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His Self-Built and Debt-Free Tiny House


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Sonny reached out to us to show off the amazing DIY THOW he built, paying cash as he had it. He got derailed after about a year and a half of building because he had a heart attack — but after recovery, he pushed on. While Sonny says he’ll never really be “done” with the project, it’s looking great.

In his 160 sq. ft. space he fit a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and loft bedroom. He has an illuminated staircase, gas fireplace, and another storage loft over his deck. What do you think of this tiny home?

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Finishing His Tiny House After a Heart Attack

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Images: Sonny Petty

He has an RV-size oven and a fridge in the kitchen.

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Images: Sonny Petty

His storage staircase had beautiful drawer-fronts

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Images: Sonny Petty

A sliding door goes to the bathroom.

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Images: Sonny Petty

His bedroom is in the loft.

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Images: Sonny Petty

He was able to get a lot of materials from the re-store.

Sonny Builds a DIY THOW, Even After Heart Attack!

Images: Sonny Petty

Very smart to illuminate the staircase.

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Images: Sonny Petty

He has a cozy couch in the living room.

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Images: Sonny Petty

The beadboard walls are beautiful.

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Images: Sonny Petty

An iron ladder takes you to the storage loft.

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Images: Sonny Petty

A little fireplace and TV.

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Images: Sonny Petty

And here’s his awesome bathroom.

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Images: Sonny Petty

From Sonny:

I decided that I didn’t need all my “stuff” and it was time to downsize. That’s when I thought about building my own Tiny House, all by myself, and paying cash as I went along. I’ve never built anything before from scratch so I lived on YouTube and other wonderful websites for diyers.

I worked on it nights and weekends. Then the pandemic hit and I had a lot more time to build. But about a year and a half in, I had a heart attack and had triple bypass surgery which set me back a few months. But as soon as I started feeling better, back to work I went. I’m actually not finished with it, and probably never will be completely.

I keep changing things around…I’ve got to quit that! Lol. But as of right now, it’s 160 square feet downstairs and an additional 60 sq feet in my bedroom loft and another 40 sq feet in the loft above the front porch for storage at the moment.

I have a gas stove, microwave and an apartment size fridge. Under the stairs is a double stainless steel sink. Full size bathroom, small living room area and a small front porch. At the moment I’m contemplating raising the roof above the loft bedroom and putting 2×6 windows on both sides, along with a skylight. Also the mini split ac/heat pump is in the loft as well.

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Natalie C. McKee

Natalie C. McKee is a contributor for Tiny House Talk and the Tiny House Newsletter. She's a wife, and mama of three little kids. She and her family are homesteaders with sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and quail on their happy little acre.
{ 7 comments… add one }
  • Sandra
    December 15, 2022, 10:36 am

    Sonny did a great job—craftsmanship, design and layout was superior to some professional builders. It appears to maybe be 10 x 16 ???? Would love to see the outside and any changes he makes in the future.

    Note to THT staff; I agree with other viewers that the pop-ups are a nuisance and not worth dealing with. Appreciate your dedication to bring it to us, If you have control over all the ads please do something about them before we all bail.

  • vee
    December 15, 2022, 3:41 pm

    A very different and interesting tiny! I’d prefer more kitchen and less bathroom tho I will admit both here are super nice. Has lots of charm — would be nice to see what he does with the exterior!!!

  • Jim
    December 15, 2022, 7:38 pm

    This is awesome Sonny.

  • Cheryl
    December 15, 2022, 10:21 pm

    Great job!

  • Marsha Cowan
    December 15, 2022, 10:24 pm

    I really like the floor plan with the stair in the middle and lit. There is also a lot of living area besides the kitchen. The use of a vintage armour in the kitchen is cool, too! Great job!

  • Maria Kentala
    December 16, 2022, 6:13 am

    Beautiful! Builder could take lessons from you.

  • Sonny Petty
    January 14, 2023, 12:00 pm

    Thanks for all the wonderful comments! If they allow me to, I will post more pics when I’m finished reconstruction on the roof and outside pics as well.

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