Photo: Insider
Have you ever imagined how would it be like to live in a tiny house with a beautiful panoramic view of the Malaysian jungle? A Stanford graduate did, and she didn’t stop at imagining it; she made it happen.
After graduating from Stanford, Atiqah Nadiah Zailani decided to move to the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, and build a self-sustaining tiny home for herself.
Now, you might think this is just another young person deciding to adopt a minimalist lifestyle and there is nothing unusual about this story. Well, find out that in Kuala Lumpur the majority of people live in high-rise buildings, bungalows, or traditional homes, and the concept of off-grid tiny house is not very popular. Atiqah herself grew up in an apartment in the city.
However, during her years at Stanford University, she became acquainted with the Western camping culture, minimalism, and the tiny home movement, and she began dreaming of a different lifestyle from what she had known growing up.
To turn her dream into reality, Atiqah bought 43,000 square feet of land near Kuala Lumpur in 2016. She began building the house a year later, with a total budget of around $68,000 (64,600 Euro). She enlisted help from friends, family, and professionals and managed to complete the tiny home in three weeks.
She run into some bumps along the way, caused by her lack of construction experience and the lack of materials for off-grid houses in the country.
“In America, tools are easily accessible. You go to Home Depot and it'll be there,” she said. “But in Malaysia, the market doesn't quite cater to self-sustaining homes, so I had to work a bit harder to find the right products.”
The 530-square-feet (49-square-meter) loft-style tiny home was built on top of a slanted hill, which entailed even more difficulties, but with a little help, she overcame them all.
Thus, she is now the owner of a beautiful tiny house that features floor-to-ceiling glass windows that allow her to enjoy the jungle view. It is also equipped with a solar energy-run electrical system and off-grid rainwater collection system, which enable her to live with the utmost respect for the environment.
As you can see in the photos, the owner is still working on furnishing the interior of the house in between work assignments.
Now, you might think this is just another young person deciding to adopt a minimalist lifestyle and there is nothing unusual about this story. Well, find out that in Kuala Lumpur the majority of people live in high-rise buildings, bungalows, or traditional homes, and the concept of off-grid tiny house is not very popular. Atiqah herself grew up in an apartment in the city.
However, during her years at Stanford University, she became acquainted with the Western camping culture, minimalism, and the tiny home movement, and she began dreaming of a different lifestyle from what she had known growing up.
To turn her dream into reality, Atiqah bought 43,000 square feet of land near Kuala Lumpur in 2016. She began building the house a year later, with a total budget of around $68,000 (64,600 Euro). She enlisted help from friends, family, and professionals and managed to complete the tiny home in three weeks.
She run into some bumps along the way, caused by her lack of construction experience and the lack of materials for off-grid houses in the country.
“In America, tools are easily accessible. You go to Home Depot and it'll be there,” she said. “But in Malaysia, the market doesn't quite cater to self-sustaining homes, so I had to work a bit harder to find the right products.”
The 530-square-feet (49-square-meter) loft-style tiny home was built on top of a slanted hill, which entailed even more difficulties, but with a little help, she overcame them all.
Thus, she is now the owner of a beautiful tiny house that features floor-to-ceiling glass windows that allow her to enjoy the jungle view. It is also equipped with a solar energy-run electrical system and off-grid rainwater collection system, which enable her to live with the utmost respect for the environment.
As you can see in the photos, the owner is still working on furnishing the interior of the house in between work assignments.
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