VIDEO DESCRIPTION: After losing her mother in 2023, Karen realized she didn't need most of the things she thought she did. A year later, Karen designed her very first home that was fully her own, a 380+ sq ft tiny at Shady Creek Tiny Village outside Fort Worth, built for $95,000 all-in with $950/month lot rent.
Karen had owned homes before, but always married. This one is all hers. The design, the green walls, the owls, the Highland cows, every pocket door and closet. Her choices, her sanctuary, her life.
As an only child, Karen was left to clean out a house packed by an "organized hoarder." Sorting through a lifetime of belongings, she realized she could fit everything she needed into about 20 totes. She was ready to move out of the country when her daughters asked her to stay and buy a place entirely her own. That idea stirred something Karen didn't know was there.
Karen found Kelly at Cowtown Cottages, her designer, and Platinum, her builder. Kelly guided every decision. She designated zones for living, cooking, sleeping, and working. She sized cabinets to Karen's shorter frame. She placed the loft where Karen wanted it, and swapped to a smaller fridge when the bathroom door caught on the wall.
Step into Karen's living room and you land in green walls, a full-size couch, and an extending dining table that seats six to eight. Her owls and Highland cows, the two collections that bring her joy, are tucked into the shelving. Living tiny means you think about what you need, not what you want.
The kitchen has more storage than Karen's last full-size house. Pots, pans, spices, a tea kettle for her hot-tea habit, a coffee station, and every silverware drawer where she reaches for it. The ceiling is lower because the loft sits above, but even at six feet you can stand comfortably. No dishwasher. Karen washes and puts away as she goes.
The bathroom is pocket-door quiet and surprisingly spacious. Massive drawers, a floor-to-ceiling medicine cabinet, and a shower with a curtain instead of glass, because the curtain gives Karen the color glass never will. Off the hallway, her pantry and washer share a small utility nook. Karen chose washer-only and hang-dries her clothes in the living room.
Karen's bedroom was the first room she decorated. She calls it her sanctuary: greens, browns, cozy lighting, built-in closets on both sides, a mirror that doubles as a jewelry holder, and a shoe rack that keeps 30 pairs out of sight. The queen bed tucks between the built-ins, and at night the whole room feels cradled.
Upstairs, Karen's loft is her office. A sit-stand desk at its lowest setting and big windows looking out over the tiny village. When friends come over, it becomes the hangout. The stairs are fine for now, but if Karen designed again in 10 or 20 years, she'd rethink the loft and go single-level.
THE NUMBERS Home: $90,000 (delivery, tax, title, license, build, everything included) Skirting and stairs: approximately $5,000 (two contractors; the first install had to be redone) All-in total: approximately $95,000 Dimensions: 11.2 ft wide x 34.5 ft long (about 386 sq ft) Builder: Platinum Designer: Kelley at Cowtown Cottages Location: Shady Creek RV Park and Tiny Village, about 1 hour from Fort Worth, 1 hour from Dallas, 6 minutes from her youngest daughter Lot rent: $950 per month (covers all park maintenance and close to city) Only monthly utility: electricity Deposit to begin a build: $10,000
KAREN'S ADVICE
"Do your research. Go look at all of the tiny homes. Even if you're like, 'I like this part of this house and this part of that house,' any designer can put it together for you. The best thing is you design your tiny home the way you want it, that functions for you. I've learned what I can live with and what I can live without. I can just work, relax, spend time with family, and I don't have any worries. It's an amazing feeling."
Filmed by - / brian_bear_butler Edited by - / filmbro_
When my mother passed away in 2023,
being an only child, I was left dealing with her house,
her property, obviously everything in it.
She was, you would call an organized hoarder.
At that point, I was already starting
to scale myself back with the things I had.
Going through the process of cleaning out my mother's home
and everything really,
really made me see that we don't need all the things that we have
because right now
I could pack up my house
and have it in probably about 20 totes and I'm good.
Right before I bought my tiny house
and I was processing all of my mother's stuff and
I've been...
Selling her property and everything like that.
I was actually ready to move out of the country at
that point. And my daughters were like, you know,
why don't you stay here for a little bit longer
and you can buy something that is all yours,
your very own home, your very own place.
And that did kind of stir something in me to say, you know what, I've
Owned homes, but I was married when I owned homes.
So this is my house. This is my design.
This is what I've chosen and that part I wouldn't change for anything.
Welcome to my living room.
When I was looking at the tiny homes, I looked at lots of them.
I worked with Kelly who is with Cowtown Cottages
and she really helped me to design this living
room. The reason I wanted a designated living area
is I like a designated area.
I feel like the benefits from having designated spaces.
is that not everything runs together
and you can decorate as a space and it can be a different
decoration as another space or you can have it all flow together.
Mine does kind of flow together
but it's also its own entity.
In my living room I have a full-size couch. I have a
table that is actually a dining table with leaves
that you can pull it out, open it up,
and you can set like six or eight people around it.
I have my small entertainment center for my
little bits and bobs.
And living tiny means that you do really think about what you need
as opposed to what you want.
And I do collect owls and highland cows,
so I really have to think about the things that I
purchase as opposed to, oh, let me just buy and bring home.
Now I have to make a conscious effort
to think about, do I really need that?
For me, my owls bring me joy. My highland cows that I
have on my walls bring me joy. So that's very small things for myself.
I recommend that if you are deciding to go tiny,
look at the dimensions of the house
because my house is actually 11.2 wide
and 34.5 long.
It's almost as if it's like a regular house size.
Obviously, everybody has their own style
and their own thought about it.
And these are all the things that work for me personally.
And this is what I've chosen to do.
So when I was decorating my tiny home,
I wanted people to feel comfortable when they walked into
my house. I wanted them to feel like they could just take
their shoes off, sit on the couch,
make themselves at home.
I want to feel that way as well when I walk into my house. So I
chose green for one of the colors
because that is my favorite color and just a more
cozier vibe in here. And that's what I was going for the whole way.
Welcome to my kitchen.
In its own designated area, I have plenty of counter space. I can cook,
I can bake. I have plenty of storage for pots, pans, whatever I need.
I have so much storage
in here, more so than even in a regular size house.
And storage is really important,
especially if you cook, if you bake, or anything such as that.
I did also bring some of my
highland cows into my kitchen
and some of my own you know decorations and thoughts and it is very
cozy in here and as you can see my ceiling is a bit lower
and that's because my loft is right above
me right here but that's okay
because even if you're probably six feet you can still stand up in
in here easily.
Because you can design your own tiny home,
you can design your kitchen the way you want.
This works best for me and my needs.
You can have a larger island, but for me personally,
this size works and everything is in this area that I need.
I have my spices, I have my pots,
my pans. I can bring everything right here
and put it all in the pan and it works great.
Another beauty of customizing your own tiny home is
So my cabinets are shorter, but if you wanted the taller cabinets
and the open area above your cabinets,
you can take away the loft or you can have it
moved to the back of your house.
For me, I'm kind of short, so I prefer the shorter cabinets
and I prefer my ceiling being a bit lower
and it just works well for myself.
This is my coffee station so I'll have all my coffee and stuff in here.
I also have my tea kettle because I am a hot tea drinker
and then everybody in the world
has a junk drawer and this is mine.
Then over here I have all of my silverware.
Then I have all of my Tupperware type stuff
and again because you've gone tiny you don't need
All of that extra,
you have exactly what you need in the storage and also going tiny,
you also wash your dishes because if you've noticed,
I do not have a dishwasher. I chose not
to. I live alone, so I wash, dry,
and put away my dishes as I go each and every day.
So in my kitchen, you've probably noticed
my refrigerator is a little bit smaller.
When I first had my house built, I did have the larger refrigerator,
but because my bathroom comes out the way it does,
my door was hitting the wall.
So I opted to go for a smaller refrigerator,
which is fine because it gives me loads of
space up here in case I want to put a plant because,
you know, I have so many.
This actually fits all of my needs.
You can have a full-size refrigerator in here because like I
said I did but again you don't have
to because you're designing this for you and your space
and for you and for what you need. For me this is what I needed.
This is what I've chosen for myself.
The cost of my home was $90,000.
And that was for delivery, tax, title, license, building,
you know, everything together.
I had skirting put on my house the first time, which was $2,500.
Then it was done incorrectly and I ended up having to have it redone
and that was another $1,500.
And my stairs were not correct so that was an extra $400 as well.
So probably a good $5,000 for skirting and stairs.
Now my house was built by Platinum
and Kelly at Cowtown Cottages was my designer.
She's absolutely amazing.
I would work with her 210 more times to build as many homes as I could.
But whenever you're doing your steps and you're skirting,
that's an independent contractor that
you find yourself. So make sure you do your research
because I didn't do my research the
first time, had a lot of issues, had to have it redone.
So there we are. So
About all total, probably about $95,000,
which I feel like you can't get a better home for that.
When I very first started looking into the tiny home, I...
had to learn how everything worked for your deposit
of your tiny home it is ten thousand dollars down
and then you can go into all of the designs
and depending on all of the extras that you put into
your house is going to make your house cost more
or cost less just depending on all the extra stuff
If you don't know what you want,
having somebody like Kelly to help guide you and show you,
hey, you know, what about this?
And then when you're looking at all the processes,
then in your mind, you can say, okay, I really
like this.
You can also go back and the great thing about designing
your house, you can go back and
change it, take away, you can add, and it's absolutely amazing.
I live at Shady Creek RV Park and Tiny Village.
They just recently turned part of the park
into the Tiny Home Village. I love it.
It is a good community. I have really
great neighbors. I have great friends here.
It is absolutely amazing. Now my lot rent
It is $9.50 a month, which covers all of the maintenance.
The only bill I have to pay that's extra is my electricity,
and where I'm located, I'm about an hour from Fort Worth,
I'm about an hour from Dallas, so it makes it really great
because I'm six minutes from my youngest daughter and her family.
Welcome to my bathroom.
This is obviously a standard bathroom, but for a tiny home,
I have loads of counter space.
I have loads of storage. The drawers are just massive.
I even have a medicine cabinet
My bathroom has a pocket door, which I love.
and it is from the bottom
I love my little pocket doors
because that also gives you space into your bathroom or
to the top of the ceiling.
into your hallway.
So there's just so, so many different ways you can design this.
It's all about you and what your needs are.
When I first saw my tiny home after it
was built there's always an initial shock of oh my gosh
is this what I made? Is this what I designed?
But then after you get moved in you start putting
your fingerprint on everything.
Then you actually start feeling like yes this is exactly what I
needed. This is exactly what I wanted.
I have a shower curtain because I chose not to have glass
Personally, myself, I don't care for that.
I like the curtain.
I like having that pop of color in here
that just gives it more personality.
That is my personality.
Welcome to the hallway where my washing machine lives,
where my pantry is.
So this is my pantry where I have all my food.
Now you can have your pantry further in the kitchen
or more in the kitchen.
But the way I designed my house, it's over here, which is totally fine
because I can get everything I need,
bring it straight to the kitchen and I'm good.
This is where I have my jackets and hats and things like that.
I chose just a washing machine because I hang dry most of my clothes,
so I have a hanging rack
that I put my clothes on in the living room to dry,
and it's totally good. Again, you can see
my ceiling is low because my loft is right above me.
That's how I chose it. When you are designing
your house, make sure to look at all of your options to decide what
works best for you. Welcome to my bedroom.
It does go along with the rest of the house. It's
got the greens, the browns. This is one of the most coziest spots.
I actually completed decorating
my bedroom first because if you're not comfortable
in the space where you're sleeping, you're not
I'm not gonna get a good night's sleep.
So for me,
Making sure that my sanctuary in my my bedroom
is my sanctuary is comfortable. It is cozy.
My cat actually, you know, he's loving it.
It's just such a good space. I
chose to have closets on both sides.
So I have like t-shirts and summer things on this side.
I have pants and winter clothes on that side.
Loads of storage.
And as you notice, I don't have like the nightstands
or things like that, but I can go on Amazon
and I got this really cute little shelf, very easy to install.
This is a queen size bed now
because of the built-ins on both sides you can't
really go bigger than a queen.
Now you can also choose to have no storage and
you can do whatever you need
to do and you can buy your own storage and I
really like it because
when you're back here you're just kind of cuddled in to
your bed.
And I have my little lights,
so at night it's very cozy, it's very comfortable.
I also have a big mirror that doubles as my jewelry holder.
I have a really cool shoe rack that holds all of my shoes.
It's got three drawers
and I probably have about 30 pairs of shoes in here.
When I saw this, I was like, oh my gosh,
this is going to be so great because now I don't
have to worry about where am I going to hide my shoes at.
It's very nice because I can put, you know,
store stuff up here, decorate whatever I need
to do.
This is my loft and also my office.
As you can see I can almost touch the ceiling
but I am a little bit shorter which is great.
Great.
This works so well for me. My computer fits well.
My desk is a desk that raises up and down and it's
at the lowest setting. My chair is also at the lowest setting
so I am able to work here comfortably.
When I first moved in I had a house warming
and some of my friends set up here
and ate and looked out because I had about 10 people in the house
and it was a lot of fun.
This is a futon that can obviously lay down and to make into a bed.
This is a very comfortable
space. I can look straight out
and everybody that has came over and set up here they're like
you have such amazing views for outside
because I do have the big windows.
I love this space. Again, I was going for cozy.
I was going for comfortable and I feel like I'm
achieving that. A lot of people have the loft for grandkids
and things like that to come over and
stay. If I did not have a loft,
I would definitely have a second room, which would be a much smaller
room where I could still fit a futon.
I would make sure a futon would fit in there.
Also, my workspace, I just preferred
this so I could have that work and home life balance.
Sometimes the stairs are challenging.
My cat likes to run in front of me, so that's always fun.
Right now, this time in my life, the stairs are great.
I don't mind them.
But if I did it again in the next like 10 or 20 years,
I may not have a loft.
I would have a bigger area downstairs.
Next month I will have lived in my tiny home
and here at Shady Creek for one year and this has
been such an amazing journey for myself
because I've learned things about myself, what I can live
with, what I can live without. I've learned how to manage
so much better and not having to worry about
My yard work, not having to worry about anything like that.
I can just work, relax, spend time with family,
spend time with friends.
I don't have any worries about things like that.
It's absolutely an amazing feeling.
If you are looking at purchasing a tiny home,
I suggest you do your research.
I suggest you go and look.
At all of the tiny homes and even if you go and look at tiny houses
and you're like, you know, I like this part of this house and this part
of that house, any designer can actually put it together for you.
The best thing about this is you design your tiny home
the way you want it that functions for you.
Thank you so much for coming on this tour with me, looking at my house.
If you have any questions
or anything like that,
just put them in the comments and I will try to answer everybody's
questions in a very timely manner.
Thank y'all so much and good luck to everybody who's going tiny!
