- Geoffrey Celard, 29, lives in a DIY tiny home together with his pet cat in Valence, in southeast France.
- The tiny home took over a yr to build and he estimates he spent $21,000 on the mission.
- Celard now gives session companies and hosts workshops about building tiny properties.
When Geoffrey Celard returned to France in 2020 from a six-month-long backpacking journey in Colombia, he wanted a place to reside.
He had spent his time overseas residing alongside indigenous folks in poor neighborhoods. Their homes have been small, with scarcely any furnishings and no electrical energy.
Celard, surrounded by the kindness and generosity of strangers, discovered that he was completely satisfied within the easy setting.
The expertise shifted his perspective on life: He realized he did not need, and even want, a lot and determined that when he obtained home he needed to reside in a tiny home.
“I needed my very own protected place on the planet, a little bit one which’s not too costly, the place I might be free,” Celard, 29, instructed Business Insider.
A cabin-like tiny home
His tiny home is about 20 toes lengthy, 8 toes huge, and 14 toes excessive, with a loft area for his sleeping quarters. It’s concerning the dimension of a small campervan, solely a lot taller.
Design-wise, it resembles a picket cabin with an elevated entrance deck the place he can lounge within the solar.
Celard, who has a background in inside structure, constructed the tiny home largely by counting on info he discovered on-line.
If there was something he was uncertain of, he turned to different tiny home lovers like himself for assist.
“I constructed it in a warehouse-like place, which is shared with different builders of tiny homes. So we’re all people who find themselves not professionals, however we assist each other,” Celard stated.
That stated, some complicated processes nonetheless require some skilled enter, he added. In his case, he needed to discover an electrician and a plumber to build his electrical and water piping programs.
Spacious interiors and cleverly-hidden furnishings
The tiny home took over a yr to build, and Celard moved into the area together with his cat in February 2022.
He estimates that he spent about €19,000, or about $21,000, building his tiny home.
Celard says he might hold prices low as a result of he reused old supplies and constructed partnerships with different tiny home builders by exchanging labor.
Even although it is a tiny home, the interiors really feel spacious, he stated.
“I’ve lot of home windows, so I actually do not feel locked inside,” he continued. “I really feel like I’m residing in nature. “
Additionally, hidden cupboards and foldable furnishings allowed him to maximise using area.
In explicit, Celard constructed a collapsible desk that might be saved into the ground when not in use, or expanded to suit a cocktail party of eight if he had visitors over.
“A giant downside is that the desk and the chair want a variety of area. So I needed to not have a desk when I’m not utilizing it,” he stated.
Tucked away within the countryside
Celard’s tiny home is parked on a bit of land he rents with one other buddy who additionally has a tiny home.
They’re situated simply exterior of Valence, a commune in Drôme that is a couple of seven-hour drive from Paris.
Celard says he pays €150, or $166, in hire every month, to his landlord who lives in the principle home on the property.
“We are linked to the home for the water and for electrical energy,” he added. There’s a meter in his home that counts the quantity of water and electrical energy he makes use of, and he pays for what he makes use of.
He estimates that he spends about €20, or $22, on common on utilities each month.
“It’s very low cost as a result of I do not use a variety of water, I do not use a variety of electrical energy — I warmth with wooden,” he added.
That stated, Celard’s lifestyle is not precisely inside the regulation, he stated.
“The regulation, it is difficult. So in France, for the second, it’s very unlawful to reside in a tiny home someplace for greater than three months,” he stated. “And if there’s some downside, and somebody goes to the jurisdiction to say, ‘Hey, why is there some cabin right here?’ We have to maneuver.”
Thankfully, he hasn’t run into any issues but, he added.
The struggles of doing-it-yourself
The hardest a part of the complete course of was having to reside out of his camper van whereas building his tiny home, Celard stated.
“I did not have any place to reside. So I used to be residing in my van with out warmth, with out electrical energy or water. And it was winter, so it was very, very tough,” he stated.
That apart, it was additionally a psychological problem to push by way of all his doubts and see the mission by way of. But the wrestle meant that it felt particularly good to see the tiny home take form.
“It is my excellent cabin as a result of I designed it,” Celard stated, including that it is exhausting to choose a favourite spot.
“I need to say it is the mattress with the massive window the place I can see the celebs once I sleep,” he stated. “And the kitchen may be very accommodating, it’s extremely simple to cook dinner, with a variety of area. Everything may be very cozy, so I like it.”
Celard has even written a e book in French based mostly on his personal expertise building a tiny home.
He now gives session companies and hosts workshops about building tiny homes, per his web site. His four-day group workshops for five to eight folks cost €400, he added.
A comfortable existence
Living in a small area was the appropriate choice because it suited Celard’s character and residing habits.
After all, he was used to residing in small properties due to his experiences backpacking and touring in a camper van, he stated.
“I actually needed to have a little bit home to reside in as a result of I feel that it is ample. I do not want extra,” Celard stated.
There are days when he needs that he had extra room to maneuver about, however the need to have a much bigger home fizzles out rapidly.
“Each time I’m going in an enormous home, I say, ‘Oh, there’s a variety of area to wash. It’s very tough to warmth, to heat.’ So I spotted that nothing on the planet is ideal,” Celard stated. “Everything has its personal good factors and unhealthy factors.”
Don’t attempt to do the whole lot alone
Celard has recommendation for anybody who desires to attempt building a tiny home: do not attempt to do the whole lot alone.
Sometimes, it makes extra sense to ask somebody for recommendation or assist. Trying to unravel each downside alone could be a waste of time, he stated.
“We can lose one week in search of an answer and nonetheless be uncertain, or we are able to use simply half-hour to seek out somebody who is aware of and who can provide us the answer,” Celard stated.
It additionally helps to have a group he can lean on and share his troubles with when issues get tough.
“My most stunning buddies as we speak got here from this a part of France, as a result of I constructed my home right here,” he added. “If I did not have this mission, I would not have met these folks. And so the life I’ve now, it is because of this tiny home mission.”
Have you latterly purchased or renovated your dream home and need to share the small print and images of the method? Email this reporter, Amanda Goh, at [email protected].
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