivals important? My guest, Renee Seevers, is the creator of TinyFest Midwest, TinyFest California, and recently TinyFest Southwest. Renee tells me about switching from a tiny house to a skoolie, what it’s like running the festivals, and what you can expect at one of her TinyFest events. Full show notes and images at thetinyhouse.net/242 In This Episode: Terrifying tiny house...

What is bioregional building? Steven Martyn got in touch with me when he released his latest book called The Roundhouse, which is all about bioregional building. It’s essentially the idea of finding all of your building materials within a 100 mile radius of where you’re building the house and it has a lot of interesting benefits and effects. Steven, a very philosophical and wonderful guest, has a...

The Bushes are a tiny house couple with an extraordinary back story. Over the first two years of living tiny, they were able to pay off $125,000 in debt. In this interview, Marek and Ko will share the strategies they used to get out of debt, how they continue to live intentionally, and how their Youtube channel has changed their lives. In This Episode: How easy is it to get into debt and how did t...

Kari Gale sold everything she owned, booked a one-way ticket to Spain, walked the Camino de Santiago. Upon her return, Kari built an amazing tiny house on wheels that has some features that have made it a very popular YouTube video tour on Living Big in a Tiny House. In this conversation with we talk about the special features of Kari's house, and the journey that brought her to tiny living....

Today my guest is Lloyd Kahn, and if you don’t recognize the name, you’ve probably seen one of his books. Lloyd published the seminal book, Shelters in 1973, documenting alternative housing ideas not limited to but including tiny houses, well before the current modern movement. Lloyd has a lifelong fascination with shelter, and this conversation, we trace the steps of how an insurance broker in Sa...

 What really happens when you commit to a minimalist lifestyle? Matt Paxton has a uniquely interesting minimalist lifestyle with his wife and 7 children. Matt uses his fantastic storytelling skills to talk about the effects of minimalism on a family, how to continue being minimalist, and the effects of minimalism on the rest of your life. Full show notes and images at thetinyhouse.net/240 In This...

I found out about this week’s guest because she released a hilarious music video about romance in the tiny house loft, inspired by her own tiny house. Annie Corbett is a musician and in this conversation, she tells me how going tiny affected her music, what makes her tiny house unique, and how five years of tiny living have been for her. Full show notes and images at thetinyhouse.net/239 In This E...

The Tiny House Online Summit is a unique, free 3-day learning event for anyone starting on the path to living tiny. Immerse yourself in a weekend of strategies and tips to help navigate every aspect of planning, building, and living tiny. Taught by 30 leading experts. Get 100% FREE access November 4-6, and join your fellow tiny housers worldwide! Watch it now at: https://tinyhousesummit.co Send us...

 Why would an entrepreneur who has raised millions of dollars through crowdfunding live in a van? Vanlife doesn’t seem common amongst the startup and tech crowd, yet Rob Rast is living this alternative lifestyle while successfully running his e-mobility business. In this interview, we cover how living in the van brings Rob closer to his work with electronic bikes and skateboards, plus how those de...

There are some great tiny house builders out there, but there are also some unscrupulous builders who are cutting corners and putting the tiny house dwellers that buy from them in potentially unsafe situations. Jenifer Levini goes in depth about what the codes and certifications mean, why they are important, and how you can determine whether a house was built to these standards. Full show notes an...

 What is sustainability? Amanda Gunawan is an architect who is dedicated to sustainable development, inspired by Japanese culture. In this episode, Amanda tells us about her perspective on sustainability and how architects can build spaces that last through their design choices. Although she does not design tiny homes, there is a lot of crossover in ideas with the tiny house movement that we can l...

How does a tiny home community builder get good-quality tiny homes quickly? Abby Shank is solving that problem by partnering with other companies, essentially becoming a tiny house builder who doesn’t build all of the houses herself! We discuss the evolution of Tiny Estates from a community of vacation homes to permanent residences and all of the work that that shift entails, plus her new business...

You may have seen Macy Miller hinting about something a few weeks ago. The time has finally come for me to be able to share that with everyone! Even though tiny house festivals are starting up again, I thought it would be great to put on an online event that anyone worldwide can attend without having to travel. It’s called the Tiny House Summit and it’s a completely free 3-day online event. In thi...

This is a great real conversation about what it’s like living tiny. Megan Lockhart doesn’t try to hide the things that are struggles for her and her family and she’s also great about advocating for the benefits of tiny living. We talk about the pros and cons, trials and tribulations, and the immense benefit Megan feels she and her family get from the tiny house lifestyle. Stick around after the cr...

This has to be the most unique tiny house living situation I’ve ever seen! Sarah, Brandon, and their dog Iko live in a 225-square-foot tiny home that floats on a lake in The Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. They live fully off-grid with no cell service and they are only accessible by boat. In this conversation, Sarah and Brandon graciously and openly share why and how they live this way, p...

 We’re changing it up a little bit this week! Lucy Lich interviewed me on her podcast, Tiny House Conversations. We had an in-depth conversation about some of the most important decisions you need to make to plan and build a tiny house successfully. We also talked through my best-selling resource, Tiny House Decisions. Lucy is a great interviewer and it was a pleasure to be on her show! Full show...

Although we’ve had skoolie owners and builders on the show before, this week’s guest is our first short skoolie dweller. Stefanie Wenceslao talks to me about what it’s like to be new to the tiny lifestyle, how to get to know other tiny house nomads, and what she’s learned so far through trial and error. Short school buses are in the same class as vans, U-Hauls, and ambulances, which means that thi...

What is cohousing? Charles Durrett, who literally coined the phrase, explains what cohousing is, how it’s funded, and how the communities are set up. We also discuss how tiny house cohousing communities are a solution to homelessness and how any concerned citizen can use the cohousing model to solve the issue of homelessness in their own area. Full show notes and images at thetinyhouse.net/228 In...

Clutter affects us all, no matter how big or how tiny our houses are. Connie Ellefson believes that clutter ties up a huge amount of energy and creativity. In her new book, Clear The Space Feel The Rush, Connie offers tons of strategies for how you can get started with decluttering and organizing, and she shares some really good ones in this interview. Full show notes and images at thetinyhouse.ne...

Are you curious about how to live tiny with children and pets? This week’s guest, Alexis Monkhouse, is a single mom who has been living in her tiny house for four years, along with her “Boss Baby” and their two dogs. She has a strong sense of what works and what doesn’t regarding tiny living and she talks to me about all the things that have gone right and some that haven’t during this fun convers...

How do you renovate a vintage Airstream in two months when you have no building experience? Allison and James not only made their vintage Airstream livable in two months while working full-time, but they also taught themselves how to do carpentry and electrical work - and found a parking spot! In this interview, we talk about how and why they worked on such a short timeline, how they approached le...