Solar panels provide our power, enough to run a fridge, washing machine, laptop and lights, but not a lot else. From the bed we can watch all three of our children sleeping which is lovely when they’re asleep (not so lovely when they’re not). The ‘master bedroom’ is tucked up on a mezzanine in the main bedroom and accessed by a ladder, with just enough room for a queen bed. This family of five lives in a 20m², off-grid and smart phone-free home with a composting toilet and a shower they share with the sky. We run a small scale market garden called Little Creek Farm. The bounty from our garden, which feeds us, and provides income. Whenever it’s not raining- and sometimes even when it is- they get told to go outside and play! Our kids have swings, a slide, a seesaw, a tramp, a sandpit and a playhouse. The cedar doors were $1.50 on Trade Me, and the handles are cut from gnarled manuka tree branches.Ī good outdoor play area really helps when you have children in a tiny house. Each family member has one chest of drawers for clothes, and we go through them monthly, ruthlessly removing what we no longer wear. This corner of the bedroom is dedicated to storage: tightly-packed chests of drawers, with shelves above and hooks for the kids’ bags. We built the timber pantry to maximise storage in this corner. Under the bottom bunk, boxes and baskets provide more storage. Shelving by their bunks gives them room to store their books and toys.

Little house off grid