Two brothers built an entire luxury camper on a budget of £700 ($1,000) in their backyard, using their knowledge of construction and creative ingenuity to pull off the feat.
Chay Denne shared in a now viral YouTube video that he and his brother Colby spent less than $1k to build the fully-functional luxury micro camper, jumping on the trend of micro living.
The end result was a mobile camper stocked with a mini-kitchen, a living room, and bunk bed-like sleeping arrangements. It has running water, electricity and air conditioning.
"Everything you see in this camper, including the trailer, we did for under $900," Chay says in the YouTube video uploaded yesterday.
Chay says he and his brother were inspired to see what they can do after buying a 48-square foot trailer through Facebook Marketplace. "It was going to be the perfect base for our camper," explains Chay in the video.
The original trailer was used and broken, so the two gutted it before beginning to rebuild - on a budget, of course.
Getting lucky enough to find a cheap used trailer online was the first way they saved on costs. The second big money-saver for the Denne brothers was lucking into some old school-bus windows that they were able to repurpose.
Finally, rather than buying material for walls, the two decided to make what Chay describes as "poor man's fiberglass" from scratch. This process drew the most comments on YouTube, with many viewers intrigued by the brothers' creativity.
The walls were made in a process that included layering cloth and glue on top of wood, and then sealing and waterproofing it with a coat of paint. This saved the duo roughly $2k.
The success of this type of project depends on the ability to cut corners, and Chay preferred to use cheaper extension chords rather than the correct electrical wires, which saved them between $100-200 - but the YouTuber discouraged others from doing the same.
By buying the cheapest possible siding wood, and using a bunch of 2x4s to build practically everything in the house.
As property and rent go up in price all over the US, micro living or tiny homes are gaining in popularity. Though these two brothers won't be spending too much time in their camper, it's certainly a great way to "glamping" on a budget.
According to Ruby Homes, there are over 10,000 tiny homes throughout the country, with more being built. A tiny home is usually about 225 square feet, which is eight times smaller than the average house.
The idea of tiny home living is also environmentally friendly. By taking up less space, there's less of an environmental footprint.
Since its inception, individuals have been coming up with amazing ways to save space inside their homes, including pull-down beds, surprise storage spaces, and hidden closets.
A lot of those individuals living in tiny homes are sharing their stories throughout the internet, especially on Instagram.
