The house uses easy clean heritage cladding. The cladding is very tough and has a 50 year warranty. Insulation uses woollen batts in the living area and recycled pir (high efficiency) elsewhere. Heating is accomplished with a very cost-effective diesel air heater. Likewise, hot water uses an external gas califont for economy and safety. Hob cooking can be done with by a spirit burner or by an electric hob, so if there's plenty of sun, heating food etc can be solar powered. The mezzanine could easily take a single bed and/or a double bed to house more people. It would be relatively easy to add privacy screens/curtains. If someone wants the main bed permanently down, it can be shifted up to the mezzanine in one of several positions and the downstairs becomes a permanent lounge .or visa versa if the bed stays down. The external grey water and urine drainage connections are screw on and off for ease of disconnection for transportation. Smart home pre-wired. Within the wall are wired sensors for ease of monitoring for leaks,etc. Other sensors such as Voc detectors, carbon monoxide detectors have been allowed for and will be added for safety . Basic lighting using mechanical switches have already been installed Additional lighting has been pre wired that can be controlled via an App that uses WiFi. The long term plan is to convert that to Bluetooth with a custom app dedicated to the tiny layout as it stands.

The house is heavily insulated. 100mm pir sip roof (R5.0). 80mm pir (R4.0) or wool insulation (R2.7) in walls - the heritage cladding adds to the wall insulation as well. Under the 22mm solid rimu floor there's 50mm xps (R1.8) panels that are then closed off using acm panels. Thanks to the insulation the house is typically heated just from cooking the evening meal. Very rarely would we use the diesel air heater for more than an hour at a time . Upstairs, the sunken mezzanine footwell allows for good head room . The footwell was designed for comfortable sitting so that the same location could have a sitting use under a low "standing desk'. The use of desk-shelves that can easily be reconfigured for different uses has supplanted this idea, but it might still apply. Dishwashers location means it can be just as easily used as a dishwasher (when there is sufficient power) or as a 'hidden' drying rack when we hand clean the dishes. The ability to provide a hot water feed to the dishwasher gives a bit more flexibility about the urgency for a hand wash. Press button lift for the bed gives double use to the lounge. Spacious and uncluttered as a lounge; and good flow around the bed at night. The lightweight, outdoor furniture is easily moved to make the bed base or can be taken outside for outdoor entertainment or simply to provide clear area for exercise, dancing etc. The easy fold bottom part of stairs is good for moving around at night or simply making more space. The combination of a projector hidden on shelf with concealed electric screen means we have an effective home theatre system with a '100" screen' without any clutter when it is stored away. The appliance parks in the kitchen provide copious storage and easy access to appliances that are already plugged in and ready to go, yet are easily stored again.

Weight savings were made where possible. Using heritage cladding on the outside, steel frame for the structure and falcata ply on the inside. In addition aluminium was used to construct the kitchen units, the mezzanines, the centre appliance areas (above the pantry and fridge/freezer) and the stairs. This then allowed for heavier materials to be used where important - the solid rimu floor and the bamboo bench tops. The "waste" rimu off cuts were used to trim the falcata ply for a softer and more consistent "look and feel". The curved shelves by the front door provides for easy movement around the bed when it's down and at the same time has the property of leading the eye to the french doors so it gives a greater sense of spaciousness. Having the bed able to 'hide' in the false ceiling gives a clean look to the lounge. The fold up steps come into their own when the bed is down. A minor detail is that the amplifier of the home theatre sound system is tucked in at the bottom of one of the wardrobes. Fixing the appliance park "door/shelves" to the window frame provided a good balance between location and strength of connection for the hinges.

LOUNGE: Bed raising mechanism keeps bed clear of walls so it allows for very good concealment in the lowered ceiling area and better use of the furniture as support. MEZZANINE The right hand side mezzanine has the entry angled and curved to provide a more open aspect and make going upstairs easier, especially when carrying something. The central sunken mezzanine footwell allows for good head room upstairs while keeping good head room downstairs because sunken part is over toilet, pantry and (washing machine) cupboard, and the fridge. The step up in the mezzanine floor then provides head space over the kitchen sink. BATHROOM: Wet area bathroom makes for a spacious shower/ bathroom while still only taking up approx 2sq metres (ignoring the toilet tucked in under the stairs.) The 5 way hot/cold mixed water diverter means that dishwasher (and previously the washing machine) could be used with lower solar power availability. It also means that 2 showers (3 once outdoor shower is added) and the basin can be controlled using only 3 fittings. Roll out linen shelves makes for relatively easy access to the utilities area of the house. KITCHEN: Appliance parks and a pull up plug board make for an uncluttered, readily usable kitchen space. The inset dishwasher provides for a dirty dish cupboard or concealed draining rack. The 1 and 1/2 sink makes washing and rinsing dishes very water economical. Trolleys and lift up bench section means that storage drawers are readily used to access the corner space that's typically hard to get at or wasted.

On the inside, the rimu trim on plywood to soften the edges and provide a visual continuity. Simple but effective colouring/decoration of the white washed walls provide a light, pleasant aspect. Jan's crafts add a homey personal touch. Curved shelves and shallow top cupboards around door, draw the eye to the French doors and the outdoor aspect. Angled lower ceiling level draws the eyes to the space and window of the mezzanine. Combined this gives a spacious feeling to the lounge. Wet area and concealed toilet make for an extremely functional and spacious bathroom area. Appliance pantries with shelves and, mobile cupboards add to the accessibile storage space in the kitchen. Folding bottom part of stairs adds to usable space in the lounge and bedroom.

Tiny is 7.2m x 3.1m x 4.2m Original budget was 50k, final spend closer to 75k but that includes a seriously scaled up solar system plus replacing several components a couple of times. Design and build duration was about 5 years before we were able to start living in it a bit over a year ago. But I didn't consider it "finished" until the bed system was finalised and the bed was concealed. That didn't happen until the end of last year. Since then the deck and pergola have been added.