In her mid-fifties, Allyson started to worry — she hadn’t saved anything for retirement and knew if she wanted to keep paying rent she would need to work indefinitely. But around that time, she heard about tiny living and decided that was the path for her.
She started learning carpentry skills and finding inexpensive windows for sale on Facebook Marketplace, saving up items she would need to build her house. And then with the help of a carpenter guiding her, she built her forever home: “Daisy”. With a house built and a spot to park it, Allyson plans to retire within the year.
You’ll love her DIY home, which you can see below. She even planned for a downstairs sleeping arrangement if/when it gets too hard for her to climb into her loft bedroom.
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Her THOW is Filled with Books, Crafts & Hard Work
Images via Tiny Home Tours
That tabletop is made from recycled bottles!
Images via Tiny Home Tours
She has a lovely wooded lot with great landlords.
Images via Tiny Home Tours
VIDEO: Her Adorable DIY Tiny Home for Retirement
Highlights
- Allyson, in her mid-fifties, decided to embrace tiny living as a solution to her lack of retirement savings and the need to work indefinitely for rent payments.
- With determination, she learned carpentry skills and sourced affordable windows through Facebook Marketplace to build her forever home, “Daisy,” with guidance from a carpenter.
- Daisy is Allyson’s DIY tiny house, showcasing her impressive craftsmanship and planning, including a downstairs sleeping arrangement for future convenience.
- Allyson’s goal is to retire within the year, and Daisy is the key to achieving that dream.
- Inside Daisy, you’ll find a cozy space filled with books, crafts, and the hard work Allyson invested in her tiny home.
- The tabletop in Daisy is an eco-friendly creation, made from recycled bottles.
- Daisy is parked on a lovely wooded lot with supportive landlords, offering a picturesque setting for Allyson’s retirement plans.
- Don’t miss the heartwarming video showcasing Allyson’s adorable DIY tiny home and her inspiring journey to embrace tiny living in her 60s.
Learn more:
Related stories:
- Jonathan and Curtis’ 100% Solar Bus Life Retirement
- Vicki’s Retirement Tiny House With A Deck!
- Retired Couple’s 50 Sq. Ft. DIY Vardo
Our big thanks to Allison of Tiny Home Tours for sharing! 🙏
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Natalie C. McKee
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She has thought of EVERYTHING! What a charming, colourful and personal space. Her outdoor area is marvellous — very inviting — She and Tucker are very lucky!!!
I wish you the best of luck in your retirement and you have built yourself a wonderful tiny house with your best friend Tucker.
You should be able to get your stove painted at an automotive or RV painting or body shop.
2003, we converted a 1997 Ford CF8000 commercial truck to our concept of an ExpeditionVehicle.
After nearly two decades full-time live-aboard, we found a workkamp gig at a small organic teaching farm near the outskirts of Eugene, Oregon.
We share the acreage with a couple-three dozen workkampers in various versions of RecreationVehicles and home-made ExpeditionVehicles.
Can you imagine twice-daily potlatches with semi-professional chefs?
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I think that THOW represents that designer, and ‘stationary’ looks like it may work for her.
But… we are having too much fun to retire!
And if we retired, we just might keep on doing this…
Now that sounds like fun!
Potlatches… LOL
Potlatch — in the First Nation tradition of sharing food and giving stuff away.
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At camp, while cooking together and eating together with our caravan chums, the ‘exchange pile’ is a nifty way to try new-to-us stuff, then return it to share again.
The circle of energy continues.
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Obviously, this wonderful connection interfered with their plans, so the tradition was outlawed by the government agents.
Shhhh… don’t tell them, let them keep on thinking they are omnipotent.
Thank you for such a thorough and heartfelt video with us. You did a wonderful job and I wish you well in your retirement! Love your tiny home.
Allison, you have done a fantastic job. I really love the tiny homes and would do it in a heartbeat. The only thing stopping me is there is really no place to put one in the my area….Woodstock, Ga does not allow tiny houses. It’s the thing of the future….
I absolutely love your Tiny Home. It’s beautifully done with such vibrant wonderful colours and is so inviting. It’s truly one of the best Tiny Homes I’ve seen to date. I wanted to ask you a few questions about Tiny House Living but don’t have the link to reach you other than here. I would love to get that if that is possible. Kind Regards, Beth
Hi Beth, She’s not on social media, but I saw her responding to comments on the YouTube video. If you click on the video above you should be able to reach out by commenting on YouTube.
Her contact information is in the Youtube video description…
Instagram is “allysonsteenytiny” and her gmail is “AllysonsTeenyTiny”…
What a lovely home you’ve made for yourself and precious Tucker! Daisy is a wonderful reflection of the person you are. Thank you so much for sharing.
Very creative solutions especially the bathroom door. What impressed me the most were the windows. Many tiny homes have lovely big windows, BUT once you sit down you cannot see outside. Love how the windows are placed where she can actually sit and enjoy the view.
That’s a very good point!
This woman is a genius!😮Love the awesome design aesthetic, colours and the hula hoop shower ring 😂 BRILLIANT!✨
Right!? Way to be creative!
Hi there I really enjoyed your video. You are very talented. I would love to communicate with you further about possibly have to downsize. I too have a large home that is very empty after the children have left. Your home is beautiful. You have thought of everything. I really don’t know how in the world is say kudos for someone making such a nice tiny home. I think it is the prettiest I have ever seen. God bless you take care of Tucker. My little guy’s name is Bobo. Feel free to contact me to advise me if you wish. Blessings
Hi Carol! I saw that Allyson was responding to comments on the video on YouTube. If you click on the video above, it should take you there and you might be able to get in touch with her. She probably won’t see your comment here, though.
Hi, I did click on the YouTube above as you suggested and nothing happened. I would very much like to talk to her, I’m in the same age range with many of the same concerns. Could you forward her my email and ask her to get in touch if she can? Thank you!
Beverly Fuller, R.N.
Her contact information is in the video description…
Instagram is “allysonsteenytiny” and her gmail is “AllysonsTeenyTiny”…
Enjoyed the tour of well thought out use of indoor space. The setting brings it all together. How fortunate to have found land owners willing to rent. That alone makes your effort worthwhile. I too am 64 with no retirement forced to downsize in a 23 foot trailer. I’ve yet to get rid of my years of belongings but need to. Thank you for the encouraging words to take little steps to a newfound freedom.
You can do it, Cynthia! All the best in your newest adventure.
I really love this house. Very colourful and personal without pretending to be something else. Just love it.
Thanks for sharing. You have one of the warmest and most comfortable tiny homes I’ve seen. It is full of such pretty touches too. I hope you and Tucker continue to enjoy your Daisy!
You have done a wonderful job! I fell into tiny living mostly by accident, and I love it, too! Mine is a different form — a 14×20 shed. When I bought the shed (for only $800!), it had a half-bath in it, and nothing else. The most costly part, was moving it onto my land, which already had septic, water and electric. Then I got busy and had a shower added to the bath, making it a “wet bath.” And of course, added a kitchen (no stove — just a double-burner), double sink (second hand for $20), made a couple of rustic cabinets and a gorgeous countertop out of 2″ thick planks that I glued together and waterproofed. The top shelf in the cabinets is only a few inches from the countertop, so I use silverware trays as my silverware drawers and knife drawer, and it leaves just the right amount of space for my two-burner stove next to them. I added an apartment-sized refrigerator, microwave, open shelf and eventually a pantry/broom closet, along with a rolling island for extra workspace. To partially close off the bedroom, I added a 3×5 closet, and put my twin bed behind it. Gives me plenty of storage space, and a nice big living/dining room. It is really more space than I need, but is very comfortable for me! There is a small loft (over bedroom and bathroom), but I am unable to get up there, and frankly, is unusable, although my two cats seem to enjoy it. Some of the men from church also built a wonderful deck out front, where I enjoy relaxing in beautiful spring, fall and winter weather here in northern Florida!
This post makes me happy…. happy for Allyson (a woman that I do not know but admire from long distance) that she calmly viewed the future about retirement income, took mental inventory of her needs, then made calm and deliberate step by step plans to implement her tiny house. She actually pulled it off! She actually did it! She has been … how to say it…. “financially reborn” and has de-cluttered “unnecessary stuff” to facilitate her new tiny house life. And, what’s more, it is obvious that she TRULY LIVES in her new tiny house with the possessions she needs — her dog, her books, her inherited photo of Vancouver, etc.
My sincere congratulations to Allyson of Canada. Canada…. what an excellent, decent, solid home country. “Oh Canada! We stand on guard for Thee!” I love my home country the USA and am a US Army veteran, but I love Canada, too. My German and British ancestors landed in the 1800’s in Virginia, but I sometimes wish that they had landed in Nova Scotia. These comments are respectfully submitted. Stephan of Arkansas.
You’re so right, Stephan! She is an inspiration.
Love you tiny house lost my dear husband 3years ago ,live with my son love it his house is my house,would love to live in a tiny house but don’t have much money and no place to put it enjoy your retirement and your daisy
Could you put a tiny house on your son’s land?
What a wonderful explanation of a tiny home!!!!!! I loved it!!!!,it has got me thinking……Mary
This is beautiful. Everything in this tiny house is perfectly in place and beautiful. Love this Tiny Home. Outside is inviting.
You did a GREAT job on your house!! Its lovely💖
You did a wonderful job of space planning. I am a designer retired now and found my love of tiny houses in the 80’s before it was a thing. I agree about baby steps. A little at a time is the way I have done things all my life or I would have been overwhelmed. I related to you so much in this video and thanks for sharing your time with all of us. You found yourself while building this I am sure as you carved out a space that works for you. I am so happy for you and come for a visit sometime if you get in my neck of the woods.
Hi
Love your Daisy home. You have given me the courage to do this. I have wanted to for years and felt it would never happen because I do not have much for retirement.
Good Luck with your retirement.
Bobbie
Congratulations Allyson on building your sanctuary tiny home. You seem completely at peace. So lovely to see. I live in Northern California and working for the State. Raised a beautiful daughter and looking to build my Tiny home within 3 years. I have no experience building, but a vision that puts my Tiny by the beach. I so appreciate the breaking down in segments suggestion. As a Trainer, we call it backwards planning by segmenting all the tasks and seeing/feeling the end vision. I am going to start with finding great affordable windows! Thank you and sending you and your adorable furry friend kudos!🐶👏🌺
I would love to know the sq footage of your tiny home! I love the way you designed it. Plenty of storage and a decent sized kitchen and bath are top on my list, like you have in this one.
What a great place! Very well thought out. Thank you, for sharing.
I really love her Tiny Home! It has everything you need and so well organized. This would work perfectly for me once I no longer have my daughter living with me and I actually own a small piece of land that I could use.
If I had a place to put it, it would be perfect.