Alek Lisefski burst onto the tiny house scene in the first part of 2013.
A web designer by trade with a passion for the visual arts, great outdoors, architecture, and all things natural and beautiful, Alek built his 160 sq.ft. tiny house dubbed “The Tiny Project” in just seven months.
I had the chance to catch up with Alek to talk about his tiny house.
Here’s what Alek said about his Tiny Project,
“The main aspect of the Tiny Project [was] to build a tiny house. Inhabiting such a small space will force me to live in a simpler, more organized and efficient way. Without room to hoard things and hide away from the world, I’ll be forced to spend more time outdoors, in nature and engaging with my community.”
Tiny house made by a web designer
Andrew Odom: When did you build your tiny house and is there one reason in particular that you did so?
Alex Lisefski: I built my house from April – November 2013. For me, there wasn’t just one main reason to go tiny.
It was a combination of many factors:
- desire to stop renting and own my home
- interest in alternative, human-sized dwellings and natural building techniques
- need for flexibility and the ability to move around since I hadn’t yet found a place to settle down
- desire to be as debt-free as possible, circumventing the traditional path to home ownership
The flexibility and mobility issue was important because I wanted to follow my partner out to NorCal so she could attend grad school.
Alek and his girlfriend Anjali
Moving to such an expensive part of the country, I didn’t think I could afford to buy a house/land until I could save up.
With this in my mind, once I saw the tiny house on wheels concept, I was hooked.
It was a way to build and own my own home – made with beautiful, comfortable materials – at a cost that was more affordable than other homes.
It also created a more sustainable way for me to live, and all of this without needing to tie myself to any particular place or piece of land.
Beautiful light-colored wood brightens the interior
AO: What are the size specs of your tiny house (size of trailer if applicable, square feet, number of stories, number of occupants, etc)
AL: We have a very modern tiny house with sleeping loft built on a 23 ft. trailer. (~27 ft including tongue). The footprint is 8’x20’ + 3’ porch. Our square footage is 160 sq.ft. (240 if you include the loft as additional space).
AO: Are you living in your tiny house? If so, for how long? If not, when do you expect to move in?
AL: Yes, we live in it full-time and have now for about 9.5 months.
So much light in the bedroom
AO: How do you feel about the tiny house movement and being such an instrumental part of it?
AL: I feel like it’s a very exciting time.
Clearly there is a large shift happening right now on many levels. The younger and older generations in particular are facing some hard realities of life and are looking for a change.
In one way or another we all need find more efficient, sustainable, cost-effective ways to live. Tiny houses offer one excellent way to solve many before unaddressed needs.
Looking up at the beautiful ceiling
For many people they offer an option to get out of the rat race, and to create a simpler, happier life for themselves and their families.
I feel like the concept will keep evolving as more social support structures are formed – accelerating our progress in creating alternative housing options.
Practical fold down desk saves space
I’m excited that I can be one of the many catalysts for this change. What tickles me most is when I see my house design and my ideas really sparking other peoples’ imagination and inspiring them to dive into their own tiny house journeys.
I’m trilled to be able to pass on all of the knowledge I’ve gained and help others along this path.
Looking down from the loft
AO: What one thing would you do differently or do you wish wasn’t part of your tiny house?
AL: I can’t say that I would have done this differently (since space did not allow it anyway), but if I wanted to build on a much larger trailer, I would have added a full-size fridge and more counter space.
Most of what we eat is fresh fruit and veggies, and more cold food storage would mean fewer trips to the store.
Plenty of space in the kitchen
To find our more about Alek or to see more of his beautiful tiny home you can visit The Tiny Project online.
You can also purchase the building plans for his Modern Tiny House at this site.
