Living Off The Grid - Tiny Home, Big Love!

The young couple have built their own piece of paradise and are reaping the rewards

- Amy Nelmes Bissett

Right from the start, Anna Kostiuk-Warren knew she didn’t want to live in just any house. An environmentalist who dislikes materialism, she wanted something simple and sustainable, with no mortgage repayments each month – but she wasn’t quite sure what that looked like.

That was until she looked for love online and was matched with a handsome architectural designer called Max. Anna not only found love, but landed a man who shared her dreams of living in an eco-friendly tiny home.

“We just hit it off straight away and it wasn’t long before he was sharing his ideas for our own tiny home,” smiles Anna.

The couple wanted a minimalistic design, but also wanted their new home to be high quality, modern and functional.

“It only took a few drawings for Max to come up with the winning design,” tells Anna, 25, proudly.

Max, 27, admits it was the perfect way to get to know each other.

“I’d come up with a few options and we would discuss them together to decide on what we wanted. We definitely learnt a lot about each other’s likes and dislikes along the way,” he laughs.

Their sweet abode, in the backroads of Pukekohe, in South Auckland, is just eight-metres long by 2.4 metres wide, meaning that each space is used to its maximum.