I dug through skips & saved £38k to build my own tiny home – bills cost just £200 a month but there is a catch

LARA Skowronska, 34, is a costume and set maker, and lives in Gloucestershire with dog, Monty.

She began building her own tiny home in 2022, doing all the labour herself after saving £9,000.

“With a Farrow & Ball painted kitchen, a cosy wood burner and beautiful rural views, my house has everything I could want.

You may be able to walk from one end to the other in just five steps, but to me it’s perfect – and I built every inch myself.

I’ve always been creative.

After gaining a degree in costume making in 2012, I made my childhood dream come true and used my skills to join the circus, where everyone lived in tiny spaces.

For the six months that we toured, I slept in a wooden wagon so small I could touch both walls from my bed.

For the rest of the year, I lived in my van, working as a costume maker. 

At 5ft 10in, I never lived anywhere I could actually stand up in.

All my possessions were at my parents’ house.

I’d sometimes think: ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a bit more space?’

Then, in March 2020, the pandemic hit, and the circus shut down.

To keep busy, I rescued a 1920s gypsy wagon that was going to be burned and I decided to renovate it.

Watching endless YouTube videos to help me, I quickly realised it was easier to start from scratch – I was going to build my own tiny home. 

In November 2021, I spent my entire £3,000 savings on a trailer base.

My parents were supportive, but friends thought I was mad.

For six months, while the trailer sat in a friend’s field, I saved like mad and planned my build.

I researched all the size and weight regulations, knowing I’d need to take it on the road. 

I decided it would be off-grid, with solar panels and a composting toilet.

I dreamed about underfloor heating, a wood-burning stove and a bath. 

In May 2022, I finally had the £9,000 I needed to get started.

For the next six months, while I lived in my van, building my home became my full-time job. 

I couldn’t afford to pay for labour, and I also wanted to learn all the skills to do it all myself.

With the help of my mum Anne and dad Tony, I put up the timber frame.

Standing inside was amazing, and although it was just 2.4m x 5.4m, it somehow felt huge. 

I made all the furniture myself, as standard seating and cupboards wouldn’t fit, milling the wood for my worktop, kitchen units and to clad the house. 

I watched every penny.

I found my front door and two stained glass windows in a skip.

Then, that September, disaster struck when I broke my ankle falling down some steps.

But a week later, I was dragging my cast around as I laid the floor. 

By Christmas that year, my home was complete.

I had a kitchen, bathroom and living area, and a mezzanine floor with my bed.

I even had a bath and underfloor heating – and I’d done it all for £12,000, far cheaper than the £50,000 it would have cost to buy pre-made. 

‘COMPROMISES’

Curling up with my new puppy Monty by the wood burner, I felt so proud. I’d created the home of my dreams.

Eighteen months on, I still love it.

Compared to living in a van, it’s spacious and in a cost of living crisis, being off-grid has kept outgoings low – around £200 a month.

The only downside is the constant worry of where I’ll put it.

Planning laws are so strict in the UK that it’s a struggle to find somewhere to stay.

I do research to find a campsite or private land I can stop at, then move from place to place.

Driving to each new location is terrifying – one bump or wrong swerve and my precious home could get damaged.

Every time I move, I also have to empty all my possessions out so it’s light enough to hitch it to a car, then I reload it all.

Tiny house living definitely has its compromises.

I don’t have a door on the bathroom, so if a friend is over and needs the toilet, everyone else has to go outside.

I keep falling in love with furniture and furnishings I can’t buy, because there’s nowhere to put them.

I have to operate a strict, one-in-one-out policy on everything from lamps to cushions.

But it stops me splurging!

Maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to own some land and get planning permission to settle.

But, for now, I’m happy that this tiny house is mine.” 

Follow Lara on Instagram @Larastinyhouse.