Designer DIY Tiny House in Blue Mountains

At just 22 and 23 years old, Alex and Harrison have already accomplished something many people only ever dream about — designing and building their own tiny house on wheels from the ground up.

Their tiny house is calm, refined and deeply thoughtful in its design, blending warm timber tones, soft green features, beautifully integrated lighting and handcrafted details that make the space feel both peaceful and premium. But behind the finished home is a story of resilience, learning and determination.

Like many aspiring tiny house builders in Australia, Alex and Harrison began with a lot of research — and quickly discovered how overwhelming and confusing the industry could feel. They spent countless hours trying to understand weight limits, trailer sizing, materials and the realities of building a legal, towable home.

From the beginning, keeping the build lightweight was a major priority. Every material choice mattered, and they approached the project with a careful balance between aesthetics, function and practicality.

One standout design feature became a beautiful charred timber wall using the traditional Japanese-inspired shou sugi ban technique.

“We have a little bay window and we actually did shiplap cedar, which we then charred with a big flame weeder torch, and that was a fun experience, and that’s a feature wall now,” Alex explained.

The build itself was far from easy. Constructed outdoors on a nature strip, the project exposed them to the unpredictability of weather, physical exhaustion and the emotional ups and downs that come with owner-building.

At one point, strong winds physically moved the tiny house during construction!

But perhaps the most powerful part of their story is not the finished house — it’s the personal growth that happened along the way.

“For me it was just like a big resilience challenge,” Harrison reflected. “Early on, if there was a big problem or mistake that came up, it would completely throw me and throw out our whole day. But as the build went on you just get more resilient to those little mistakes and you realise everything has a solution and it doesn’t have to ruin the whole day.”

That emotional resilience became just as important as any building skill.

Alex’s biggest lesson from the process was deceptively simple:

“Rest when you need it — rest is really productive.”

Their story also highlights an important reality of DIY tiny house building: time, energy and capacity matter just as much as budget. Although they appreciated reclaimed and recycled materials, practicality ultimately shaped many of their decisions.

“We did use mostly all new materials just because we would have loved to have used a number of reclaimed materials but that takes time of accumulating,” Harrison explained. “We were like, we want to build this pretty quickly and we want to live in it really quickly — just buying new materials made sense for us.”

Throughout the build, community support became invaluable. Harrison spoke about the importance of asking questions, using online forums and leaning on the knowledge of others who had already been through the process.

“Using networks is really important,” he said. “Not just your immediate networks but actually asking out there for other help.”

Now living in the completed tiny house, Alex and Harrison have created far more than a beautiful home. They’ve built confidence, adaptability and a deeper understanding of what they’re capable of achieving together. Not to mention signifcantly improving their housing security for the future. 

Their journey is a reminder that tiny house building is rarely just about the house itself. It’s about learning how to problem solve, persevere through uncertainty and slowly shape a life that reflects your values.

For anyone dreaming of building a tiny house in Australia, their story offers both inspiration and realism — proof that even at a young age, extraordinary things can be built with patience, courage and a willingness to keep going.

For the full interview, watch on Fred’s Tiny Houses YouTube channel or listen wherever you get your podcasts.