A 30-year-old lives in harmony with nature in her tiny house on wheels, which she built and installed in a campsite open all year round in Lanaudière.
When she enrolled in a training course in green building design, Stéphanie Juneau planned to create the plans for her future large house. Reality caught up with her when she saw the hefty bill.
“The more I reduced the area, the more ecological and economical it was. So I started to shrink my design,” she explains.
With her savings, she built her tiny house on wheels herself, considering that mobility suited her personality well.
Photo provided by Stéphanie Juneau
Her tiny house allowed Stéphanie Juneau to adopt a lifestyle in harmony with her values.
A great success
“It’s the greatest achievement of my short life,” shares the 32-year-old.
She found materials that were second-hand or showed imperfections. “I didn’t want anything new!” launches this self-employed worker.
For example, a modified galvanized steel trailer, which was used to transport vehicles, serves as the structure for his 150 square foot tiny house on wheels.
“I used doors and windows from real houses,” says this former energy efficiency consultant.
Despite everything, it cost him $20,000, double the budget. A relative lent him half the amount to make up the difference.
Far from being a construction expert, Ms.me Juneau rowed to complete his project. She shares her journey by giving conferences on the self-construction of a tiny house on wheels.
Photo provided by Stéphanie Juneau
The self-construction of her house cost Stéphanie Juneau $20,000.
The essential
Her tiny house has become her “cocoon” of resilience, her decompression space. Since she spends little, she needs to work less.
“I wanted to have freedom to manage my time,” she says.
Her minimalist home nevertheless pushed her to adapt her way of life. Since then, it has been heating with propane and wood. A battery supplies it with energy. She does not have running water in the residence and uses the common showers of the campsite to wash herself.
“Everything inside is the essential. There is nothing superfluous, no distractions,” she says.
Ms. Juneau observes that the pandemic has created a state of emergency among people. Since then, the tiny house reflects the feeling of freedom to which they aspire. According to her, this is a step to feeling more secure in this era of social, ecological and economic changes.
This project of living alone, without children, also embodied real learning. “I built my emotional autonomy plank by plank”, expresses the one who met a lover among the residents of the campsite.
“It’s a great gift to give ourselves as a woman for our self-confidence. Once you’ve succeeded, you’re fired up and everything becomes possible,” she concludes.