A tiny house with big sound
Ryan Tuttle’s photography business takes her on new adventures every month, so when she decided to lay down some roots, her dream home needed to be a place she could work in and rest, yet feel comfortable leaving for extended periods of time. What better solution than to build a tiny home?
We spoke to Ryan about her new living arrangement and her need to incorporate music into such a small space.
When did you start your Tiny House planning?
“I started dreaming of it around early 2017. I created many different floor plans and went through multiple different versions before finally deciding I was ready to start the building process in September 2018.”
What were the main spaces you wanted to create?
“My main priority for my house was to create separate and distinct living zones. I thought a lot about how I live day to day, where I spend my time, and how I want my home to feel. For me, this meant having a dedicated workspace, a large amount of easily accessible storage, an open kitchen, and a dedicated living room with a large sofa and room for my instruments. To be honest, I had a lot of priorities, but everything fits together well because of the time spent coming up with solutions. Perceived space was more important than actual square footage. Elevating the living room not only gives me storage for my photography and outdoor gear, but it is a nice way to create depth and separation within an open space. By understanding how I truly live day to day and making that the priority, it allowed us to come up with a floorplan that fit my needs and was tailor-made to fit my lifestyle.”
Did you want to put more emphasis on a certain space over others?
“The living area was really important to me, and I definitely put a lot of thought into how I wanted that space to feel. When I’m not traveling or out shooting, I work from home, so I needed to have a space separate from my work area that I could relax and unwind. It sort of evolved into the music zone and I’m stoked on how it turned out.”
Was incorporating music into your tiny home important to you?
“Incorporating music and having instruments in my home was super important for me. Many people might think it’s crazy to put a drum set in a tiny home, but it makes me happy and I designed the house with every intention of making room for all of it. Having the ability to have a dedicated space to get work done, but also separate myself from that headspace every so often and go play drums or guitar is pretty awesome and I’m grateful I could make it work.”
How did you decide which speakers to put in your tiny home?
“I knew I wanted speakers that I could use for both my record player and through my phone, and they also had to look good and be compact. The YU4’s were a perfect match.”
Now that you’ve got your speakers in your new space, how are they working out?
“The speakers are working out really well. I will often put a record on while I’m working, because it forces me to get up often to change it! The speakers really fill the house with a surprising amount of depth and tone. Not to mention they are LOUD. It’s been great to be able to stream music from my phone too from different spots in the house.”
Do you plan on travelling in your tiny home or will it stay stationary in one spot?
“I do not plan on traveling with my tiny home. I built it knowing I would never travel with it but being on wheels gives me complete flexibility on where I want to live. While I don’t plan on moving it from its current location, having the ability to bring my home with me as my life changes is so cool.”
Did you go overbudget or were you able to keep to your original planned budget?
“I went overbudget on my interior design! I got a little carried away in the design aspect of it all 😛 But on the actual build, I stayed right on budget.”
Was it everything you dreamed it to be or would you change some things?
“It’s been surprisingly seamless moving in and getting settled. I think because I designed it and lived with it in my head for so long, once it was actually here it felt very familiar. There’s really no way to predict everything or know exactly how things will work until you’re doing it, so I’m super pleased with the decisions I made and how it all turned out. Very few small things I would change, but that is to be expected as I grow with the house.”
To see the progression of Ryan’s Tiny House build and her beautiful photography, check out her Instagram page @ryantuttlephoto.