Tiny House Tour- Retirement on Her Own Terms

Hi, my name is Diana. Welcome to my tiny paradise. Why don't you come in and take a tour? Welcome to the inside of my tiny home. It is 8 times 24. Including the loft, it comes out to 269 and 1 1⁄2 square feet. Right now, I'm standing in the middle of my tiny home. Right here is the kitchen. There is through the bathroom. And then upstairs is the loft. And behind you is the living room. Sleeping in my loft, people would think that would be crazy. But I personally like the loft because I feel like it's comfort up there. It's cozy. It's almost like a little clubhouse in a way. And the stairs I like because it's more easy to access. I love the living room. And, you know, I've even slept down here a lot because it's versatile. Welcome to my kitchen. This kitchen I really, really love. I got to say that. First thing is my countertops. They're laminated countertops. I love it. I think they look good. In fact, my friend thought it was wood. And I said, no, it's laminated. So I was happy. I love this oven. This oven is so beautiful. It's a three-burner stove. And it's gas. And I love cooking in gas. I didn't cook that much in my house. That's why I love this kitchen so much. What I like about the kitchen is it's less the clean. You know, I had a big kitchen. And it could be almost overwhelming. So here, it's so great. I mean, you have plenty of prep space. To me, it's a big kitchen for a tiny house. That's me personally. Everybody's different. A lot of people like larger ones. But to me, this was perfect. And I like when you're here in the kitchen, you have the beautiful big window there, which I love. I don't feel like I gave up anything. This is probably my favorite kitchen. And my kitchen sink, I wanted something big. I think it's almost 10 inches deep, which is wonderful. I had these shelves put in by the builders. I wanted them to match the steps. And I have another one on the other side in the kitchen. I have plenty of storage in here. You have to be creative when you have limited counter space and limited cubbies. And this is great. I have those little racks that you can put stuff on it. You get rid of a lot of stuff because you don't need it. And here, I have my underneath stuff again, just little baskets here just to open up and to give you a little idea of how you store things. This is my pantry. And it's only me. So I don't mind going out and buying more stuff because you don't want stuff to go bad because you're just cooking for yourself or people come over. This is my stair storage. Everybody needs a place to hang their clothes. So I was thankful that they had a storage closet that you can hang your clothes in. This came with one rack here. But I opted to have them add another rack in here for more storage to hang clothes. And further down, I have a cat. And I said, where am I going to put my cat litter box? But I didn't want to be seen. I was able to get a cat litter. They put a special hole in here. And it's perfect. And on the other side of my kitchen, I have my blue retrofrigerator, which I love. It's really big in here. I mean, you have plenty of stuff. It's a 10 cubic feet one. But I have a really good size freezer. And sometimes, I could pack this thing really good. And I have my washing dryer. And I like the idea that it's not attached. They're basically on each other like a regular washing dryer. And I love it. And it works amazing. And then because I had a certain amount of space here, but I needed to, again, you want to be creative. What can I do to put storage in because you know I don't have a pantry? So this is great. It rolls out. You realize when you're going through stuff, even though I downsized a lot, I mean, so much, I still realize that I have to downsize more. But I like it because you can be creative. You have a spot for everything. And it's organized. And it's put together. And that's the first thing people ask me. Where do you put stuff? I have organization. And I'm happy. If I find something's in place, it's good. Really appreciate everything that I have in my kitchen. I use everything of it. And I'm so happy. To me, it doesn't seem small. I mean, somebody coming from a big house thinks it's small. But to me, it's like my tiny paradise. That's it. This is my tiny paradise. After I got my house delivered, I wasn't sure how much space I would have. So you have to be creative. So I'm like, how am I going to find a place to eat? I want to invite people over and have something to eat, right? Everybody wants that. So Ikea. Ikea is the place to go. It purposely does things for small living. I have two stools here. I also have my laptop and my iPads. I keep them there. Now, if I had people come over and I needed more room, I would fold this down. So this was perfect. It seems cozy. It doesn't seem like it's out of place to me. I really love this. Welcome to my living room. Originally, these builds come with like an L-shaped couch. I opt not to have that because I didn't want to have my couch so big in my house where I can't move it around. To me, it was too clumsy. So I got this. Again, Ikea. Love that store. You can fit comfortably three people here. It also opens up to a bed. After I moved into the house, it was good to have a couch that opens up that's really easy because I broke my elbow. And opening the couch up, it opens back up. And you just put it back together. Really simple. Anybody could do it. The TV, this came with the build, which is great. I like it because you can use it to the kitchen when you're watching TV or you're sitting on the couch laying down. It's a perfect size for the size house that I have. Then you come over, where am I going to put my bike when I get the house? This is my tri bike. Some people will use pulleys. But I felt that was going to be too challenging. I needed something easy. So I did a lot of researching. And I found this shelf. But it's by Core, C-O-R. And if you plug it in, it shows you where you can put your bike. And it's perfect. And then the shelf up here, I get to put my helmet and my shoes up there. Perfect platform. That makes me happy every time I walk in this place. To me, this is the perfect size living room for me. I had a big living room in my big house. And I think I utilize this living room more than I did in my big house. It feels like home, you know? I don't think I ever got emotional with my big house. Maybe when I first bought it. But till this day, it still brings me so much joy because I never regret downsizing because this is perfect. Why I went tiny? I had a house, beautiful house. It was 1,100 square foot, three bedroom, two bath, big yard, single parent, really happy. And my son was moving out. And it was becoming overwhelming. I have everything to keep up with. And you can't do it. So I looked into online. And I started to research and started to go to tiny houses, festivals. And when I saw it, it was like, this is the solution. So I decided I can do this. Finding a place for my tiny home, that's the first thing I had to do because you don't want to buy a house and not know where you're going to put your tiny home. A lot of these tiny festivals have a lot of information for you. And I went to a lot. And I researched a lot. Now you can just go online and say, where to park my tiny house. But you have to call. I've called RV parks. I've called different areas there because you have to see, are they open? How much they have. And it's just a lot of research you got to do on your own. This location I'm at is wonderful. When I first got my house delivered, I lived in a different area. That was about three hours from my mother. And she got really sick. And I was there about a year and a half. And I said, I needed to move closer in. So I had to relocate my house. And one thing about living tiny, you could take your house with you. You don't have to sell it, you know? So I found this through a friend of mine who suggested it. And I ended up in Hidden River. And I love it here. It's a great community. Everybody is so nice. This is why I made the move to this particular spot because it was closer to my mom. How I found my builder was I was actually looking into financing. And I called up a mortgage company that I was looking at and was suggested to try Pacifica Tiny Homes. And that's how I found them. I called them, and I went online and saw their builds. And it was wonderful. What I paid for my house was $76,000. That includes the delivery. They set it up and everything. Not all builders will do that. So you definitely want to do research. There was another finance company at the time that was a little costly, but you have less time on it. But I needed something that I was going to be able to afford. So I looked online at the tiny home. Once I chose my builder, I found out that they were one of the mortgage companies that was highly recommended. When I found them, I was really happy. A really simple process. Some of them say 20% down. I didn't have to put that down. So it was wonderful. I think I put maybe $7,000 down. And then you have it financed. And it worked out perfect for me, because I plan on paying it off sooner. But it's OK, because it fits in my schedule. You know, it fits perfectly. The payments are not high at all to me, even though I still have to pay a mortgage. But it's wonderful. My mortgage is $693. That includes my flood insurance and my homeowner's insurance. The lot rent here, it just went up to $654. But it is wonderful. They have a clubhouse. They have a pool. They have a little fitness gym. It's really nice. It's a really big park. You do have to pay for your sewer, your water, and your trash. Totally what I would pay a month is, with all my debts, my lot rent, my water sewer, and my mortgage is about $1,400, which is, right now in Florida, it's cheaper than apartments right now. And it was much cheaper than when I had my house. Compared to my big house versus here, my electric bill was much higher. My water bill was higher. My mortgage was higher. And you have all these additional expenses in there that come up. In a tiny house, you don't have a high bill, because you have a small place for electricity. So everything is really a lot less. So it gives me the opportunity where I can retire earlier from downsizing. And that's why I chose Living Tiny. Welcome to my bathroom. This is like the perfect size. I have a 36x36 shower. I have a regular toilet, because I would never want to get a composting toilet. Me, personally. So I definitely am happy with my toilet. I didn't have storage in here, so you have to be creative. So I added some shelves up here and put little wicker baskets up there. Again, organization, the best thing. And same here, little baskets to put stuff in to make it neat, organized. Again, you're downsizing, so you're getting rid of a lot of stuff. And then you have a small little medicine cabinet. I like it. I think if you have a small one, you don't buy a lot of stuff. The build came with a smaller sink. But after a while, I realized that the sink was a little too small. And I got this online, and it was perfect. And I also love this. I love the way the sink goes there. And I'm really happy. I have lots of storage in my shower. It's great, a place for everything. So it works out perfectly. And I'm really content with this place. It doesn't feel like it's too small. And I'm happy. This is my loft. This is a place where I sleep, work. And it's kind of like a nice, quiet meditation place. I love it here. This loft was originally a little smaller. I needed the room to put the bookshelf. And I needed to be more spacious when I'm working. This is why I had them extend the loft a little bit more. And that extra space, it made a huge difference. I opted to get a twin bed, because in my house, I had a big bed. I had, I think it was a queen. And I didn't want it to be closed, and I knew I had to find a place where I was going to work, too. So I went to Ikea, and I tried a bed, and this was perfect. And the good thing about it is you have storage. This bedspread here, a sister from a congregation, she was doing stuff. And I had all these t-shirts, because I used to be a really competitive runner. And I have so many. What was I going to do with them? Can't take them with me, right? So I had her make me this. Whenever I look at it, it brings me joy, because I have the races that I did. And it brings back memories, you know? And I get to look at it every day. It's wonderful. I love this. Thank you, Rebecca. And I have my little office up here. People ask me why I didn't want to do it downstairs. And I thought about it. And then I thought, no, let it be out of the way. Who wants to see that when you walk into a house, especially you live in a tiny house? And I want everything to be relaxed. And when I'm working, I'm relaxed, because thankful I work from home right now. And living in my tiny house, it makes it easier for me to be able to work from home and be comfortable with it. When I sleep up here, I do not want to get out. It's comfortable up here. It's cozy. It's like a little clubhouse, you know? And every time I come up here, it brings joy to me. You're getting close to retirement. You don't want to go in a loft, because you might not be able to. It might be hard on you. I would definitely look into getting something downstairs. I got the loft, and I thought if something happens where eventually I can't use it anymore, I have my living room to sleep down. So you have to go with what's good for you, what works for you. Maybe down the road, I'll be sleeping downstairs. But there's an option. You know, if you're close to retirement, look into the downstairs bedroom. There's so many options out there. If you want to transition into a tiny home, I would recommend go to tiny home festivals. There's so many. And then put your pros and cons down. What do you like about your big house now? And what are the cons about it? You know, I feel that if you put it down on paper, you go through festivals, you research it, you could actually see for yourself, is this something for me? Because it's not for everybody, but more and more people are doing it because everybody wants, we want to simplify our life. We want less stress. But yeah, definitely look at the pros and cons. Go see people, talk to people that are experienced with it, you know, get some ideas from them. But definitely do lots of research. And you'd be surprised how much information you find out. So if you want to get a hold of me, have any questions about tiny living or any questions about my experience, you can reach me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. And the links will be below.