This Custom Tiny House Offers an Aesthetic Feast With Beautiful Woodworking Throughout

For downsizers who are not just looking for a smaller house but for an authentic home, a sanctuary on wheels, this custom tiny house built by a young Canadian carpenter on Salt Spring Island is an architectural marvel that redefines compact living with an ingenious design and excellent craftsmanship.

The talented builder behind this beautiful home is Mathieu Ouellet, a man with about five years of experience in woodworking. He worked for a tiny house contractor for about three years before embarking on a solo tiny home-building adventure.

The charming unit presented in this article, which took about five months to complete, is his first creation and stands out through its modern look, minimalist yet comfortable interior, and impressive woodwork details throughout. It is a testament to Mathieu's dedication and expertise and is built to allow residents to live large in a small footprint. Obviously, it's not sprawling spaces that create the sensation of grandeur inside this home, but the clever and efficient utilization of every square inch and the extensive use of glazing that makes the interior feel bright and spacious.

Built on a double-axle trailer, this home on wheels measures just 26 feet (7.9 meters) in length and 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) in width, and despite its small dimensions, it makes a big impact with its aesthetics and functionality.

Taking inspiration from a Scandinavian design, the carpenter gave the exterior of the house a modern look with a combination of black standing seam metal siding and cedar accents on the facade and the sides. Interestingly, where the siding is black metal, the trim is cedar, and where the siding is cedar, the trim is black, creating a really nice, eye-pleasing contrast. The shed-style roof ensures increased height inside with minimal complexity, while the abundance of windows maximizes the amount of natural light that gets in.

The interior boasts a pretty standard single-loft layout with an open-plan living, dining, and cooking area plus a separate bathroom downstairs and a lofted bedroom. It's a simple design that offers a lot of flexibility. The builder included every amenity one might need for comfortable living while also keeping a clutter-free ambiance and creating a feeling of incredible spaciousness.

In terms of styling, there is a mix of contemporary and rustic vibes with modern appliances and plenty of wood details. The interior walls are clad in white-painted pine with cedar accents and a touch of cherry for a warm and inviting atmosphere and are coupled with engineered hardwood cherry floorings.

As you step inside, you get into a cozy living room flooded with light thanks to a couple of oversized windows that not only make it bright and airy but also allow dwellers to truly connect with their surroundings. There is not much in terms of furniture, except for a sofa and a small fold-down table, plus a wall-mounted hanger for coats and jackets next to the door.

However, the minimalist design is intentional, with each item carefully considered to leave enough elbow room to move around with ease. A cedar accent wall with a black-trimmed window behind the sofa enhances the rustic vibe and adds elegance to the space.

The adjacent kitchen has an L-shaped design, with the end of the counter acting as a spacious breakfast bar with integrated under-counter cabinets for storage. Besides its multifunctionality, this nice little nook creates a visual separation from the living area, and the fact that it sits right below a panoramic window makes it great for use as a workspace as well.

It is fitted with beautifully crafted continuous grain cherry and fir shaker-style cabinets, several floating shelves, and a full-height pantry under the loft. For maximum functionality in the kitchen space, Mathieu made sure there were enough cabinets for storing food and cooking essentials, plenty of counter space, and practical retro appliances ranging from a stove and oven to a large double sink and a full-size refrigerator. All the cabinets and the countertop were custom-made by a local artisan in Duncan.

A custom-built barn-style door leads to the bathroom. The same design language with white walls and cedar ceilings continues in here as well, creating a sense of continuity. The bathroom incorporates all the necessities within its compact space, including a bathtub with a shower head and a D-shaped rod for curtain, a small vanity sink, a flush toilet, and a washer-dryer unit.

The only bedroom inside this charming dwelling can be accessed via a cedar ladder and is large enough to accommodate a two-person bed flanked by windows that optimize airflow. Some built-in shelves come in handy for storing books and other decor items, and there is still some room left to add some baskets or a small dresser for more storage.

This kind of minimalist tiny home characterized by a warm, inviting ambiance, attention to detail, versatility, and functionality is the reason many folks have fallen in love with tiny living. The good news is that this custom model is for sale, with an asking price of $135,000.