The Small Footprint Living series is a short docu-series with Made By Bare and their clients to understand the experience of designing, building and living small footprint.

Rachel & Tristan found Bare after recently acquiring a very steep bushy block and receiving quotes in excess of a million dollars for a conventional house build. Set on making their family coast retreat a reality, they changed tack and asked Bare to design and build a tiny home that could accommodate 6 people.

The block had a level concrete pad ready to park the home – requiring zero disturbance of the well established large Blackbutt eucalyptus’ and undergrowth during installation. The diminishingly smaller materials and labour footprint of this small footprint home compared to a conventional build resulted in a great outcome for the client and the site.

The design includes a double queen loft and single ground floor bedroom, with a Bare standard sunken lounge room cantilevered over the end of the concrete into the forest. A multi purpose suspended safety net outside the large bi-fold sunken lounge window – creates a unique space to enjoy the sounds of the birds, bush and ocean. Another large bi-fold window at the alternate end ground floor bedroom and entrance sliding door creates a highly openable space – ready to make the most of the indoor/outdoor living on the deck and patio.

Rachel & Tristan were open to and enthusiastic about using reclaimed materials throughout the build. The hardwood kitchen bench top was made from salvaged Blackbutt house frames in house, and Tallowwood floorboards salvaged from PCYC Parramatta by our supplier Thor’s Hammer in Canberra. Reclaimed Ironbark timber was also saved from landfill, cleaned up and used to clad the external walls. Rachel & Tristan also provided many Australian handmade products from the external ceramic light fixtures to the Australian timber kitchen handles and towel hooks. 

Creating this space with Rachel & Tristan for their family and friends was really a dream project for the team at Made By Bare. It was a pleasure to develop the vision with the client, who we thank for their trust through the design, build and install process.

Learn more about the Booderee 3 Bed tiny home here.