I dug around and saved £38k to build my own tiny house – the bills are just £200 a month, but there’s a problem

LARA Skowronska, 34, is a costume and set designer who lives in Gloucestershire with her dog Monty.

She started building her own tiny house in 2022, doing all the work herself after saving £9,000.

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“With a Farrow & Ball painted kitchen, a cozy wood burning stove and beautiful rural views, my home has everything I could want.

You can walk from one end to the other in just five steps, but for me it’s perfect – and I built every inch of it myself.

I have always been creative.

After graduating in costume making in 2012, I fulfilled my childhood dream and used my skills to join the circus, where everyone lived in tiny spaces.

During the six months we traveled, I slept in a wooden wagon so small it could touch both walls of my bed.

For the rest of the year, I lived in my van, working as a costume designer.

At 5 feet 7 inches, I’ve never lived anywhere where I could actually stand upright.

All my belongings were at my parents’ house.

Sometimes I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have a little more space?’

Then, in March 2020, the pandemic hit and the circus closed.

To keep myself busy, I rescued a gypsy wagon from the 1920s that was about to burn down and decided to renovate it.

Watching countless YouTube videos to help me, I quickly realized that it was easier to start from scratch – I was going to build my own tiny house.

In November 2021 I spent all my savings of £3,000 on a caravan.

My parents supported me, but friends thought I was crazy.

For six months, while the trailer was in a friend’s field, I saved like crazy and planned my build.

I researched all the size and weight regulations, knowing I would need to take it on the road.

I decided it would be off-grid, with solar panels and a composting toilet.

I dreamed of underfloor heating, a wood burning stove and a bathtub.

In May 2022, I finally got the £9,000 I needed to get started.

For the next six months, while I lived in my van, building my house became my full-time job.

I couldn’t afford the labor and I also wanted to learn all the skills to do everything myself.

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With the help of my mother Anne and my father Tony, I assembled the wooden structure.

Being inside was incredible and although it was only 2.4m x 5.4m, it somehow felt huge.

I made all the furniture myself, as I didn’t fit standard seats and cabinets, milling the wood for my countertops, kitchen furniture and to cover the house.

I watched every penny.

I found my front door and two stained glass windows in a dumpster.

Then, that September, disaster struck when I broke my ankle falling down some steps.

But a week later, I was dragging my plaster as I laid the floor.

By Christmas that year, my house was complete.

I had a kitchen, bathroom and living area, and a mezzanine with my bed.

I even had a shower and underfloor heating – and I did it all for £12,000, a lot cheaper than the £50,000 it would cost to buy prefab.

‘COMMITMENTS’

Curling up with my new puppy Monty by the fireplace, I was so proud. I created my dream home.

Eighteen months later, I still love it.

Compared to living in a spacious van and facing a cost of living crisis, being off the grid has kept expenses low – around £200 a month.

The only downside is the constant worry of where I’m going to put it.

Planning laws are so strict in the UK that it is difficult to find a place to stay.

I do research to find a campground or private land where I can stop and then move from place to place.

Driving to each new location is scary – one bump or one wrong turn and my precious home could be damaged.

Every time I move, I also have to empty all my belongings so it’s light enough to hitch to a car, and then I reload everything.

Living in a tiny house definitely has its compromises.

I don’t have a door in the bathroom, so if one friend is there and needs to go to the bathroom, everyone else will have to leave.

I keep falling in love with furniture and accessories that I can’t afford because I have nowhere to put them.

I have to follow a strict one-in-one-out policy on everything from lamps to cushions.

But it stops me from spending too much!

Maybe one day I will be lucky enough to own some land and get planning permission to settle.

But for now, I’m happy this little house is mine.”

Follow Lara on Instagram @Larastiny House.

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