Big Ideas, Small Spaces
Designer couple raises a family in a tiny home
Words by Jessi Devenyns Photos by Joseph Puterbaugh
Just because this is Texas doesn’t always mean that everything is bigger. To prove that the beloved state motto is not universally applicable, one couple decided to live the Lone Star State lifestyle within 560 square feet.
As a designer and cinematographer duo, Kim Lewis and Joey Puterbaugh knew that what’s inside a home is far more inspirational than the actual square footage. Kim, who started designing tiny homes for Tiny House Nation after spending six years as the lead designer behind Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, was intimately familiar with how to optimize the homey feeling even in the smallest of spaces.
“The idea of downsizing was really, really—and still is—enticing to us both,” explains Kim who maintains that living small does not mean living less. In fact, the couple is perched on twelve acres of Hill Country land that Kim says is more or less their living room. “We both love being outdoors so the tiny home kind of forces you to live and be at one with nature, daddy long-legs and all,” she giggles.
Living with nature seems to be an omnipresent aspect of living in a tiny home. Although the couple’s home is just over 500 square feet and is situated at a right angle to allow two sets of sliding glass doors to open up onto an expansive deck, life in such a small space can sometimes get crowded.
Kim, who claims that they love to entertain, remembers hosting 15 people at Thanksgiving, eight of which spent the night. “You have to be okay with close quarters,” she shrugs. “Either that, or guests are welcome to pitch a tent.” The couple have been known to do so themselves and offer up their bed to visitors.
Still, having to occasionally play Tetris with company is worth it. Kim shares that she and Joey will have their home paid off in just over two years, which she describes as a freeing idea for someone who balks at the notion of being “locked into a home.” In their tiny space, she demonstrates, the walls are not limiting but liberating.
Full of texture and color, the interior of the home is a patchwork quilt of objects; each of which, Kim says, has a story. In concert, those individual stories create a harmonious aesthetic and also serve as a sort of scrapbook for the couple’s life. “When you look around the tiny house, everything is helping to tell the story of who we are,” Kim explains.
That story is still being written. The next chapter, however, will involve the couple moving out of their home in search of larger quarters as their family grows to accommodate a second child. Kim shares that she oscillates between staying in the tiny home and increasing the family’s floor plan. However, she says that with two babies, “living small” has a new definition.
Did You Know?
The tiny home is for sale to a buyer who has land that is permitted to accommodate a tiny home residence and deck.
Contact:
Kim Lewis Designs
2301 E Cesar Chavez St.
kimlewisdesigns.com
