- Geoffrey Celard, 29, lives in a DIY tiny house with his pet cat in Valence, in southeast France.
- The tiny house took over a year to build and he estimates he spent $21,000 on the project.
- Celard now offers consultation services and hosts workshops about building tiny homes.
When Geoffrey Celard returned to France in 2020 from a six-month-long backpacking trip in Colombia, he needed a place to live.
He had spent his time abroad living alongside indigenous people in poor neighborhoods. Their houses were small, with scarcely any furniture and no electricity.
Celard, surrounded by the kindness and generosity of strangers, found that he was happy in the simple setting.
The experience shifted his perspective on life: He realized he didn't want, or even need, much and decided that when he got home he wanted to live in a tiny house.
"I wanted my own safe place in the world, a little one that's not too expensive, where I could be free," Celard, 29, told Business Insider.
A cabin-like tiny home
His tiny house is about 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 14 feet high, with a loft space for his sleeping quarters. It's about the size of a small campervan, only much taller.
Design-wise, it resembles a wooden cabin with an elevated front deck where he can lounge in the sun.
Celard, who has a background in interior architecture, built the tiny house mostly by relying on information he found online.
If there was anything he was unsure of, he turned to other tiny home enthusiasts like himself for help.
"I built it in a warehouse-like place, which is shared with other builders of tiny houses. So we are all people who are not professionals, but we help one another," Celard said.
That said, some complex processes still require some professional input, he added. In his case, he had to find an electrician and a plumber to build his electrical and water piping systems.
Spacious interiors and cleverly-hidden furniture
The tiny house took over a year to build, and Celard moved into the space with his cat in February 2022.
He estimates that he spent about €19,000, or about $21,000, building his tiny home.
Celard says he could keep costs low because he reused old materials and built partnerships with other tiny house builders by exchanging labor.
Even though it's a tiny house, the interiors feel spacious, he said.
"I have lot of windows, so I really don't feel locked inside," he continued. "I feel like I'm living in nature. "
Additionally, hidden cabinets and foldable furniture allowed him to maximize the use of space.
In particular, Celard built a collapsible table that could be stored into the floor when not in use, or expanded to fit a dinner party of eight if he had guests over.
"A big problem is that the table and the chair need a lot of space. So I wanted to not have a table when I'm not using it," he said.
Tucked away in the countryside
Celard's tiny house is parked on a piece of land he rents with another friend who also has a tiny house.
They're located just outside of Valence, a commune in Drôme that's about a seven-hour drive from Paris.
Celard says he pays €150, or $166, in rent each month, to his landlord who lives in the main house on the property.
"We are connected to the house for the water and for electricity," he added. There's a meter in his home that counts the amount of water and electricity he uses, and he pays for what he uses.
He estimates that he spends about €20, or $22, on average on utilities every month.
"It's very cheap because I don't use a lot of water, I don't use a lot of electricity — I heat with wood," he added.
That said, Celard's way of life isn't exactly within the law, he said.
"The law, it's complicated. So in France, for the moment, it's totally illegal to live in a tiny house somewhere for more than three months," he said. "And if there is some problem, and someone goes to the jurisdiction to say, 'Hey, why is there some cabin here?' We have to move."
Thankfully, he hasn't run into any problems yet, he added.
The struggles of doing-it-yourself
The hardest part of the entire process was having to live out of his camper van while building his tiny home, Celard said.
"I didn't have any place to live. So I was living in my van without heat, without electricity or water. And it was winter, so it was very, very difficult," he said.
That aside, it was also a mental challenge to push through all his doubts and see the project through. But the struggle meant that it felt especially good to see the tiny house take shape.
"It is my perfect cabin because I designed it," Celard said, adding that it's hard to pick a favorite spot.
"I want to say it's the bed with the big window where I can see the stars when I sleep," he said. "And the kitchen is very accommodating, it's very easy to cook, with a lot of space. Everything is very cozy, so I love it."
Celard has even written a book in French based on his own experience building a tiny home.
He now offers consultation services and hosts workshops about building tiny houses, per his website. His four-day team workshops for 5 to 8 people cost €400, he added.
A cozy existence
Living in a small space was the right decision since it suited Celard's personality and living habits.
After all, he was used to living in small homes because of his experiences backpacking and traveling in a camper van, he said.
"I really wanted to have a little house to live in because I think that it's sufficient. I don't need more," Celard said.
There are days when he wishes that he had more room to move about, but the desire to have a bigger house fizzles out quickly.
"Each time I go in a big house, I say, 'Oh, there's a lot of space to clean. It's very difficult to heat, to warm.' So I realized that nothing in the world is perfect," Celard said. "Everything has its own good points and bad points."
Don't try to do everything alone
Celard has advice for anyone who wants to try building a tiny house: don't try to do everything alone.
Sometimes, it makes more sense to ask someone for advice or help. Trying to solve every problem alone can be a waste of time, he said.
"We can lose one week looking for a solution and still be unsure, or we can use just 30 minutes to find someone who knows and who can give us the solution," Celard said.
It also helps to have a community he can lean on and share his troubles with when things get difficult.
"My most beautiful friends today came from this part of France, because I built my house here," he added. "If I didn't have this project, I wouldn't have met these people. And so the life I have now, it's thanks to this tiny house project."
Have you recently bought or renovated your dream home and want to share the details and photos of the process? Email this reporter, Amanda Goh, at [email protected].