Designer's Mirror-Filled Tiny House Is a Family Home for Two

The housing affordability crisis has touched people from various walks of life all over the world. From young professionals to families with kids and retirees, people are finding it difficult to keep up with rising rents and rising real estate prices. Many are opting for alternative means to home ownership or less-conventional living arrangements, whether that might be co-housing, living in multigenerational households, or choosing smaller spaces to call home, whether that might be micro-apartments, converted vehicles, or tiny houses.

Admittedly, such solutions don't necessarily tackle the root causes of housing affordability, which range from a shortage of land, lending, labor, and materials to a lack of funding for social programs to corporate landlords and the “financialization” of the housing market. But for many, smaller living spaces can be a way to at least gain a foothold in the housing market for the time being. Moreover, most people don't expect to be faced with problems in finding housing, but sometimes, it's only a calamity away.

For New Zealand-based designer Rebecca, it was a "series of unfortunate events" that led the mother of one to become houseless, single with a small child, and unable to afford rent in Auckland. Fortunately, Rebecca has a sister with a bit of land to whom she could turn, so Rebecca decided to design and build a tiny house that she could call her own, which is now parked near her sister's house out in the countryside. We get a tour of this brilliant little gem via Living Big In A Tiny House:

Measuring 10 by 35 feet, Rebecca's tiny house is of the extra-wide type, with a supplementary 1.5 feet of width. It may not seem like much, but as we've seen in other extra-wide tiny homes, it can make a huge difference in terms of having more options for different layouts.

The exterior of the home is clad with black corrugated metal siding, and with the contrast of the white windows, it gives the house a clean, modern look.

Rebecca has also designed and installed a modular and transportable deck that helps to extend the interior space to the outside. Currently, she's parlayed that design experiment into a commercial tiny home product that she's calling Ready Deck Systems.

Coming inside, one is struck by how luminous the interior is. Despite the small footprint, Rebecca has managed to create a space that feels really uplifting, thanks to her careful placement of windows, and her minimalist treatment of decor and finishes.

The living room, for instance, really feels like a comfortable haven. With that bit of extra width, Rebecca was able to put in a larger sofa that she could curl up in. The tall, diaphanous curtains not only let lots of light in, but they also help to emphasize how tall the space is.

Over in the kitchen, we start to see evidence of Rebecca's love of mirrors. Not only do they bounce and augment the amount of light inside the space, but the mirrors also give the illusion of space extending beyond the walls — a clever design trick.

Everything in the kitchen has been designed to create a sleek look, from the cabinets that hide the small appliances to the LED strip lighting hidden underneath the cabinets.

The bathroom is down the small corridor, just past the kitchen. Here, Rebecca has once again put those mirrors to good use on one wall, giving the impression that the space is much larger than it actually is.

The dusty pink color scheme offers a soft feel, while the extensive shower stall — completely with its own window — makes it feel luxurious.

Rebecca's son's room is at the very end of the hall, and it is one of the largest kid's bedrooms we've seen in a tiny house. There is enough space for his bed, storage for clothes and toys, and a full-height, glow-in-the-dark painted wall of stars and moon for him to enjoy.

We move back into the corridor and up the stairs that sit in between the kitchen and bathroom, which lead up to Rebecca's home office and bedroom. Here, she's installed a series of drawers in the stairs and well-hidden cabinets that provide plenty of extra storage.

The upstairs space is truly well done; not only has Rebecca managed to create enough headroom to walk around by slightly lowering the height of the bathroom below, but she has also implemented a brilliant layout here. The home office has enough room for a desk with two computer monitors, a chair, and file storage. The long wall of mirrors here once again boosts the illumination while also making us believe that there's more space beyond the wall.

The bedroom is also wonderfully done, elevated on a storage platform, and semi-surrounded with windows.

Rebecca estimates that she spent about $142,000 to get the house built and the land prepared. Rebecca says that it was satisfying to design her own home, but even better is having a sense of housing security in these uncertain times.