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Macy Miller Adds a Child’s Room to her Tiny House


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People often wonder if tiny houses are practical for families. They might work for an individual or a couple, but what happens when a baby comes into the picture?

Macy Miller had her first child while living in the beautiful, modern tiny house on wheels she designed and built herself. She knew the house made sense for the way she used space, and was excited to have a home of her own without taking out a mortgage. She wasn’t actively planning to have children when she designed the home, but she made sure her design could accommodate an additional room, just in case. When I visited her last spring, she was happy with the house as it was, but was also open to making changes in the future based on what her family needed:

Macy: I did consider all the options, even having a kid. My life could have gone any number of directions, so I designed it to be very flexible. I designed the porch so it could be enclosed, so if I wanted more privacy, I could have a separate bedroom, or it could be a little nursery. I thought about doing it, but I love my porch, and I don’t need it: kids want to be around their parents… There may be a point that it makes sense for her to have a separate space, and I enclose that patio and it becomes her room.

Macy Miller Adds a Child’s Room to her Tiny House

Macy Miller tiny house with child

Images © Billy Ulmer

Macy-Miller-tiny-house-interior
Macy's covered porch.

Macy’s covered porch.

Macy Miller tiny house family

Now that her child is over a year old and walking on her own, and she has another baby on the way, she felt the time was right to expand. She’s currently enclosing her covered porch area to create a bedroom for her daughter, and posting great, informative updates about how she’s thinking through her renovations.

She’s lived in the house for almost two years, so she’s had time to see what works well for her and what could use improvement, and she decided to use the renovation as an opportunity to make some other updates as well. She’s adding more storage, and taking out her radiant heat system to balance the added weight of the new room’s walls and keep the load light on her trailer.

In a series of posts on the renovation, she worked out some design options:

Macy Miller sketch for child's bedroom in tiny house

Tiny house sketch with new bedroom. Photo via Minimotives.com

And now she’s hard at work on the real thing:

Macy Miller tiny house bedroom for child

The new bedroom, in progress! Photo via Minimotives.com

Macy Miller tiny house renovation

The new bedroom, at left. Photo via Minimotives.com

In a recent post explaining the changes she’s making to her home, Macy shared a little about what it’s like to have a child in the house, and why she’s excited about the renovation:

Macy: I am SO grateful for my house, it was a lot of work, but I never expected it to pay back as well as it has! If the only reason is that it has enabled me to be able to stay home and raise Hazel, that would be more than enough, but it’s enabled SO much more… I couldn’t even imagine cleaning my big house while trying to keep tabs on a toddler, I don’t know how others do it!… I think at this point, with those additions, this house will work for several more years for us!

Learn more about Macy’s house plans and resources on Minimotives.com. You can also read more of my interview with Macy, or see more of her beautiful home and inspirational story in my Life in a Tiny House Ebook.

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Billy Ulmer

Writer at PAD Tiny Houses
Billy Ulmer is the author of the Life in a Tiny House Ebook, a collection of photos and in-depth interviews with people who designed and built their own tiny homes. He is a co-owner of PADTinyHouses.com.
{ 18 comments… add one }
  • Cahow
    June 8, 2015, 10:27 am

    Good for Macy; it sounds as if she had a Master Plan and stuck to it.

    I did find this quote mildly amusing: “She wasn’t actively planning to have children when she designed the home…”, only to be updated in the article that Macy has a one year old and ANOTHER baby on the way! LOL Oops! I can’t wait to read the updates on what TWO toddlers are like in a wee home but I’m confident that Macy can handle it beautifully. 😀

    • June 8, 2015, 10:42 am

      #2 was planned, we want two kids, 18-24 months apart 😉

    • Cahow
      June 8, 2015, 10:46 am

      Hi, Macy. Your children will turn out to be the BEST of friends, being that close! My best friend, Ted, also has his two children with that small age gap and they are inseparable…even though they are almost graduated from high school. I’m sorry that you had to lose your porch but you’ll gain in love. <3 ALL the best to you and your family. 😀

    • Jodie Dew
      June 8, 2015, 5:27 pm

      Hello…finally taking 5 mins to check in…I have had my concerns about olivias new baby in the new house but after reading this I will quit stressing over . .at least 1 less thing to stress over lol…build is coming along…finally…we were n drywall hell for over a month…about drove me insane! Now we r down to 1 room still needs to be painted another room needs the 2nd coat…Sheldon is finishing up the downstairs flooring as I am writing this and the upstairs carpet comes friday. Mom n I put the wallpaper on the one wall n my bedroom earlier today. The appliances were delivered Saturday and it is a Godsend to have a working fridge for keeping water cold…no more cooler…and keeping like lunchmeat etc on hand for a fast lunch and save some money…we still have to get the kitchen cabinets painted and installed. .buy the countertop and install it…but none of that can be done til we get the one wall tiled ceiling to countertop height…me and my design ideas…slows progress down…but gotta have em. Lol..we still also have to install the living room/kitchen plank ceiling. The plan was to do it last week but the big bix store wouldnt hold my appliances anymore…so flooring HAD to get done lol…but we finally have indoor plumbing!!! No more hot porta potty or running to mcdonalds..lol..also got the central ac working Saturday!! It is heavenly in here now…well back to work just wanted to give u a quick update….

  • Andrea Hardy
    June 8, 2015, 10:57 am

    now THAT’S a real woman!! MACY MILLER YOU SO ROCK!!!

  • jane
    June 8, 2015, 12:36 pm

    Hi Macy and family,
    love your house.
    Just an idea-could you extent the front steps ( the ones you are standing on with dog) and install a fold away sun/ rain blind above the doorway?
    Good Luck with the 2nd babe
    :J

  • AL
    June 8, 2015, 12:44 pm

    I’ve always loved what you’ve done with your house. It rocks. I’m excited for you & your family! It is a wonderful space &, most importantly, it is filled with Love & laughter! Our daughter wasn’t “planned” (even though we’d been married for 8? years at the time) but it has been like winning the lottery ever since-the best ever! None of the best things in my life were ever planned. You can do anything your heart desires. Keep on being awesome. Best wishes always! :):):)

  • Sabine
    June 8, 2015, 1:17 pm

    Congratulations on the addition to your family and on the addition to your home. You’re a definite wave maker in the tiny house community.

  • Susanne
    June 8, 2015, 6:04 pm

    Every time I see this house I love the outside of it and the contrast inside of dark/white inside, though not the fact that the bed takes up most of the living room space…and now with kids…I just don’t see Tiny Houses working well with kids (yes I have kids) because they have energy and need to use it so I suppose they could spend most of their time outside, weather permitting, and if enclosed.

  • Karen R
    June 8, 2015, 8:28 pm

    Tiny Houses can work with kids, they just need to be a little larger. We could raise our roof and have a second story. We already have the extra half bath. Our home is about 420 square feet plus 150 square feet in the loft.
    Macy will figure exactly what she needs and how to get it!

  • Mary J
    June 8, 2015, 10:39 pm

    wonderful to see that your tiny house is being transformed but still working for you, expanding in small ways to include space for your little one. It gives those with little kids reason to believe in tiny houses and have hope for a better financial future for their whole family.

  • Lisa
    June 9, 2015, 1:44 am

    Glad to see the house working out so versatile. That’s the nice thing a TH can change with you. Of course Marcy is one of the pioneers of the TH world.

  • Steve
    June 9, 2015, 7:46 am

    well done macy! love the room addition looks eclectic and sweet. living smaller has so many unforeseen benefits, particularly for families. i guess you already have found this out. living close means you get to know each other so well. when other kids sought anonymity in big houses, our kids grew closer relationally, and work together well. as our kids grew up we kept modifying the floor plans. triple bunk beds, firemens pole to get down, more storage, the only challenge is getting the kids to put things back, living small means staying organized. when the walls were ready to burst we sold our tiny home on wheels to friends and built a small brick and stick. the kids helped us build as we went along. my wife being an incredible multi-tasker, operates a fourth generation coffee roasting company with our youngest who is 12 years old. you might be thinking oh, unable to continue to stay at home, nope, she roasts on the property, walks 50 feet to her roasting house, she’s been roasting for 20 years.

    have a blast, the kids grow up fast. we refer to our life as, “magnificum experimentum” or the grand experiment.

    cheers to the small life, continue to enjoy being a mom, the most honorable of all professions.

  • kristina nadreau
    June 28, 2015, 12:27 am

    I wish I had the good sense to live small when my children were small, however as an only child I was raised in a huge 8 Br rural house. thus that was what home meant to me. Now that I fit the definition of “elderly”, I am happy with small. The 2 of us and way too many possessions plus the herd of 4 dogs and 2 cats are living in 876 sq ft. We are renting the upstairs bed/ bath as an efficiency. this will work well for us.

  • Saga
    June 9, 2016, 2:39 pm

    I follow her blog, and by now the nursery is finished and us such a lovely and well designed nursery for both children.
    Please do an update with how the house looks now, it is so great (or subscribers: Do take a look at her blog).

  • Rev
    June 9, 2016, 10:19 pm

    Three axles in the rendering. Five stars for capacity!

  • jake
    June 10, 2016, 5:21 am

    I wasn’t planned. I wasn’t aware a while.
    I feel a lot more like I do now than I before.
    Hazel! What a wonderful name.
    Bet she’s the same.
    Beautiful additions to family and home.
    Beautiful insights, courage and work.

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