Imagine having invested so much money in possessions and a large house, only to suddenly lose it all. How do you start from scratch when tragedy sweeps everything away?
Vicky lost everything in an earthquake in New Zealand. So, she traveled to Queensland, Australia, and started a new life in a small house.
Vicky’s refuge is on a small piece of land she rented with other families in a small community where you can also see other small houses.
On the land, there’s a permaculture farm where they can grow food, a yoga studio, and a treatment room where you can enjoy massages, acupuncture, and much more.
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According to Vicky, she used to live in a normally sized house in Christchurch, New Zealand. However, it was destroyed by earthquakes.
She said it was a tough time for her, so she moved to Australia and stayed with her friends in Sydney until she got a job and got her life back on track.
After six years, her insurance rebuilt her house, but she had already started a new life in Australia and didn’t return to New Zealand.
« I wanted to live tiny after everything you own is destroyed in an earthquake. You start to wonder why you invested so much money in possessions and space, and suddenly it’s all gone, » she said.
According to Vicky, she spent about five to seven years searching for the right builder. She eventually ended up in Queensland, where she found the best construction company and the most amazing people.
Her house was completed within two months.
The exterior of Vicky’s beautiful house is made of Colorbond in Dune Matt color, combined with black windows, and her wooden deck has white, flowing curtains, lights, and functional mosquito nets. Her house is connected to the normal power grid and is fed with water from the well.
Her tiny house measures 7.2 meters with a small bulge over the hitch, making it eight meters long. She also has a beautiful garden and a space for wildflowers for bees.
Inside, her tiny house is full of green, matching the rainforest outside, which can be seen through the windows.
Plants and trees are depicted on her white wallpaper, and she said she spent hours searching for the perfect print for her wall. She imported the wallpaper from the Netherlands directly from the artist.
Vicky’s small house interior combines green, wood, and copper. She has aqua blue copper lights that she bought four years ago in a secondhand store. When she decided to live in a tiny house, she thought the copper lights should be included.
« And that’s where the copper came into play for everything. That was sort of the starting point, » she explained.
Her living room has a beautiful couch where her guests can sleep. The sofa is in front of the sliding glass door, offering a splendid view of the green spaces outside.
A shelf for knick-knacks is built into the stairs, where she keeps things that can make her happy.
The shelf also serves as storage and stairs.
Her beautiful kitchen has a window through which she can see the beauty of nature outside, which makes Vicky happy every time she looks at it, and the openness of the space makes the kitchen seem so spacious.
The space in her kitchen is just enough that she can reach everything with one hand.
Her green cabinets and wooden shelves blend with the view outside. She also has beautiful wooden benches and a table where she works with her laptop or eats.
On the other side of the house is the bathroom with a cool-looking shower, a beautiful vanity, and a cabinet with a washing machine.
Above the bathroom is her sleeping loft, which is very spacious. It has a skylight from which she can watch the stars all night long, and a window through which a breeze blows.
Vicky has been living in her beautiful tiny house for quite some time, and when asked if living in a tiny house meets her expectations, she said, « It has exceeded expectations.
There are challenges. There were a lot of fears and a lot of stress in finding the perfect place and such things. »
But that’s all part of the journey and worth it. She also said she couldn’t be happier with her current location.
Vicky also said that living in a tiny house offers a small touch of luxury that she couldn’t afford if she were living in a normal-sized house, and some of these little things make waking up every day worthwhile.
Watch the Living Big in a Tiny House video for a complete tour of the tiny house.