If there’s one building trend that has really gained popularity over the past few years, it has got to be tiny homes. These smaller and more compact living spaces can actually be surprisingly spacey, how paradoxical that may sound. Thanks to ingenious architecture and some nifty and innovative space-saving tricks, living in a tiny house can actually be quite comfortable.
Furthermore, it’s also pretty inexpensive and saves a lot of money. It’s not exactly hard to see why tiny housing has been popular, and plenty of families give up their conventional home to try and do something different.
That’s exactly what Mike Dickson and his wife Lacie did. They sold their 2600 sq ft home in the middle of a busy city and decided to relocate to the country in a much smaller 700 sq ft home.
And it’s not just a regular tiny home – they actually moved into a yurt. If you don’t know what a ‘yurt’ means, you’re probably not alone. It’s not a particularly popular type of building for tiny housing, but there are plenty of people who are a fan. Yurts can be considered as larger round tents, which use some assembly materials (usually wood or bamboo) but are still fairly portable.
It was likely first adopted by Indo-European nomads in Central Asia, and the building structure actually dates back to around 600 BC. Of course, modern yurts are much more stable and family-friendly, but the concept and the overall structure remain quite similar.
Mike and Lacie don’t only live on their property, they also operate a market garden for the local community.
They also document their life and their journey on their popular YouTube channel called Farm F.I.T (Farmers in Training). Mike used to work in the bodybuilding industry and was a personal trainer for a long time, while his wife Lacie worked as a massage therapist. Both of them are passionate about eco-friendly living methods and living a sustainable life.
Even though tiny homes offer a ton of advantages, there are also some struggles when it comes to living in a compact space.
Mike and Lacie decided to tell all about it in a video while giving the viewers a tour of their beautiful yurt.
As we can see at the beginning of the video, the yurt itself is just a part of their homestead. The property is huge, open, and beautiful. They actually bought the property which had a trailer on it but demolished it in favor of building the yurt.
The first year, the couple and their three kids were still getting used to living there and still didn’t have central heating or running water.
In the beginning, they used electric heaters, but they weren’t nearly as effective and also resulted in a very high electricity bill. Mike said that it actually took them three years before things really started to fall perfectly in place and when they could also actually start their farm.
The first major struggles didn’t actually start with the yurt itself, but rather zoning laws, building codes, and insurance. A lot of difficult paperwork that nobody really likes, but it has to be done nonetheless.
Another problem that they hadn’t foreseen, was the sound of the rain. When it rains, it really starts raining hard although it is something that you apparently get used to.
Because there’s not a whole lot of room to work with, cleaning can actually be more difficult and needs to be done more often.
Mike and Lacie usually ask the kids for help, which makes the whole process a bit easier and a lot quicker. As you can see in the video, the family definitely makes the most of the available room they have – there’s a full-sized fridge, a comfortable kitchen, a large bed, and the television hasn’t gone anywhere either.
The family explains that most of the issues of living in a tiny home, usually fix themselves along the way. After a couple of years, you get perfectly used to the way things are, and most things and necessities (such as heating, water, internet) are fixed by then. Most cumbersome processes occur at the beginning, and it usually starts with paperwork.
In the rest of the video, Mike and Lacie proudly show their yurt, and it really looks like a cozy place to live in.
They have a no-compromises living area with a big tv with a gaming console for the kids and a large dining table where everyone can comfortably eat together. On the other side, the kitchen really has everything a family could need. A large sink, cooking plates, plenty of cupboards, a dishwasher, a large fridge, a built-in oven – you can perfectly cook your meals over at the open kitchen while you maintain an overview of what’s going on in the living area. In fact, Lacie says that she has more storage room in this kitchen than in their previous, traditional home.
Because of the circular structure of the yurt, there’s actually room to build a small loft as a ‘second floor’.
The family mainly uses it as storage, and there’s a big dome at the top for natural sunlight. In the summertime, they usually try to block it partially to stop some of the heat from entering. Mike hopes that one day, they can actually expand and rework this free space to turn it into an additional bedroom.
This tiny home doesn’t have a tiny bathroom – there’s a sink, a full-sized bathtub, and a shower.
There’s a regular toilet inside of the building, as they didn’t want to opt for a compost toilet because it would require them to go outside. On the opposite side, the family has set up a laundry room with a washer and dryer.
On the way to the master bedroom, Mike and Lacie actually saved a ton of space by transforming that hallway into a walk-in closet.
In another hallway adjacent to the bathroom, there’s a special place for the kids and some beds to sleep in. Because they’re still quite young, a set of bunk beds suffice for now. The youngest has his own crib in mommy and daddy’s bedroom. There’s a full-sized bed for them in the room along with some dressers.
There are plenty of velcro windows scattered around the yurt for natural light, and when it gets too hot, there’s also airconditioning.
As you can see in the yurt tour, this couple certainly hasn’t made a ton of compromises, and living inside this yurt actually seems really cozy and comfortable!
Of course, there are always caveats to tiny housing, but this family definitely wouldn’t want to go back to the way they used to live before.
Be sure to check out the full tour and a discussion of their struggles and problems living in a tiny home in the video below.
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