This couple gave up 90% of their possessions and sold their dream house to build this incredible tiny home they absolutely love

Megan WillettApr 28, 2015, 02:53 IST

In 2010, Gabriella and Andrew Morrison had just moved into what they thought was their dream home in a coveted neighborhood in Southern Oregon. But six months later, they were already regretting their decision. "We began to feel like our dream was actually a nightmare," Gabriella told Business Insider. "The amount of stress that was involved with having to work more to pay for it compounded with feeling like slaves to it begged the question, 'Was it really worth it?'"Soon after, the couple learned of the tiny house movement by way of Jay Shafer's "The Small House Book" and realized that they wanted to live with less. So they got rid of 90% of their possessions, sold the house, and moved to Baja Mexico for five months, where they resided in a pop-up tent trailer."From that experience, we saw that we were happiest with the least and we committed to designing and building a tiny house for ourselves," Gabriella told us.When the couple moved back to Oregon, they began designing and building their own tiny home. "At first, friends and family were skeptical of what we were doing," Gabriella said. "Hardly anyone had heard of the tiny house movement at that point and I think they thought we were being unrealistic."But four months later, their new 221-square-foot tiny home was complete. The couple spent $22,744 building the home, plus another $10,345 on cabinetry from IKEA and appliances. Gabriella and Andrew were so inspired by the experience that they started TinyHouseBuild.com to teach people how to make their own tiny homes.They now live on five acres of rural land that they bought in Oregon, and share the space with their daughter, cat and dog. Neither of the Morrisons can imagine moving anywhere else."We designed it to be a forever home," Gabriella told Business Insider. "We also plan on spending six months out of each year down on the beaches of Baja again so we will split the time between two places."

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This couple gave up 90% of their possessions and sold their dream house to build this incredible tiny home they absolutely love