Christopher Smith had never built anything before, so he figured documenting the process of building a tiny house would be interesting at the very least. The resulting film, TINY, was supposed to come out two years ago, and now it’s finally almost here. You can bring TINY to a local indie theater or wait til early summer to snag a DVD — OR you could peek inside the house right now! [Claps eagerly like a deranged seal]
Apartment Therapy recently ran a house tour of the 127-foot space, which Smith and his partner Merete Mueller built without a plan (GUTSY!). They used recycled materials from thrift stores and junkyards, as well as supplies from hardware stores and IKEA.
Mueller says her biggest embarrassment was accidentally buying horizontal windows from a salvage lot, thinking they were vertical. (Not totally her fault — one of the employees led her astray!) After she realized they’d leak when used vertically, she and Smith had to run to Lowes for new windows and insert an odd triangular window by the kitchen.
The couple drew inspiration from the Colorado landscape, where the tiny house is now — specifically Hartsel, 100 miles southwest of Denver. It’s beautiful but seems a bit isolated, pointing to the ongoing tiny house dilemma: Land in a dense urban area is pricey, but the open range doesn’t look like it offers much by way of community. As tiny houses (and regulations for them) continue to catch on, we’re hoping that’ll change.
Go check out the complete house tour on Apartment Therapy, and look for TINY soon!
