Tag: tiny house documentaries

The 5 Best Tiny Home Documentaries You Must Watch

The 5 Best Tiny Home Documentaries You Must Watch

tiny house documentaries

As someone interested in joining the other thousand tiny home dwellers, you’re probably curious about what a tiny house lifestyle is like. And it’s not wrong to get intrigued. It’s the first thing you want – get ideas of the tiny house movement you will get yourself into. 

The good news is that there are a lot of tiny home documentaries you can watch. Not only do these shows highlight the best things about the movement but also all other things that you need to know – from designing to the actual cost. They will also give you insights about the challenges and, of course, the perks. 

It’s great to know that the tiny house movement is not something uncommon. Countless people all around the globe have joined the campaign and are enjoying the best of a simple, conservationist lifestyle!

Learn more about the ins and outs of the tiny house lifestyle by viewing, if not all, at least one or two tiny home documentaries listed below. 

5. We The Tiny House People

Released in April 2012, We The Tiny House People features the journey of people that are looking for a simple, self-sufficient, minimalist living by building a shelter in trailers, converted garages, tool sheds, caves, riverboats, and even former pigeon coops. 

Internet-video personality, TV producer, and director Kirsten Dirksen opens our minds to know the real deal of living in a tiny house. 

The documentary has an 81-minute runtime, enough to let you understand the difficulties many people have experienced in their pursuit of living in a sustainable, off-grid, tiny home. 

You may watch this fascinating documentary on Kirsten’s YouTube channel.

In the film, Kirsten tells us what inspired her to make the documentary and what moved her to join the tiny house movement. 

“When my parents moved a couple [of] hours north of San Francisco to retire, all of us offspring complained it was too far from the city and too sleepy.”

“Then, during one extended summer visit, I started taking my camera out looking for stories… and I began to discover that their new County best-known for its wineries and agriculture was an epicenter of a growing underground movement.”

She continued, “When I first interview my first tiny house person, I had no idea I was about to enter a parallel universe and that I would become trapped here for several years to come.”

4. Living Small: A Tiny House Documentary

Directed by Stephen Hewitt, this documentary explores the world of tiny houses through the lives of people at the forefront of the movement. 

The documentary focuses the spotlight on Anderson Page as he builds a tiny house for the first time. There he discovered the challenges and the rewards of building one’s shelter. 

Living Small: A Tiny House Documentary gives us an alternative meditation on the spaces we live on. It also helps us answer the question: could we live more with less? 

The documentary was released in 2014 and was taken in the USA. The 41-minute runtime will glue you in your seat. You may watch the documentary on Amazon Prime Video

3. Small Is Beautiful: A Tiny House Documentary

The mortgage-free lifestyle of tiny house living has inspired many to join the movement. It’s practical, which is perfect for families trying to make the most of their small life. 

The documentary Small Is Beautiful: A Tiny House Documentary dives into the lives of four people as they build their own tiny homes. Their goal? To live a mortgage-free lifestyle. As they create their tiny houses, they would soon discover that living tiny is more than just the house. 

Ben faces the challenge of building a tiny home himself. While the couple Nikki and Mitchell need to adapt to a small house with their pet dogs. And as they build their new petite home, they encounter problems that test their relationship.

Meanwhile, Karin discovers that a tiny home is an excellent alternative to traditional homes. 

She said, “I could build a tiny house with that money [thousands of dollars], which means that I can now pursue the type of medicine based on the gift economy.”

The documentary shows us the doubts and the difficulties these four people had faced. 

“In the beginning, I kept thinking, am I doing this right? What if I’m messing this up? Am I gonna ruin it?'” Karin said. 

You probably might agree with what Karin has said in the documentary: “The movement is about freedom from debt and options.”

What does it take to live small? Get the answer by watching this 2015 tiny house documentary produced by Tiny House Film

To see the film, visit www.smallbeautifulmovie.com. 

Meanwhile, sit back, relax, and enjoy this Small Is Beautiful: A Tiny House Documentary trailer. 

This documentary has a 68-minute runtime. It was released on April 30, 2015, and was directed by Jeremy Beasley. 

2. TINY: A Story About Living Small

The documentary TINY: A Story About Living Small takes us to the life of two young couples who have decided to downsize their lives by building a tiny home. 

Turning 30, Christopher is thinking about putting down roots. He’s been inspired by tiny houses and wants to try the tiny house lifestyle himself. But there’s a problem: Christopher hasn’t built anything and has no constructing experience. 

The film gives us a more profound answer about what home really is and how we can find it. The documentary also highlights other families who have transitioned their lives into houses smaller than the average parking space. 

The film also raises questions about innovation, sustainability, and the changing American dream. 

Getting back to Christopher, do you think he will succeed in his pursuit?

Interestingly, Christopher Smith and Merete Mueller (both starred in the documentary) are the winners of the Green Planet Award in the Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2013.

The documentary was also a nominee in the Audience Award in the SXSW Film Festival in 2013. 

Watch the documentary on YouTube as released by Film Courage. 

TINY: A Story About Living Small was released on March 9, 2013, and was taken in the USA. The film has a 66-minute runtime. Both Christopher Smith and Merete Mueller directed the documentary. 

1. Summer of (Family) Love: Tiny Home VW-Roadtrip Documentary

living in a campervan

Kirsten Dirksen, the director of We The Tiny House People, has released yet another documentary about tiny houses. 

The film features Kirsten and her family of five. They ventured the road with the attempt to live deliberately with just the essentials. 

Kirsten and her husband bought a VW Westfalia campervan (cheap on Craigslist) and moved in. Kirsten wanted to see just how much shelter does her family needs. 

The family limited themselves to one backpack per person. The kids have to learn how to make the most of their 50-square-foot mobile home. 

The roadtrip documentary features tiny house dwellers like Dee Williams, Tammy and Logan, and Steve Sauer. 

Williams used to live in a 2000-square-foot home with three bedrooms. After traveling to Guatemala, she realized just how her home felt too big, so she built a tiny house to fit herself. 

It turned out to be an 84-square-foot tiny house on wheels. 

Tammy and Logan, on the other hand, live a simplified life when they downsized from a two-bedroom apartment to a 128-square-foot home on wheels. 

Sauer crafted a micro-apartment. He used his skills as a designer of airplane interiors to sketch a home that could fit within 182-square feet. 

As Kirsten and her family hit the road, they realized a lot about living simply. 

Other Tiny Home Shows You Must Watch

Tiny House Nation on FYI

Renovation experts John Weisbarth and Zach Giffin travel across America to strut ingenious small spaces and the innovative people that live in them. They also helped new families design and built their own tiny dream house in an area no larger than 500 square feet. 

The Tiny House Nation is not your typical design show. The show teaches us that size doesn’t always matter. Instead, it’s the creativity that really counts. 

The show is currently in its third season. Watch full episodes here

You may also watch the show on Netflix. 

How To Live Mortgage Free with Sarah Beeny on Netflix

Sarah Beeny is a real estate expert and a TV presenter. In How to Live Mortgage Free, she meets with clever property owners sharing their colorful stories about how to live a mortgage-free life. 

The show features creative individuals who managed to convert small spaces (like garages) into a living and working space. 

Tiny House, Big Living on HGTV

Tiny House, Big Living gives us a plethora of ideas on how we can turn a small space into something rather stunning and captivating… a tiny home with BIG design and details. 

The segment shares houses no larger than 500 square feet. In the past few years, the popularity of tiny houses has skyrocketed. And that’s because they are economical, environmentally-friendly, and encourage people to live simply and minimally. 

Tiny House, Big Living introduces us to cool design and ideas that you may get inspiration to when building your next tiny home. 

Check out the collection of videos of Tiny House, Big Living on their YouTube channel. 

Beautiful Off-Grid Tiny House Truck Tour on YouTube

In this film, Adam and Sian take us on a tour in their beautiful, off-grid tiny house truck that is mostly built using recycled materials. 

The house track is well lit and is full of space. It highlights an open-plan kitchen, living and bedroom area, and a fancy shower set-up. 

Learn about the challenges the couple had faced as they transitioned into this simpler living. 

Tiny House World on Amazon Prime

Tiny House World is a TV series that features prospective homeowners looking for an ideal mini dream home in different parts of the world, such as in Paris, France, Dublin, and Sydney. 

Watch the full episodes on Amazon Prime

Tiny House Builders on HGTV

Aside from making tiny houses, Derek Diedricksen also builds micro masterpieces out of recovered materials. Derek prides himself on creating the tiniest structures with stunning design and architecture that make the most of their surroundings. 

Avid fans of the show follow Derek as he shows off his craftsmanship in creating a tiny paradise home in just a few hundred square feet. 

Get More Tiny House Guides!

Sure, documentaries, TV shows, and films about tiny houses can help you get a better idea of the whole tiny house concept. They are a great way to learn more ideas and gain insights about the more important things, like the downsides, the rewards, and also the potential shortcomings that may come along the way. 

Some, however, believe that these shows only reveal the surface of what it’s really like to join the tiny house movement. 

Whether the shows are staged or not, it’s not for us to say. But there’s one thing we know: you may still get comprehensive guides and ideas from books. 

Below we have listed some tiny house books for inspiration and action. 

The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir

Dee Williams (featured in Kirsten’s show A Summer of (Family) Love) published a book entitled The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir to explain what was it like for him when she joined the tiny house movement. 

Her life, prior to the movement, was challenging enough already. She had a near-death experience in the aisle of her local grocery store. At the age of 41, she was diagnosed with a heart condition. By then, she was reminded that life is short, and time is, surely, precious.

Right then, right there, she wanted to spend her life with the people and things that she truly loved and valued. Though she loved her home in the Pacific Northwest, she didn’t want to live the rest of her life in paying the mortgage and constant repairs. 

Read her book and learn the things she had sacrificed to live a simple, tiny life finally. 

Download her book on Kindle or get your copy.

Tiny House Design & Construction Guide

You may be an expert in tiny house building, or maybe you’re not. Regardless, the Tiny House Design & Construction Guide by Dan Louche will tell you all about the nuts and bolts of building a beautiful tiny home. 

Dan Louche is the owner of Tiny Home Builders. Having been building tiny houses since 2009, Dan shares his insights and techniques in building small homes. 

Dan strives to help would-be builders to gain knowledge and confidence in building their own homes. 

Get your very own copy of Dan’s book Tiny House Design and Construction Guide here

Tiny House Floor Plans: Over 200 Interior Designs for Tiny Houses

Need more ideas to sketch your tiny future home? 

Michael Janzen shares with us 200 interior design for petite homes of sizes from 8×12 to 12×24. His book serves as a handbook for the building process. 

Purchase your copy here

Final Takeaway

Tiny house documentaries, shows, and even books are excellent guides that can help you get more ideas about the small house lifestyle. 

You see, moving into the tiny home movement is no picnic. It requires a lot of planning and serious commitment. It’s great to learn real experiences from real people who have ventured into the movement. 

Related Questions

How much does it cost to buy a tiny house?

The average cost of a tiny house ranges from $10,000 to $23,000 depending on the size, location, and design. You can find tiny houses that are no larger than 196-square feet that are $12,000 or lower. 

Is it cheaper to build or buy a tiny house?

The cost of your tiny house depends on if you build it or buy it. Tiny houses with luxurious designs can go as high as $150,000. Simple tiny homes can range from $12,000 to $35,000.