Maybe you remember when I shared last May about the opportunity I had to help decorate a house for HGTV’s Tiny House Hunters. If not, no worries. It’s been so long that I barely remember! After the shoot took place we were under orders not to share any pictures until the show aired. Life became unpredictably full, the airing came and went, and I pushed it to the recesses of my mind until now, when I was trying to decide what to post next.
So here, at long last, The BIG Reveal!
Get comfortable (there are a lot of pictures) and let’s have a looksee at this Tiny House located in a small lakeside community in Townville, South Carolina.
After the pics I’ll share details of how this opportunity came to be, insider highlights of decorating day, and what the experience was like as a whole.
Let’s go!
Come on in to this adorable 214 square foot Tiny House.
When you enter the front door the couch is the first thing you’ll see.
In this shot from above you can see that the house is very narrow, 20′ long x 8′ wide, so when you open the door you can literally take one step, turn around, and sit down on the couch!
As we walk through each space in this house, much of what you’ll see are items we brought in to stage for the camera. Y’all knew that all of these home shows are professionally staged right? This new owner has a great sense of style though so you’ll also see many of her favorite things.
Note: Stay ALERT and you’ll recognize quite a few items we borrowed from MY home!
The home owner loves blues and greens and she chose these light and airy curtains for the living room area. Good choice as they allow plenty of light to filter into this small space.
The owner also chose this pretty rug that fit in the space with no room to spare! In fact, the door will need some minor adjustments to keep from having to roll the rug up every time the door is opened. 😉
Looking to the right when you walk in the door is the master bedroom.
This pretty little bedside cabinet is the only storage in the room. Can you imagine?
In a corner at the end of the bed we placed a narrow full length mirror. This gives the illusion of more space as well as giving the owner a place to primp in the morning. We gals all need a primping place don’t we?
The mattresses didn’t make it in time for the shoot so moving boxes were used to create a “bed.” A handy little staging secret. 😉
Moving right along, if you were to climb up into the loft above the master bedroom like this, . . .
. . . this is the view you would have of the living room and kitchen below.
This picture will give you an idea of how close these quarters are. The end of the couch has a small garden stool which sits right next to the refrigerator.
We placed a basket in the small space next to the kitchen cabinets. Space where perhaps a small table might work.
The kitchen has an apartment-sized refrigerator with a microwave placed on top.
The space to the left of the refrigerator will eventually have a stove but for the shoot we staged the area with this storage cart.
On the other side of the kitchen is the sink and a tiny bit more storage.
The counter tops are wood and the sink hammered copper.
The door at the back of the kitchen opens into the bathroom.
Come on in. There is room for at least two of us.
All the way back and on the left is the shower . . .
. . . and directly in front of that the toilet bowl.
Across from the toilet is the bathroom vanity . . .
. . . which the owner had made from this beautiful antique dresser.
This pretty bathroom sink was made by one of her friends.
To the left of the sink is a bit of space for storage.
A combo washer/dryer will eventually take the space that we staged with a laundry hamper. Where will the dirty clothes go? No room! A good motivator to stay on top of the laundry.
One heavy wooden ladder is used to access both upper bedrooms.
The ladder hooks onto a bar like this one and can be easily removed when access to the rooms isn’t needed.
This Tiny House has two teenagers! This is the girls room.
The kids chose from a few of their most beloved possessions to add to the staging of their new rooms.
There are no closets in the house but the loft areas have a nice amount of floor space. We brought trunks into each of the kid’s rooms to use as storage.
Over to the other side of the house, above the master, is the other bedroom.
Again, decorated with some of his favorite things.
The ceilings in the Tiny house are high which helps gives the illusion of space and also helps with air flow.
Here you can see that there are windows high up in the walls bringing light into the space below.
And a pretty leaded glass window in the door. That my friends is the entire interior of this Tiny House!Stepping outside once more . . .
. . . you’ll see that we created a small outdoor living space. Outdoor spaces are a necessity for Tiny Houses and luckily this is South Carolina where the outdoors can be enjoyed the majority of the year.
Thank you so much for your patience with ALL THESE PICTURES! I took a whole lot more so consider yourself lucky that I edited back a few times.
To wrap it up here are a few details about my Tiny House experience:
- How did I get the opportunity to share in this Tiny House decorating experience? Sometimes it is all about who you know. I happen to have this amazing friend named Leslie of Goodbye House, Hello Home, who is a professional Stager and Decorator in Greenville, S. C. She was called by HGTV and she then called on me to come along for the ride.
- How long did it take to decorate? Well . . . we were told we would be given access to the Tiny House by 7:00 p.m. and would have until 8:00 a.m. the next morning to finish decorating. But because the taping of the show went WAY overtime we weren’t allowed in until almost 9:00 p.m. Not only that, but since the owner was tied up with taping for two days and nights back-to-back she had no time to get to her storage (which was quite far from the new home’s location) to get several items we planned on using to stage the home. Like a mattress??? I was so thankful that we loaded Leslie’s SUV and mine with more items from home than we thought we’d ever have need for!
- Highlights of this experience: Since time was cut short for us to pull it all together (and we had no intention of staying until our allotted 8:00 a.m. exit time) we worked as fast as we could (in the heat, with no air, and no desire to open the doors to the mosquitos). When we got as much done as we could, we spent a fair amount of time waiting for the few final items that the owner really wanted in the home to arrive. During our wait time we met some of the neighbors, who were MOST curious about the Tiny House. One neighbor took us on a wild golf cart ride to tour an old bus that he is in the process of remodeling to live in; we had an insightful visit with the folks who live down the street on Beer Belly Boulevard; we were invited to the community bonfire (think par-TAY!) on the beach. We passed on that though because we’d had enough of careening through the neighborhood on a golf cart, and by that point we were more than ready to get back to waiting 😉
- Final thoughts: We finished up and headed home exhausted by 2:00 a.m. Worth doing? Yes, for the experience. Would I do it again? Hmmm . . . since I’m not really looking for HGTV fame, I’d have to think about it long and hard. We had a lot of laughs though and will have something to talk about for years to come.
So what do you think? Do you feel like you want to hook this itty, bitty house right up to your trailer hitch and find the perfect location to settle in? Could you do it? Some of the people interviewed for the show talk about wanting to forego spending all their money on “possessions,” in favor of adventure. What do you think about that? Some just want to be able to settle wherever they choose for a time and have the freedom to pick up and move on when the mood hits. Would that lifestyle work for you? How comfortable do you think it would be to entertain in a space this size? Cozy for sure! While this lifestyle may not be for everybody (like me) there are many who are smitten with the idea. I’d love to hear your thoughts on Tiny Living.
Thanks for taking time to join with me in my Tiny House adventure.
Blessings,
I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays,GiveMeGrace
Monday:
IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired, InspireMeMonday,BetweenNapsOnThePorch, CelebrateYourStory, Making Your Home Sing Mondays, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, SmallWonder, MomentsOfHope,Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends
Tuesday:
TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse,TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles, Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, Posed Perfection, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, ChristianBloggerLinkup, Mom’s Morning Coffee, Women with Intention, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday
Thursday:
ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife,ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner, I Choose Joy, Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas,ThankfulThursdays, ThoughtfulThursday
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday,ShabbyliciousFriday, Sweet Inspiration, Faith’nFriends, Missional Women Faith Filled Fridays, Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, OneMoreTimeEvents, SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet
Valerie Sisco says
Patti,
How exciting that you had this opportunity to experience the fun of staging and decorating for a TV show! Decorating for tiny spaces takes unique perspective and talent, I think, and I loved looking at all the photos. Thank you for taking me on this little adventure (back in the area I used to live — which is truly beautiful!)! xoxo
Patti says
I don’t think I knew before that you used to live in South Carolina Valerie. We really love it here, though being in Florida for vacation last week made us long for Summer weather. Thanks for taking the Tiny House tour with me. It was an adventure for sure!
Candy says
What fun and yes something to talk about for along time to come. Not sure I would want to live in a tiny house but if I had to I could. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings
Candy
Patti says
I suppose I could live in any size house if I had too, and hopefully I would be grateful for a roof over my head. I don’t plan on downsizing any time soon though. Too much company in and out of our doors! Thank you Candy 🙂
robin says
It looks so nice!
Me…live in a home that small? Even if I had it all to myself….
I’d run away from home. hahaha
I need a tub to soak in (in epsom salts to detox).
I do crafts. I have a basement probably 6 times the size of that house and it is FULL. LOL
I can’t see anybody with a hobby that requires a lot of STUFF being able to live in a tiny house.
I like open spaces and I like to entertain at the holidays.
Kudos to those who can live in tiny houses!
Patti says
Yes to tub soaks, craft spaces, and room to entertain! If I was “called” to the Tiny House experience I would try to make the best of it. Thankfully my calling is to keep my doors open to people! I also give great big Kudos to those who live tiny. Thanks Robin.
Sharon H says
So THAT’S what one of those looks like inside! Cute, but I’d have to stick with our 5th wheel camper, I’m afraid. Lots more space than that.
Thanks for sharing…I know you had a good time and you love to experience new things! Something to look back on and talk about for sure.
Patti says
Oh Sharon, if you only knew the whole “behind the scenes” story. We have had many laughs. You are wise to stick with your 5th wheel I think. More storage space and I’m sure much more solidly built. Blessings friend.
Amy Borenstein says
Great pictures, Patti! I love watching Tiny Househunters on HGTV (and many of their other shows). I think the home is beautiful. I don’t know where anyone would PUT anything, let alone clothes. There is nowhere to store anything. I often think I would like to live in a tiny home when I get old but it would have to be about 400 sq ft because I need closets!
Patti says
Haha! Yes, maybe if the Tiny House had closet space in equal proportion to the living space it would be doable. Still, I’m not wanting to downsize that much any time soon. Thanks for commenting on the post my friend 🙂
Shelly says
LOL….. I love the memories! You shared more than I remembered, but also not ALL that I remember!
Love point #3 – laughed!!! Forgot about that!
Patti says
Haha! I think you missed out on some of the memories because you were driving all over the countryside for much of the night. We will have this great adventure to share for years to come my friend.
Elaine says
This is amazing Patti,i don’t think i could live in these tiny close quarters either. Especially not with two teens lol. My mom bought a small park model trailer (i say trailer loosely)and it sits on my kids property down in Castle Rock. I will have to send you pictures. I love the look of it hope to see them over the weekend.
Patti says
I guess we could do it if we had to right? Some people love it but it would be really hard for me. Can’t wait to see pictures of your mom’s place and hear all the details of your move back to Washington.
Janet says
I love this tiny house…but I wouldn’t be able to share it with Mr. He likes his big spaces. I think I could move right into this and be very happy as long as I became a hermitess. (That’s a lady hermit.) We share our lives with so many family and friends I’m afraid this beautiful tiny home would be relegated to being a guest house. (well, maybe my hiding place too.)
Patti says
Ohhh . . . a hiding place! I like this idea and could totally see moving a house like this into the woods in our back yard. A place to blog and write and nap! You are a girl after my own heart Janet.
STEPHANIE ABBOTT says
I love looking at these tiny houses. Definitely couldn’t live in one, but they would make cute vaca homes. Great job on the decorating and it was fun to read about your brush with TV fame. 😉
Patti says
Thank you Stephanie. I like your idea of having a tiny house as a vacation home. It is rather like a camper except built of wood. 🙂
Jann Olson says
Patti, you gals did a great job of decorating! The tiny house is so cute, but really; I don’t know how anyone could live in one. I would feel claustrophobic. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Patti says
Right? We all have unique needs and desires in our lives don’t we? Whether it is living large or living small I’m thankful for the choices we have.
Sherry says
How cute is that! I love that little succulent planter by the kitchen window. Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home!
Pat M. says
I’ve watched many of these tiny homes shows and have a couple of comments:
1) At best, only one person could live permanently there without becoming homicidal.
2) Unless this is a temporary home, like a vacation getaway, asking teenagers – or actually any children – to permanently live in one is selfish and cruel.
3) In nearly all that I see, the finishes, with exception of maybe countertops and flooring, are cheap and unfinished plywood.
4) Ladders to get to bedrooms are accidents waiting to happen, whether for adults or children.
5) When recommended for older people looking to downsize, can you imagine, should a medical emergency arise, any paramedic being able to get a gurney inside one of these?
I know they’re popular but regardless of the fact that you have to completely give or throw away your entire life, I believe they can be unsafe, both physically and mentally. I do, however, believe they would be a good temporary solution for the homeless, and should be considered a replacement for homeless “camps.”
Patti says
Though I have to be “nice” because I helped decorate this Tiny House, I can certainly see the validity behind every single point you made. 😉 I love the idea of using these houses for temporary solutions for the homeless. They aren’t inexpensive though and a well equipped motor home could be had for the same or even less money. Thanks for weighing in Pat!