Tiny houses are here to stay

Could you live in 325 square feet? Or 210? Tiny houses have been a trend for quite some time in some countries, and they’re growing increasingly popular in Sweden, too. In Madängsholm, just outside Tidaholm, Fabian Bräuer and his employees are building tiny houses for private citizens throughout the Nordics.

A tiny house is exactly what it says on the box: a tiny house. By using floor space efficiently, there’s room for everything that’s usually found in a regular home. There’s usually a sleeping loft that increases the floor space by a number of square feet, but the bottom level has to find room for a kitchen, toilet, living room, eating area and everything else the homeowner thinks is important.

“Most people who buy tiny houses long to live the simple life, usually close to nature. While living in a small space means you don’t have much stuff, you have all the more freedom. Low costs and the ability to take your house with you, means you still have the home you love when you move to a new place. For many people, this is living the dream,” says Fabian.

Treesign, Tiny Homes of Sweden, the name Fabian’s company goes by, builds unique tiny houses to order. The company builds most of its houses on trailer undercarriages, although there are many customers who own a plot of land where the house will stand. No one house is the same as another, since customer needs vary.

“We always start by talking a great deal with the customer. Just why do they want a tiny house? How would they like to live, and what is important for them in particular? We also talk a lot about how they see the future. A house is an investment, and it has to last. Needs can change, but we always try to include things in the plan that customers see in their future. This might not only mean planning space for a new partner or child, but also making sure the house has a high resale value by finding solutions that suit the customer and will also appeal to others,” says Fabian.

And as well as taking the future of every house into account, all of the homes are made with as little ecological impact as possible. The company works with sustainable, natural materials and avoids unnecessary chemicals. Fabian is a trained carpenter and his employees possess extensive knowledge, which means they do everything that involves building and installing technical solutions in-house

When you see them being built, it’s soon clear just how different the houses are. Much of the material in one of the houses is recycled. The customer brought along a door and other furnishings for incorporation into the finished home. Mullioned windows and good, solid materials create a traditional feel. Out in the yard is another house, which will soon be ready for delivery. It has a washing machine, built-in wine cooler, and the lighting is all controlled by an app. In one part of the house there’s a separate study that will be home to a height-adjustable desk.

Nothing’s impossible for Fabian and his crew. Their houses have included everything from bathtubs and pianos to professional kitchens. The kitchen was for a woman who now runs a small bakery from her tiny house. Tiny houses are more common and popular internationally than in Sweden – so far. There’s a growing interest in this type of housing throughout the Nordics. The tiny house trend began in the USA when the financial crisis led many people to invest in them not just because of the difficult times, but also to avoid expensive home mortgages. Fabian and his partner built and lived in a tiny house themselves for a couple of years when they were newly arrived in Tidaholm.

“We didn’t feel ready to settle down, find steady jobs and buy a house once we’d finished studying. We’re from Germany and we wanted to travel, first in the Nordics and later to southern Europe. Our first stop was Tidaholm and we only intended to stay here for three weeks. That was back in 2007 and we’ve never left, we like it so much here!” says Fabian.

The couple lived in their tiny house for a couple of years before renovating a deserted house on the outskirts of Madängsholm. When a friend asked if he could buy their tiny house, they put it on the market to get an idea of what it might be worth. There was much greater interest than they’d expected, and some of the people wondered if they could buy a newly built house from Fabian instead. And this is how Treesign, Tiny Homes of Sweden, began.

Unlike many other tiny house manufacturers, all production takes place in Sweden. The factory is beautifully located in an old spinning mill that is part of a larger industrial area in Madängsholm outside Tidaholm. The River Tidan flows right next door, and one of the company’s neighbors is a small hydroelectric plant that supplies Fabian’s company and his neighbors with locally generated energy.

The demand for tiny houses has grown and today, Treesign has far more requests than it can handle. Although many people are looking for finished homes, there’s a growing number who want to build their own. The company offers consultation for people wanting to create their dream homes themselves, and it also sells undercarriages suitable for building. In Swedish kronor, a tiny house from Treesign usually costs between six hundred thousand and a million. The company builds five or six houses a year and is currently booked for the rest of the year and all of 2022. Fabian sees getting more requests than he can take on as a sign that tiny houses are here to stay.

“When my wife and I moved into our tiny house, we both thought not being able to have many things would be tough. But once we lived there we realized there was room for everything we needed, and we got freedom into the bargain, and freedom is so much more important than stuff,” concludes Fabian.