IN CONVERSATION WITH | Brent Heavener
Brent Heavener
The tiny house movement is huge and has exploded through social media. Vicki Evans speaks to Brent Heavener, creator of @tinyhouse on Instagram and author of Tiny House: Live Small, Dream Big, to get his insights into designing for compact houses
Q & A
Q: What is behind your love of small houses? A: I was about 15 years old when I started blogging about what I was passionate about. One day, my dad sent me a picture of someone who had transformed a container into a home. I was in awe of this. I looked into the tiny house movement, and there just wasn’t a lot online, there was a few blog and websites, but there was nothing on Twitter or Instagram. So, I just started posting to Twitter my favourite homes as a passion project, which meant I collaborated with several people. I moved to Instagram to create @tinyhouse and @heavenerr, and I was really the fi rst tiny house account on there, and I still am the number one to this day. Following that, I have been writing the book Tiny House: Live Small, Dream Big for the past year-and- a-half, which will be out mid-August.
Q: Why do you think this has taken off in the past couple of years? A: People, especially millennials and empty-nesters, are looking at the system of life today and society. They are seeing a detrimental trend of people going into debt right out of high school and staying in that until their grave, which means that you never have your freedom. They desire tangible sovereignty and independence. So not only do tiny houses offer physical freedom of where you can live but also travel. They also provide fi nancial freedom where you are not paying a mortgage and you own your own home.
Q: You have talked about the socio-economic issues where you are in America, but this trend is all around the world. Do you have any insights into why the tiny house movement is global? A: People all around the world desire freedom and self-suffi ciency. They are using their creativity through grit and determination and creating a small space.
Q: When looking through your book and Instagram feed, you can
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tell where they are in the world as they refl ect the culture. How do you keep cultural elements in a small space? A: We go on Instagram, and we look at designers we like and then try to emulate that style. But we are all diverse around the world and I feel we should not necessarily do that – we need to look inside ourselves and nourish our creativity.
Nobody can tell you what a tiny house should look like. What matters is what you want to achieve. You have to be bold and go with that. In the book, there are examples of tiny houses – one is an A-frame from Helsinki, Finland that refl ects the Scandinavian style with minimalistic components, compared with a treehouse in the mountains of Oregon, USA. For many designers, the tiny home is a canvas and their creativity is their paint.
Q: In terms of kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms, what examples can you give of genuinely great innovation and design? A: I feel that bathrooms don’t get enough attention. They need a good layout to obtain the best functionality – that includes the essentials of shower, sink and the composting toilet, plus some storage. I saw one home where the owner was about 6ft 5in. He was able to lower the tub below the line of the fl oor so he could use it more easily. He adapted the design to suit his needs. For kitchens, one good example was the elevated kitchen in David Latimer’s Alpha tiny home. This allowed them to pull out the kitchen table from underneath the fl oor. It is functional as it saves space, but still provides a full dining room table.
doesn’t take up too much room.
For many tiny house designers, the tiny home is a canvas and their creativity is their paint
As for bedrooms – there is a tiny home designer and furniture creator called Anna White. One of her small homes has gone viral as in one corner of the room, is a bed that goes up and down to transform it from a bedroom to a living space. It is a like a Murphy bed, but electronic, and with more space. Many compact homes have a loft that creates a cosy space, and it
Q: What are your tips for using space effi ciently? A: It is essential to understand what their needs are in reality, rather than what they fantasise about needing. Ensure that your home serves you, rather than you serving your home.
Q: You’re planning your own tiny house. What will it be like? A: I want to build a small cabin, and there are three goals I’d like to achieve with it. The fi rst is sustainability. I want a rain collecting system that means that I won’t have the expense of water. I also need a small offi ce area and I want a big deck area where I can entertain friends.
kbbr kbbreview · August 2019
Above and below: The Alpha tiny home designed and built by David Latimer of New Frontier Tiny Homes.
Photos by Studio Buell Photography
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