Tiny House Nation Memory Lane S01 E02
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00:00Here in Tiny House Nation, we've seen it all
00:03when it comes to living small.
00:05Where am I?
00:07So many of our Tiny House Nation friends
00:09love the idea of downsizing,
00:11but not the thought of parting with their sentimental treasures.
00:15Memories.
00:16I would be heartbroken if they weren't here.
00:19Now, we're looking back at the stories
00:21that had John and Zach working overtime.
00:24Ta-da!
00:26A piano?
00:27A broken piano.
00:28To fit those prized possessions...
00:31It doesn't make sense to bring it to the tiny house,
00:33but I just, I can't let it go.
00:35...into some very small spaces.
00:38This tiny house just got a little tinier.
00:40This is Tiny House Nation,
00:42Memory Lane, Sentimental Touches.
00:45Kicking off the countdown at number 10,
00:48a couple of nomads who planned to spend lots of time on the road,
00:52but still wanted those sentimental comforts of home.
00:56In Chattanooga, Tennessee,
00:58John and Zach met up with Jeremy and Lindsay,
01:01whose first year of marriage was like a newly-wed world tour.
01:05Sri Lanka, Italy, Tanzania, and Kenya.
01:09Despite their wandering ways,
01:11Jeremy and Lindsay still had plenty of stuff.
01:14Special stuff they wanted to hold on to,
01:17even when moving from a relative 1,700-square-foot house
01:21to a 275-square-foot tiny one.
01:25I trust you guys have done your homework.
01:27Yeah.
01:28Done some good hard thinking. We have.
01:30Now it's time to put that thought into motion.
01:33John had them bring out all their treasures
01:35for a pare-down session,
01:37especially the items that were less about function
01:40and more about feelings.
01:42We had no idea really just how much stuff we actually have left,
01:46and it's a little overwhelming.
01:48This is the pile I'm more concerned by, the sentimental stuff.
01:51This is what we've got to deal with.
01:53Where's the basket?
01:54The basket included, because that was at our wedding.
01:56Oh, you guys.
01:58What is all of this?
01:59These were blankets that we got in Sri Lanka.
02:02This is Jeremy's from Egypt.
02:04Africa stuff, Native American stuff.
02:07I want you to be thinking in terms of
02:10everything having to have a clear purpose
02:13and hopefully more than one.
02:15And there are creative ways for us to keep these memories
02:18without necessarily keeping the items themselves.
02:22I'm going to take this and come up with something cool with it.
02:25Okay.
02:26All right?
02:27Sounds good.
02:28All right, see you guys. Good job.
02:29Thanks.
02:30John got with Zach to talk about how to keep
02:32the couple's travel memories alive in such a small space.
02:36Here's another thing.
02:37When they've been traveling, people have opened up their house,
02:40given them a place to stay.
02:41They really want to pay that forward.
02:43So I was thinking maybe a couch.
02:45So it's got to be a couch, it's got to be a guest bed,
02:48and we need storage out of it.
02:49Yeah, exactly.
02:50Travis did mention this guy in the area
02:52who builds really cool custom furniture.
02:54Okay.
02:55John went to see local furniture craftsman Larry
02:58to discuss his idea for a multi-purpose custom couch.
03:02This is what we're going to upholster the couch with.
03:05This is stuff that they've gathered from their travels around the world.
03:09I think it would be a nice touch to add that into it
03:12and make it interesting.
03:13I think we can figure something out with that.
03:15What I want you to think about is
03:17any dead space where we can find storage
03:20and then some way to make it convert into a bed.
03:22Hey, why don't we make a trundle?
03:24Will we still get storage?
03:27And with the couch built in Larry's capable hands,
03:30he delivered on his promise.
03:32The whole idea of the sofa, well, of course it's about space saving.
03:37Yeah.
03:38But it's also about using their fabrics from their travels.
03:41Yeah.
03:42So we incorporated that into the design of the sofa.
03:45Larry, I am so impressed.
03:48But would Jeremy and Lindsay be impressed?
03:51Initial signs were good.
03:56This is amazing.
03:58Oh my word.
04:02What?
04:04Everything in here is going to make me cry.
04:07It's so perfect.
04:08It's so us.
04:10You see all the stuff on this?
04:12This is all the fabrics.
04:13No, this is Tanzania.
04:15This is Kenya.
04:17This is Sri Lanka.
04:19Oh my gosh.
04:21I just love how every square inch of it is nostalgia.
04:26Like sentimental, all of our memories are incorporated into every bit of it.
04:31Like this whole couch.
04:32This whole couch is memories.
04:34And listen, I'm glad you guys mentioned the couch.
04:37We really like to find a statement piece
04:39that you walk in and you can understand who you guys are.
04:41Yeah.
04:42But this is, of course, multifunctional.
04:45All of the armrests pull off.
04:48What?
04:49And we have panels along the back.
04:51Storage here.
04:52That is crazy.
04:54So many things about the couch.
04:56If we ever have company, someone can sleep up on the main couch,
04:59someone can sleep in the trundle, or we can just use that for storage.
05:02I mean, we've made multifunctional furniture before.
05:04This is the most multifunctional we've ever had.
05:08And most multicultural.
05:10Yeah, absolutely.
05:11The most multicultural.
05:13Yeah, I love it.
05:14I mean, like the fabrics, they even integrated.
05:16There's the pillows, but even like this is fabric from Tanzania.
05:20We've literally spent like the past two years
05:24researching how we would incorporate our things.
05:27Perfect.
05:28Yeah, it's amazing.
05:29In at number nine, it's another travel crazy couple.
05:34Only these folks wanted to take their tiny house with them.
05:39Along with one must-have piece of their past.
05:43In La Crosse, Wisconsin,
05:45the tiny house team connected with Ashley and Cody,
05:48a couple who sought going tiny as a means of simplifying their lifestyle.
05:53When I was 16, my grandma bought me this guitar, but I broke it.
05:58We basically superglued the head on. It's not meant to be played.
06:01It doesn't make sense to bring it to the tiny house,
06:03but I just, I can't let it go.
06:07So Zach and John got creative while Cody supervised.
06:11Zach, Cody, and John decided to repurpose Ashley's broken guitar,
06:15taking off the face and adding shelves
06:17to turn it into a display for a music room.
06:20Is Ash going to like it?
06:21You know, I think Ash is going to love that
06:23it still reminds her of her grandma.
06:25And now it's functional.
06:26Awesome, Cody.
06:27Thanks, Zach.
06:28That was so much fun.
06:29In no time, Ashley and Cody were pulling up
06:32to their tiny traveling paradise.
06:34Ready, go.
06:45Wow.
06:46Is this our place?
06:47The couple loved the house, but the big question was,
06:50how would that guitar makeover go over?
06:53This was a challenge for us. It meant getting creative.
06:56And when it's time to get creative, that's when I hand it over to Zach.
06:59This is the music room.
07:00We actually adjusted grandma's guitar quite a bit,
07:03but it was really Cody that kind of came in
07:05and gave us permission to, I mean, alter the guitar.
07:09It looks great. I love it.
07:11Seeing my broken guitar on the wall was so exciting.
07:14The fact that I didn't have to leave it behind
07:16and we got to bring it into the tiny house
07:18and Cody got to help make it into a shelf
07:21was really, really special.
07:24In at number 8, a family's request to take along
07:28a treasured feature of their old home
07:30turned out to be a tall order.
07:32John and Zach were in Colorado Springs
07:34to help Tim, Amber, and their 4-year-old daughter Penny
07:38go tiny.
07:39As the couple went through their tiny house request with John,
07:42things got interesting when they moved outdoors.
07:46Let's see the backyard.
07:48Oh, yeah. I mean, I see the barbecue.
07:50There's a few outdoor items.
07:52The most important, though, the reason, honestly,
07:54we really liked this townhome in the beginning was this tree.
07:57It was a huge extra bonus for us.
07:59Unfortunately, it's slowly dying away,
08:01so I'm trying to find a way to reuse it in our new house.
08:04The tree. The tree.
08:06We've designed a ton of tiny homes
08:08with the idea of bringing you closer to nature,
08:11but we've never been asked to bring the forest
08:13inside the tiny house before.
08:15This should be interesting.
08:17John came up with a possible solution
08:19for this tree-loving trio,
08:21carving Penny's favorite animal, a giraffe,
08:23into a piece of the wood.
08:25So he called on Sheldon,
08:27a local chainsaw artist.
08:29All right.
08:31So there she is.
08:33Oh, we got a problem.
08:35Okay, hold on. Now I'm confused.
08:37What's our issue? It's too tall.
08:39Well, what does that mean, then?
08:41It just means I got to take it with me and do it.
08:43Okay. You're scaring the hell out of me.
08:45Okay, we got to cut down a tree right now?
08:47Yeah, we do. Okay.
08:49Is that a carving saw or a cutting-through saw?
08:51They're both for something that size.
08:53Okay.
08:57Whatever you imagine
08:59as a guy who carves animals
09:01with a chainsaw out of trees,
09:03you're picturing Sheldon.
09:09I mean, hello, hero.
09:11Thank you, John, for saving the day.
09:13And on the big day,
09:15the family got all dressed up
09:17to meet their new tiny home.
09:19It was the perfect place for Tim,
09:21Amber, and Penny
09:23to spend more family time.
09:25But they really had their hearts set
09:27on preserving that special part of their old home.
09:29And you know what I can't believe
09:31we haven't even talked about yet,
09:33even though we just got here?
09:35That giraffe, that was carved from your old aspen tree.
09:37That is from our tree in our backyard!
09:39Wow!
09:41Oh, my God! Look at that!
09:43Isn't that so good? I love that giraffe.
09:45It brings a little piece of our first home together
09:47here in our new tiny home,
09:49and that's perfect.
09:51At number seven
09:53on our Tiny House Nation top ten,
09:55another family looking to downsize,
09:57and a mom with a somewhat quirky
09:59sentimental request.
10:01John and Zach traveled to King George, Virginia
10:03to help Emily and Jason
10:05and their two young children
10:07make the leap to tiny.
10:09Building small for a crew of four
10:11was challenging,
10:13but the most sentimental request
10:15hearkened back to a time
10:17long before Emily and Jason started a family.
10:19What is this?
10:21This door I painted in college.
10:23Really? Yeah, I'm hoping that we can
10:25fit it into the new house some way.
10:27That door has never functioned under
10:29my possession as a door.
10:31It's been in my house for such a long time.
10:33There's gotta be something else that we can do with this.
10:35We've got the height chart behind you
10:37that I made.
10:39I hope I can take that with us.
10:41This doesn't work for me.
10:43I'll think about what we can do with this.
10:45Of course, John knew just who to ask
10:47about closing this door deal.
10:49What's up, Zach? What is that?
10:51We're down one less door.
10:55Think you can work this thing in?
10:57Uh, yeah.
10:59This does not have to be an actual door.
11:01Emily painted it.
11:03She just wants to make sure it's got a place to live in the house.
11:05I mean, this is pretty awesome, honestly.
11:07To make this work,
11:09John and Zach decided to get crafty
11:11and enlist some help.
11:13It's harder to work.
11:15Okay.
11:17If we take the door and have it in the home
11:19where it almost looks like a door to nowhere,
11:21but actually it's a door to your art space.
11:23Oh, that's cool.
11:25We can use this chalk paint to paint the wall behind the door.
11:27You ready to paint, Ruby?
11:29I'm gonna pour the paint.
11:31Oh, wow!
11:33Look at that. It's chalkboard paint.
11:35You roll it on this a couple times,
11:37and then we take it and we roll it
11:39on the big board, just like that.
11:41Wow!
11:43Okay, are you ready?
11:45This is so great.
11:47All right, and don't let your mom...
11:49Okay, now bring it over.
11:51Yep, get it on there and paint.
11:53Good job, Ruby.
11:55That is so good.
11:57See, Ruby, I mean, she's got some natural talent.
11:59I can tell that her mom's been passing down
12:01some artistic ability.
12:03Absolutely, and they are using plenty of paint.
12:05That's the whole idea, John.
12:07The family was eager to see the finished product,
12:09but they couldn't wait to show it to the rest of the house.
12:13Oh, Ruby, look at it!
12:17Look, it's beautiful!
12:19Now it was time
12:21to unveil the team's
12:23adorable art project.
12:25Emily and Ruby had helped to make it,
12:27but kept it secret from Dad, Jason.
12:29So, Ruby,
12:31it's a surprise for your dad.
12:33Do you remember what we were doing?
12:35Because he doesn't know what we did.
12:37Shall we find out
12:39what's behind door number one?
12:41Yeah!
12:43I'm ready for it.
12:45Wow!
12:47Ruby!
12:49It's fantastic.
12:51I didn't know how you were going to get this in the house.
12:53Can we see how tall you are?
12:55To me, it was perfect.
12:57It's still going to be part of the house.
12:59It's actually way more functional now.
13:01All right!
13:03You all have knocked it out of the park.
13:05At number six,
13:07a large clan that just couldn't
13:09part with one huge heirloom.
13:11In a little town near
13:13Topeka, Kansas,
13:15John and Zach took on a very big job
13:17building a tiny home for the
13:19Moore family. Michelle,
13:21Blaine, and their five sons.
13:23It was the largest family ever
13:25on Tiny House Nation,
13:27and the project was a very big deal
13:29for the music-loving Moores.
13:31All right, so what in here then did you want to show me?
13:33Just this.
13:35Is this yours also?
13:37Yeah. Of course it is.
13:39Is this like a player piano? It is.
13:41That belonged to my grandfather.
13:43It doesn't really work anymore.
13:45I have a pretty steadfast rule.
13:47If it's going to go in a tiny house,
13:49it's got to be either really small
13:51or have a lot of different functions.
13:53This piano is really big
13:55and doesn't even do one function.
13:57This was one piece that really put
13:59Zach's space-saving genius to the test.
14:01I've got a great surprise for you.
14:03It's back at the house. Trust me,
14:05you're going to want to see this.
14:07Just bear with me here.
14:09I hope that this is a big jug of lemonade.
14:11I've got a surprise. You're going to love this.
14:15Ta-da!
14:17This doesn't look like lemonade.
14:19This is not a lemonade.
14:21Oh, John. Look at this beauty.
14:23A piano?
14:25A broken piano.
14:27Do I need to explain to John
14:29I did not make any promises.
14:31I told him the only way that's possible
14:33is if it has some other function.
14:35Do I get to use a chainsaw?
14:37Yes! If using a chainsaw
14:39means you'll take on this project, then yes.
14:41Hope you ladies were paying attention.
14:43Apparently the quickest way to Zach's heart
14:45is a chainsaw.
14:47How else are you going to deal with something like this?
14:49One thing about Zach,
14:51when he says he's going to do something,
14:53he does it.
14:56Welcome to the carnage.
14:58Oh, boy.
15:00The problem is, the family decided
15:02they wanted to keep it and give it to their cousin.
15:05I'm totally kidding.
15:07Not funny, Weisbarth.
15:09I can see that we dismantled the piano.
15:11What are we doing with it?
15:13Well, this piano was about the size
15:15of the master bedroom bed.
15:17You see where I'm going with this?
15:19Check this out.
15:21The footboard and the back of the piano
15:23is the headboard.
15:25See, they're going to love this.
15:27This is awesome.
15:29Don't ever show them that.
15:31This, I love it.
15:33John and Zach kept the piano bed a secret
15:35until the big house unveiling.
15:37Oh, my gosh, already.
15:43Oh, my goodness.
15:45Are you kidding me?
15:49Where am I?
15:51And for the tiny magnum opus,
15:53the piano reveal.
15:55Oh, my goodness, Wayne, look.
15:57It's our piano.
15:59I am so happy with this.
16:01Zach, you did
16:03such a good job on that.
16:05To turn this piano into something
16:07that I know is going to give it
16:09an extended life,
16:11that's a great pleasure of mine.
16:15In at number five on our
16:17tiny house top ten,
16:19a couple with a desire to keep
16:21the home fires burning.
16:23A little ways outside Chicago,
16:25Conrad and David asked the team
16:27to build a tiny home for them
16:29and their massive menagerie of pets.
16:31Designing a space that doubled
16:33as a zoo was hard enough,
16:35but Conrad and David had a more
16:37sentimental ask.
16:39Well, we came out here to show you
16:41this fireplace mantle.
16:43We want to try to recreate the mantle
16:45that we have inside the house.
16:47Keep the sentimentality of the mantle
16:49and the fireplace that's inside
16:51by repurposing this one
16:53to recreate that one in a scaled-down version
16:55for our tiny house.
16:57This just seems large.
16:59We've seen Zach cut things in half and make them smaller.
17:01That's true.
17:03I thought maybe he could do that with this.
17:05Let's see the fireplace on the side then.
17:07This is where we had our
17:09wedding ceremony.
17:11Right here in front of that fireplace.
17:13That's the aisle.
17:15Zach said it's cool to have a fireplace.
17:17This has an emotional,
17:19sentimental connection to really
17:21who you guys are.
17:23While this is much bigger than the tiny home
17:25could ever accommodate, we're hoping that
17:27our smaller...
17:29We'll use that smaller one and then emulate
17:31something like this.
17:33I know there's no way that we can transport
17:35the couple's actual fireplace
17:37from the big house to the tiny house,
17:39but I'm willing to bet that Zach
17:41can recreate the spirit of that mantle
17:43and at least make Conrad and David feel like
17:45they have a piece of the big home.
17:47In fact, I am so confident that Zach can do it,
17:49I'm willing to bet his reputation.
17:51Just don't tell him.
17:53But for Zach, this fireplace raised alarm bells.
17:55This is what I want to show you.
17:57I told him that you would
17:59look at it. I know that it's big.
18:01That looks like a gas fireplace.
18:03For David and Conrad,
18:05the fireplace in their home
18:07is super important to them.
18:09I don't think that we can do it
18:11because we'd have to run gas lines
18:13to wherever the mantle's going to be.
18:15As the build got closer to completion,
18:17the team had to have a tough conversation
18:19about this hot topic.
18:21So John had brought this by.
18:23The problem is that
18:25we're not going to be able to hook it up
18:27with gas.
18:29I'm seeing some looks of concern.
18:31Well, the fireplace
18:33has been a big part of
18:35our lives together.
18:37At this point, it's impossible
18:39to put in a gas fireplace.
18:41It's really sad to find out that
18:43we weren't going to be able to have the fireplace
18:45in our tiny home because it's been
18:47such a part of our life.
18:49And it's one of the few things
18:51that we thought we'd be able to bring with us.
18:53I understand.
18:55So let me think about this
18:57and I'll come up with something.
18:59Zach worked up a plan for at least
19:01maintaining the warm, fuzzy feeling
19:03of that fireplace.
19:05This is the mantle.
19:07It's actually going down here.
19:09This is going to be hinged out.
19:11We have storage
19:13and then on the front of them
19:15is going to have this little molding detail
19:17around it.
19:19And then the door on the face of this
19:21will flip up, lock up to the ceiling
19:23and that's where your television's at.
19:25Okay, I see it.
19:27I think that they're going to really feel like
19:29this is their mantle.
19:31I know it's going to be good because this is an important part
19:33of the home for them for sure.
19:35It looks good, man.
19:37It was time to see how Conrad and David
19:39took to their new tiny homestead.
19:43Oh my god.
19:45Oh wow.
19:47It's like our home compressed.
19:49Oh.
19:51Your little fireplace.
19:53Oh my god, this is so cozy.
19:55Don't cry. It's okay.
19:59I've never had someone
20:01show me a mantle
20:03and say, yep, we want this in the tiny house.
20:05That's sort of the challenge
20:07that I brought to Zach
20:09and I think we can agree that this is
20:11a beautiful piece and something I've never seen in a tiny house.
20:13And you delivered.
20:15Well, I mean, boom.
20:17You've got really great
20:19storage options on both sides.
20:21This really looks like
20:23our fireplace at home.
20:25By making an electric fireplace
20:27we didn't lose any functionality
20:29because it's still kicking out heat.
20:31What the chimney did was allow us
20:33to use the upper cavity
20:35as you see,
20:37to be...
20:39Oh wow, that is incredible.
20:41Yeah, let's see how this works.
20:43Oh, look at you guys.
20:45Perfect.
20:47Emotions are running high
20:49on our tiny house top ten
20:51sentimental touches.
20:53At number four,
20:55a father and daughter with fond memories
20:57of some old family furniture.
20:59In a quaint Indiana town,
21:01John and Zach met Stephanie
21:03and her dad Jim.
21:05Stephanie was once estranged from Jim
21:07after he and her mom divorced.
21:09Now Jim, a custom
21:11home builder, is constructing a tiny
21:13home for Stephanie as a way to reconnect.
21:15It was an emotional
21:17time for both of them.
21:19And when it came to the build, Jim wanted to add
21:21some sentimental touches.
21:23He had a big idea to accompany
21:25Zach's plan for a transforming table
21:27in the dining room.
21:29There's some stools I have had for about maybe 40 years.
21:31But if you could incorporate them,
21:33that's kind of like a nice family heirloom that goes
21:35into this thing.
21:37That's a conversation starter. That's super cool. I love that idea.
21:39Jim's dad used to work in a GM factory.
21:41He brought home some of the stools that were
21:43in the factory cafeteria.
21:45When Jim became a father, he took those same stools,
21:47put them in his workshop where Stephanie used to sit
21:49and watch him work. So these stools
21:51have a lot of meaning for both of them.
21:53But when it came to the actual execution
21:55of this dining room setup,
21:57John and Zach hit a wall.
21:59You can see there's three different sections.
22:01But when it's up against the wall, it'll be just like
22:03one long bar top, and then the stools
22:05will be down here. When you want to traverse
22:07the table, simply pull it
22:09out. Then you've got these openings
22:11on the corner. You've got the opening in the center.
22:13This folds in, covers here. These fold out.
22:15Jim told me he brought by
22:17the stools.
22:19He said he's got four of them.
22:21This is not a stool.
22:23Oh, my goodness. This is not a stool.
22:25A stool has legs.
22:27A stool, you can put up
22:29against the wall, and then when you turn it into a table,
22:31you move the stool.
22:33The problem with the stools that Jim... Seats. Seats
22:35that he brought us. Okay. Yes, the seats that
22:37Jim brought with us is that I would have to
22:39mount them into the wall, and then my whole
22:41concept for the table involves
22:43the whole table sliding away from the wall.
22:45Guess what wouldn't slide away from the wall?
22:47The seats.
22:49We're just going to have to tell him this is not working.
22:51This is like a family heirloom.
22:53Where Stephanie as a young girl, back when their
22:55relationship was good, she would like
22:57sit on this, watch her father work.
22:59This has a lot of emotional
23:01value. I don't want to go say,
23:03Jim, we can't do this.
23:05I just don't know exactly how it's going to be done right now.
23:07Zach really had to go
23:09all out to save those sentimental stools.
23:11If we block
23:13the seat to what
23:15used to be just a straight
23:17leg. Okay. And instead,
23:19I added a piece of steel that kind of turned this
23:21into an L-shape. Okay. Meaning
23:23you're going to take all that force that's going
23:25straight down, transfer it over
23:27into the frame. Okay. Down through,
23:29and then this wheel is
23:31going to bear most of the weight.
23:33And then using a locking
23:35caster is going to help it from
23:37sliding. Can I be honest?
23:39I got about 20% of that.
23:41It definitely
23:43took some explaining.
23:45I'm building this table with four L-shaped
23:47legs with a seat mounted to each
23:49one. When the table is in bar mode,
23:51it will sit flush with the wall,
23:53but a set of wheels on each leg will
23:55allow it to easily expand into the room
23:57and become a dining table for four.
23:59That's a home run.
24:01But would Jim and Stephanie think so?
24:03It was time to find out if this
24:05high stakes stool scheme would work.
24:07Oh my
24:09God.
24:11This is amazing.
24:13Initial signs were good, but it
24:15all came down to the dining room.
24:17This is a kitchen you can entertain from.
24:19Definitely. This table,
24:21so pretty. I think what really
24:23helped was the addition of the stools.
24:25They are this family
24:27heirloom that has extra meaning.
24:29I just remember when I was little
24:31and my dad was working late nights out
24:33in the pole barn, I'd go out there
24:35and sit on the stools and spin in them
24:37and ask him what he was doing and
24:39him passing them down to me.
24:41It just means a lot. You have
24:43a bar top. You can sit four people
24:45shoulder to shoulder, but that
24:47doesn't scream dinner party because you can't look
24:49each other in the eye, you know?
24:51So this is what we do. You lift the stopper.
24:53Now you simply
24:55hold on underneath here
24:57and as you see,
24:59the whole thing pulls out
25:01these leaf open.
25:03Oh my God.
25:05This is insane.
25:07It is one of a kind craftsmanship.
25:09The best surprise ever.
25:13We're all the way down to number three
25:15and this countdown's about to go
25:17hog wild
25:19with a semi-retired couple
25:21looking to fit a tiny home into their
25:23swiney lifestyle.
25:25John and Zach met Carol and Charlie
25:27at their home base in Fayetteville, Arkansas
25:29to help them with their transition
25:31to tiny living.
25:33From what I gather, Charlie's actually
25:35been working basically his entire life.
25:37His father was actually a rodeo clown.
25:39That meant that he was
25:41on the road as a teenager
25:43going from place to place
25:45and that kind of just morphed into big racing
25:47and now he's been doing it for a long time.
25:49Carol and Charlie were planning to convert
25:51an old school bus into a tiny paradise
25:53as they cruised towards retirement
25:55and Charlie wanted to be at the helm
25:57of this ship.
25:59He's a guy that likes to keep his eyes
26:01on what's going on, so from the very beginning
26:03Like a ship's captain.
26:05Always scanning the horizon.
26:07I'm pretty simple.
26:09There's no place to sit or drink.
26:11I like to charge the devices and spin around
26:13and look out that window.
26:15I want him to have a comfy spot to grow old in.
26:17Between them, Carol and Charlie
26:19had a lot of years
26:21and a lot of memories they wanted to hold onto
26:23but one was particularly poignant.
26:25Hey guys, what's going on?
26:27Hey Carol.
26:29What's up?
26:31I have a request to put into Charlie's
26:33amazing section.
26:35His dad was Bunky Boger.
26:37He was a famous clown.
26:39He was just inducted last October
26:41into the Cowboy Hall of Fame
26:43in Oklahoma City.
26:45He died like three weeks ago.
26:47Oh really?
26:49I didn't get along with Bunky.
26:51Bunky didn't like me.
26:53I'm not for everyone.
26:55But the family
26:57gave me Bunky Spurs
26:59and they even say BB
27:01I think on them.
27:03But if you could put those in his section
27:05that would mean a lot
27:07to both of us.
27:09Absolutely. I mean if this can help
27:11Charlie feel like a piece of his father
27:13is still there with him and bring him into
27:15that house, I think that's a
27:17massive blessing.
27:19That is so amazing. It's going to blow his mind, man.
27:21Soon the day was here for Charlie
27:23and Carol to hop aboard their new
27:25tiny home.
27:27Wow.
27:29Look at this.
27:31This is for us.
27:33Yep.
27:35A lot in a little bitty spot.
27:37But the most sentimental surprise
27:39was for Charlie.
27:41Right within reach of his new
27:43captain's chair.
27:45What we've tried to do was give Charlie
27:47the most epic command center
27:49that could possibly be.
27:51I think it's going to work out pretty
27:53dead gone cool.
27:55Absolutely.
27:57Well, and you also got some cup
27:59holders.
28:01Those are your dad's.
28:03Yeah.
28:05Carol came to us with those
28:07because she knows how close
28:09you and your father were.
28:11That's pretty cool.
28:13That's your dad right there.
28:15Like it, Pop?
28:17I'll always remember him.
28:19I rode many horses
28:21with him like that.
28:23That's good.
28:25I'm sure one day they'll have a cup of coffee
28:27with him right here.
28:29I like that. I love you, Charlie.
28:31I love you, too.
28:33And thank you for incorporating it.
28:35Thank you so much.
28:37That's awesome how you incorporated them.
28:41That was a good touch.
28:43Aww.
28:45We're all the way down
28:47to number two on our
28:49Tiny House Nation Countdown.
28:51To accommodate the sentimental possessions
28:53of a married couple, it took
28:55a record-setting solution.
28:57For this build, John and Zach
28:59traveled to the state where everything's
29:01bigger, Texas, where they met
29:03a couple ready to go tiny,
29:05Tony and Laurie and their two young boys.
29:07But this build came with
29:09some real sentimental complications,
29:11namely from Tony,
29:13a professional DJ.
29:15So this is where the magic happens.
29:17Where most of it happens, yeah.
29:19Wow, look at these.
29:21So this is where I keep
29:23my equipment and my...
29:25All of your records.
29:27Most of my records, yeah.
29:29What's the plan for all of this
29:31in relation to the tiny house?
29:33That's still something we're trying
29:35to figure out, but I would like
29:37to have some records.
29:39When you say some, what do you talk about?
29:41Because I'm seeing
29:43a lot of records.
29:45That's something we've just been kind of racking our minds,
29:47trying to figure out what would work.
29:49That's who we are.
29:51My father was a DJ.
29:53My parents owned a record store when I was born.
29:55So I think it was just
29:57ingrained in me,
29:59the love of music.
30:01These are things we want to hand down to our kids.
30:03My father handed a lot of these down to me.
30:05So it's an heirloom. It's beyond just a cool medium
30:07for music. They're family heirlooms
30:09and I do want to keep them close to me.
30:11Understood.
30:13Two parents, two kids,
30:15and two large dogs, plus all of
30:17his DJ equipment and his record collection.
30:19I mean, come on. This tiny house just got
30:21a little tinier.
30:23Dealing with the record issue really made Tony's head spin.
30:25I have too many records.
30:27He has too many records.
30:29Sorry.
30:31So I don't even know where to start.
30:33It gives me anxiety.
30:35I know. There's a lot.
30:37So my record collection, it's probably the oldest friend I have.
30:39Well, this whole thing is all for my dad.
30:41So those are important, right?
30:43The history behind it
30:45is very important to me,
30:47I think, because a lot of memories
30:49go along with it.
30:51I'm sorry.
30:53No, it's okay.
30:55You want me to fill in for you?
30:57Tony's dad collected records
30:59and so a lot of those records
31:01have been passed down to him
31:03and now will pass down to our kids.
31:05So for us, the records mean a lot to us.
31:07Madonna.
31:09You can't just grab a pile.
31:11This is as big as our tiny house.
31:13I think that's probably enough.
31:17It's never enough.
31:19John and Zach had a feeling
31:21Tony would be struggling with these sentimental treasures.
31:23I will say the records,
31:25and I'm curious, was this the toughest part for you?
31:27For me, for sure.
31:29It's going to take a lot longer to purge.
31:31To me, honestly,
31:33as I was kind of working out where records are going to go,
31:35I still wasn't quite accounting for this many.
31:37Right.
31:39Records are something that is very hard to hold on to.
31:41It's very hard to store something
31:43that's that size, and they're delicate.
31:45So I feel like this is one spot
31:47where you just got to say,
31:49Tony, you're moving into a tiny house.
31:51You've got to make some sacrifices.
31:53I don't think I have any more
31:55than what would be in this case
31:57plus maybe half of this one.
31:59It's going to be a big challenge
32:01to kind of fit as many as you have here.
32:03Can I meet you in the middle?
32:05I'm sure we can compromise a little bit.
32:07Now, we kind of knew
32:09that these records were going to be an issue.
32:11Yeah, the question is, how much of an issue?
32:13Hey, can I talk to you guys for a second?
32:15Yes, of course. What's up?
32:17I wanted to talk to you a little bit
32:19about Tony's record collection.
32:21As you know, his father was a record store owner
32:23and a collector himself,
32:25and his father just passed away
32:27a couple of weeks ago.
32:29So those records
32:31mean so much to him emotionally.
32:33It's a part of his father
32:35that's still with him.
32:37I feel like we need to...
32:39we need to take another look
32:41at what we're doing.
32:43So Zach had to come up with a way
32:45to store as many records as possible.
32:47What I think is a really cool way
32:49to give Tony a lot more storage
32:51for his record collection.
32:53You got almost no space,
32:55but we found 10 inches exactly of space.
32:57So this is living next to the couch.
32:59Next to the couch.
33:01There's record storage.
33:03One set.
33:05Two sets.
33:07What's behind door number three?
33:09Three sets of record storage.
33:11How many records do you think that is?
33:13How many records can you get into that?
33:15Times six.
33:17Six times that.
33:19I don't know how much that is, but that seems like a lot.
33:21No, not this.
33:23How about that?
33:25But either way, it's a lot of records.
33:27The question was, would it feel like a lot to Tony?
33:29But first things first.
33:31Are you ready to check it out?
33:33Let's do it.
33:35Get in there.
33:45Oh, man.
33:49That looks really good.
33:51You try to see the finished product.
33:53You try to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
33:55But when you finally do,
33:57it's super rewarding.
33:59John and Zach saved the most
34:01important part for last.
34:03You may have noticed this arm rest.
34:05It's a little deeper than normal.
34:07And that's because we didn't want to give you one or two records.
34:09We wanted to give you a lot.
34:13Oh, my God.
34:15This is incredible.
34:19It's really nice of him to think of me
34:21and to make that a special part
34:23of the build.
34:25This is so special.
34:29I'm still taking it in, man.
34:31This is insane.
34:33I don't even have any words
34:35for how awesome it is
34:37that he did that for you.
34:39They're so special to you.
34:41And for so many reasons.
34:43Your dad,
34:45your growing up,
34:47they've been with you for so long.
34:49And Tony was still feeling
34:51that deep connection to his
34:53prized LPs months after the build.
34:55Any of my friends that I've
34:57shown the Tiny to, I bust the records out
34:59and have a music listening party.
35:01It's definitely a sweet element
35:03that was added by Zach.
35:05Super special.
35:11We've seen so many sentimental
35:13touches that John and Zach added
35:15to Tiny House builds over the years.
35:17Now it's time for our number one
35:19story about a family wanting
35:21to preserve a piece of their history.
35:23One that represented a
35:25catastrophic loss.
35:27In Waveland, Mississippi,
35:29a few blocks from the beach,
35:31right on the Gulf of Mexico,
35:33John and Zach met Pi
35:35and Pi's son Quinn.
35:37Waveland is a tiny little
35:39community. A lot of little shops
35:41and you have restaurants
35:43and the water. Life is just
35:45easy there. And I was
35:47very, very happy.
35:49But that idyllic life was upended
35:51in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina.
35:55The night before Katrina, I didn't even
35:57realize it was all coming.
35:59We kind of went to bed thinking
36:01that we'd get up in the morning and just
36:03sort of pack up and slowly get out
36:05and that was not the case
36:07at all. And then the next morning
36:09it was all
36:11gone. Pi's house
36:13was destroyed. As were
36:15thousands of other coastal homes.
36:17Now they're planning to return
36:19to Birmingham and build a tiny
36:21home on Pi's old property.
36:23But with one big nod to their
36:25tragic loss. And you know something
36:27else that's really cool and important
36:29and that made it? The steps.
36:31Oh yeah.
36:33From the old house. Yeah.
36:35Those steps were the only part of
36:37the structure that survived the storm.
36:39And they were still there.
36:41An important sentimental symbol
36:43to Pi and the family.
36:45We weren't really sure what to do
36:47with the stairs.
36:49I wasn't sure if it was something that would be
36:51too painful of a memory to see.
36:53Oh no. It's quite
36:55the opposite. I mean the memories
36:57we had living here.
36:59I can see Quinn running up
37:01those steps still. I would be
37:03heartbroken if they weren't here.
37:05Well I could try to pull the things apart and then
37:07repurpose the brick. I mean I like
37:09keeping the steps. I just don't want to lose
37:11that history. Okay.
37:13With the steps so vital to this build
37:15John and Zach were under pressure to
37:17come up with a plan. It almost
37:19looks like a historical landmark.
37:21The only thing that I was potentially thinking
37:23is like some kind of just
37:25commemorative plaque.
37:27Or a series of plaques.
37:29What do you mean series of plaques?
37:31Let's get really literal for a second here.
37:33Yeah. It was a
37:35stairway to their home. Maybe that's still what
37:37it is. Maybe each step
37:39Birmingham and then it's met
37:41Roald and it's got married and
37:43decided to come home. Each landing
37:45is a step
37:47you know on this journey home.
37:49I think we can turn
37:51Pi's stairs into a much more
37:53positive message.
37:55So I think we take something that could be a
37:57hard memory, a tough memory and we
37:59spin it on it's head and make it a positive
38:01thing. You're owning this.
38:03I think that could work.
38:05Wow. Yeah let's do that.
38:07John and Zach were taking a risk
38:09putting such an unexpected spin
38:11on this family monument.
38:13Would they love it? There was only one way
38:15to find out. Come on over here you guys.
38:17Oh look at that.
38:19Oh my god it's amazing.
38:21It's gorgeous. It really is.
38:23You guys have been waiting so
38:25long. I mean 10 years.
38:27So rather than starting outside
38:29and talking about this outside area, Zach and
38:31I are going to let you guys go up the stairs and check out
38:33Now? Yes. Check it out right now.
38:35Step out of here.
38:39If you can keep up with her.
38:41I can keep up with her.
38:43Nice.
38:45Y'all ready?
38:49Oh my god.
38:55Oh this is so cute.
38:57Oh my god.
38:59Look how awesome this is.
39:01After a full tour of the inside,
39:03it was back outside for the
39:05sentimental finale.
39:07The challenge was how do we make it
39:09fit in this space
39:11and also honor
39:13what the steps are. Right.
39:19Our thought here was
39:21almost like a
39:23historical plaque at first.
39:25That's so sweet. But these steps
39:27are the big events.
39:29Wynne born in 99, moved to Waveland
39:31in 2000, Katrina in
39:332005, Birmingham, Mary rolled
39:35and then now 2015
39:37the steps have led you home.
39:39This is really lovely symbolism.
39:41It really is.
39:45Pi had a long journey
39:47back to Waveland and the last
39:49little part of that had to do with getting
39:51a tiny house. And then Zach and I
39:53were there for that part
39:55of the culmination of what had been a
39:5710 year journey. That was really
39:59special. Thank you. The steps
40:01with the timeline, that was
40:03just powerful because it shows
40:05that it's been a very long and
40:07powerful journey and now we're here.
40:09This sentimental journey
40:11ended as it often does in
40:13Tiny House Nation, with tears
40:15of joy.
40:17As we've seen,
40:19tiny house reality and
40:21sentimentality don't always
40:23mix. But when everyone
40:25finds a way to meet in the middle,
40:27the most treasured possessions
40:29make the cut.
40:31So even though the house is tiny,
40:33it always feels like home
40:35Home sweet home.