Already swamped with student loans, Saul and Trysh Martinez spent $24,350 and almost an entire year building their own 250-square-foot home-on-wheels in San Diego, California, as an alternative to keeping up with a mortgage or paying rent. “The financial reasons were reinforced by our plans to be travel rehab therapists and work for hospitals all over the country,” says Trysh, who works as a speech-language pathologist while Saul works as an occupational therapist.

$1,600 Trailer	$1,700 Custom Axles	$800 Wheels & Tires
$12,000 Framing, Insulation, & Misc. Build Materials	$160 Flooring	$1,500 Roofing
$700 Plumbing	$1,000 Electrical	$600 Windows & Skylights
$100 Window Shades	$80 Barn Door	$155 Lighting
$1,500 Cabinetry	$160 Shelving	$100 Countertops
$300 Refrigerator	$40 Induction Cooktop	$40 Bar Stools
$380 Sinks & Faucets	$30 Accordion Rack	$20 Closet Rod
$200 Cast Iron Bathtub	$80 Showerhead	$150 Toilet
$80 Mirror	$240 Decor	$800 Couch
Grand Total: $24,350

Saul, who worked as a builder during his high school years, spent every free moment he had constructing the tiny home. “Saul would get out of work at 4 o’clock and work on the house until late night,” Trysh says. “Sometimes, he’d work past midnight, and there were definitely some all-nighters. I was there for moral support and helped whenever an extra set of hands was needed.”

Clad in knotty barn wood, painted blue, and accented by tongue-and-groove cedar and Douglas fir, the tiny home features a flat, standing-seam metal roof. On the interior, the white plywood ceiling and walls are offset by honey-colored, laminate flooring the couple found for free via a Craigslist advertisement. Many other elements were free, gifted, reclaimed, or repurposed—such as the front door, some flooring and wall materials, the convection oven, and decor.

“The largest area in the house is the living room,” Trysh says. “It’s 8-by-10 feet because we spend most of our time there.”

The second largest room is the galley-style kitchen, which measures seven square feet. “Saul wanted enough counter space for cooking because we rarely eat out,” Trysh says. It’s outfitted with deep green cabinetry, rose-gold hardware, and open shelving crafted from wine crates. “We sourced the cabinets from Craigslist and gave them a facelift with a new coat of paint and new hardware,” she says. “The laminate countertops were a store display model, which meant they were half the price.”

The couple outfitted the bathroom with a narrow, vertical window that floods the space with sunlight and an antique, cast-iron clawfoot tub with a rainfall showerhead. The vanity is an upper cabinet that was repurposed from the kitchen set, and Saul made and hung open wood shelves for added storage.

The sleeping loft, too, is filled with plenty of sunlight that bounces off of bright white shiplap walls. The area, which is accessed by a vintage painter’s ladder, accommodates a queen-size bed.

“We’ve his-and-hers drawers for clothing and shoes beneath the kitchen floor that utilize the space between the wheel wells of the trailer,” Trysh says. “We wanted to take advantage of what would have been wasted space.”

To create even more storage, they added a drawer for pots and pans beneath the refrigerator. “We turned the second loft into a closet,” Trysh says. “And our couch has three functions: It’s a couch, a pull-out bed, and there’s pull-out storage underneath.”

Building a tiny home has curbed debt accrual and allowed the Martinezes to move around the United States—but it’s facilitated even more than that. “Tiny house living allows us to have just enough space for what we need,” Trysh says. “We’ve a more mindful perspective on material goods, and we prioritize our spending. If you don’t have space, you’re more likely to avoid buying extra things.”

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More Budget Breakdown:

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Project Credits:

Construction: Saul Martinez

Cabinetry: Daniel Avenzano

Electrical: Andres Dela Torre

Plumbing: John Kiere

Portrait Photography: Laarne Palec / @laarne.co

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Budget Breakdown: Two Travel Therapists Build a Tiny Home-on-Wheels for $24K