Meet ‘n’ Greet #7 – People in Tiny Houses in Europe

New addition to the Meet ‘n’ Greet Series with beautifully treated outer wood!

How about a lovely tiny house for 5200 euro? 

Meet Molle from Sweden that has a dream of a simple life in his Tiny House ‘Elohimma’. 

And sure to check out and follow Molle’s Tiny House, Sweden, project on his Instagram: Elohimma 

Now let’s get into the good stuff!

Where are you from and where did you build your Tiny House?

From Malmö, Sweden and TH built in Sweden. 

What’s your story and what lead you to build a Tiny House?

I used to live in the city and had to travel far by bike quite often to experience a little bit of nature. I wanted to work less for money and live freer and closer to nature. I’ve looked at many different options through the years and a tiny house is right for me because it’s an actual house where I can fit my studio and make it feel like home without costing too much.

How did you design your Tiny House?

While I was living in the city looking online for a trailer I would make 2D floorplan blueprints of what I could fit considering size and weight (from 6 sq m to 12sq m) for the ones I were interested in. That way I learned how to get really good at designing, while watching everything I could find on Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest and so on, I also had a large knowledge of possible solutions.

So I made a lot of different designs and finally scanned one and made 2D photoshop versions of the final plan with googled images that I put in place to see what it would look like for real.
Of course, a lot of details changed and are still changing as I am building.

Why did you go with the particular design that you ended up with?

It is a combination of what I could structurally understand, that was simple to me. And what would be most effective space-wise.

I wanted to make it as simple as possible, yet comfortable without costing too much. It’s a really simple design.

Dimensions

2,3m x 4,3m indoor

Materials

The outside is charred and oiled larch also called shou sugi ban. The windows and door are old villa parts bought really cheap and re-painted with linen seed oil paint.

The windows are all triple glazed, which is great insulation, and it’s a security door, however, they are really heavy. 

The insulation is cellulose and only 7cm thick in the walls, but 20 in the floor and 14 in the roof. I chose cellulose because it was the cheapest, most eco-friendly, breathing insulation that I could find. And found some on sale, so it was even cheaper!

I bought almost all the wood for the construction from an old barn where they had been for 20 years, rented a table saw and split it all up myself from 14 to 7 cm. A lot of work but it was great, dry, and cheap wood.

Toilet and shower

I thought I’d have the toilet as a pull out underneath the kitchen counter but I’ve decided to use that space for kitchen things instead and just make some sort of solution outside when I’ve moved, the same for shower.

And I can always bring the stuff in if I really need it. The washing machine I am able to use in the main house of the farm.

Water, electricity

I will be gathering my own water either from rain or from a tap 200m away from the house to fill an outdoor tank of mine, which gravity feeds my tap.

As well as using a Berkey filter for the drinking water. Electricity I will just run a cable from the barn to my house while I save up for solar.

Did you consider other alternative ways of living?

Yeah, I’ve been looking at renovating old caravans, vans, buses, buying cabins. I actually bought a garden house cabin in the woods but didn’t like the community so I sold it. Other than that it was awesome and cheap and I got to try out living really small and simple (9 square meters).

Did you have the investment for your tiny house from the beginning?

I actually used an amount of my student loan to build this house. I’ve studied sound design and studio production which is what I’ll be working on in the tiny house. This way I really see it as an investment and if I was to sell it I would get more than all the money back.

How long did the entire project take?

So far I’m about 2,5 years in since getting the first windows. I am currently living in it with the bed and office all done; next step is the kitchen. So right now I’m using another kitchen and bathroom.

Have you had any challenges?

Where do I start. To start with, the trailer was slightly bent, so I had to learn how to weld to be able to fix it. Which was great. I would say the greatest challenge has been keeping myself relaxed and emotionally stable enough to keep working when life is hectic and mostly building everything alone.

On a practical level, getting proper electricity in place without spending a fortune took a really long time. I managed to get a hold of a friend who could finally come out here and help me get it all set up properly.

What was the total cost of building your Tiny Home?

I have spent exactly 45 000SEK, 4200 € so far. What is left to buy is some kitchen stuff, the chimney and other various small things I don’t know of yet. The final cost will be around 55 000SEK, 5200€ total.

I didn’t really have a budget. I just set out to get as nice and cheap things as possible all the time. So I’ve driven around to many places to get cheaper material and so on. I don’t really have any appliances. An Origo kitchen for 800SEK, 75€  and the wood stove for 3000SEK, 280€.

Join like-minded financially interested people in the group ‘Tiny Houses Europe Financially free’ 

What are your monthly living costs in the Tiny House?

The place I am most likely moving to will charge me for my electricity usage and I will work for staying there, helping out at the farm. So the cost will be very low. I run my kitchen on alcohol.

Have your spending habits changed in any way throughout this tiny house project?

I live more simple and I can’t spend too much because I won’t really fit too much stuff anyway. Keeping it simple.

So up until now, it’s pretty much the same, since I’ve been living out here for a while. But it will be interesting to see once I get it all done and move properly in!

If you had to start would you have built your Tiny House in any other way?

Right now this is perfect. In the future, I want to settle on some piece of land and perhaps renovate a house, build another tiny house or hobbit house structure of some sort.

Everything will be much more simple now that I’ve done it all once. Next time I will plan more ahead, now that I can and know how to engage a lot more friends a people who wanna join in and build.

Has your Tiny House had the impact on your life as you were hoping it would?

Yes! I have the peace and privacy to sit around here and make music as much as I want and it’s cosy to invite someone over whenever I feel like it. And the forest is close by.

In your network do you feel there is a growing interest in the Tiny House way of living?

Yes, definitely. I get a lot of questions about all kinds of stuff. A lot of people want to build a tiny house, they just don’t know where to start.

Since I’ve done so much research and now have the experience building, I’ve decided to have a course on how to begin and get going all the way with your own build.

I will be hosting a Tiny House class along with Ajuna Møller at Ecotopia Österlen 21-23 Aug. The interest is huge, and growing now that people witness the economy falling and what’s really important in life.

Contact Molle for more: elohimmatinyhouse@gmail.com

Describe what the experience of starting this project was like

It’s always like the next thing that is the most important to you in the now. At first, I just wanted to get a trailer and thought I would just stop and cry out of gratitude. But when I got it, I quickly just started working on it and then it was the next thing that needed to be done.

I guess the dream of what you want to do with it, in the end, is the most important part. It was rough work renovating the trailer, but very worth it, reminding myself that I was building my own home.

Best tip for someone wanting to live in a Tiny House but not sure if it’s something for them?

I say then it’s not for you. You have to be really sure and really want it really bad. If you have the motivation to find out, then you will. If you have the motivation to work up the money to buy one, or to build it yourself, then you can!

It’s just a question of how bad you want it. It’s all possible. Just start somewhere.

It’s taken me about 6 years since I knew I wanted to do it. You just need to know if it’s worth it or not for you and never quit.

It may take time, and need some rest, just never quit.

Many thanks to Molle for sharing his story. Follow his TH project for more.

If you enjoyed it, share this interview with who you think it may have interest to!

This is how we’ll grow the tiny house movement in Europe. 


For more on Tiny Houses in Europe, in general, check out this page.

See also the post on ‘Best Tiny house books to be Read’ .

Future interviews in the making. Hope you enjoy them.