You Can Breathe Easy in Our Healthy Homes
“Our vision is to create beautiful, small, healthy spaces using sustainable materials and traditional building techniques, offering customers a quality lifestyle that treads lightly on the earth,” explains Tiny Lifestyle founder Simone Kidner.
We’re committed to creating healthier homes and we’ve revolutionised sustainable building with the release of our first timber flat-pack tiny space: The Rameka, a 10m2 structure with a traditionally-built timber frame at its core.
“It’s really important to us to use totally non-toxic and natural materials wherever possible,” says co-founder Liv Scott. “The building industry is filled with materials that are chemically impregnated, including the furnishings’ paints and finishes. They all have volatile, organic compounds off-gassing which can cause some serious health issues. In all of our products we use timbers that are naturally resistant; sheep’s wool insulation and have lined all of our internal panels with natural timbers. We’ve then used oils from the Natural House Co., paints from the Natural Paint Co. None of their products off-gas and they have beautiful finishes which will protect the timber for many years to come.”
“Using naturally resistant timbers is part of our ethos,” adds Graeme Scott, co-founder and head tutor: “I truly believe in not poisoning wood, instead creating a space for people to live in that allows them to breathe clean air. The timber is of a high quality, the best we can find in New Zealand, and there’s no arsenic, no copper-sulphate in it. And it’s put together in a way that aesthetically flows, giving a sense of real connection to the house and the environment around it. A house will stand the test of time, but won’t kill you in the meantime.”
“The other advantage to traditional timber framing is that it looks stunning,” adds Liv. “And inside your building you have these beautiful braces and joints with these hardwood pegs holding it together and creating such a beautiful environment to live in. Our products breathe and the timber actually absorbs toxicity in the air. With the sheep wool insulation, it creates a really healthy, positive environmental space to live in that makes you feel amazing.
The Rameka is made from Douglas Fir, a naturally durable and resistant heartwood with a warm colour and increased lateral strength. Built by hand with no nails, the interior frame uses traditional mortise and tenon joints - interlocking wooden joints locked in place with wooden pegs, which hold the inner structure together and provide rigidity and durability. The framing has increased fire resistance and is also resilient to earthquakes as the seismic load is shared by the interlocking joints.
Traditional timber homes are designed to last, the older they get, the stronger they become, as the joints tighten with age. This creates a sturdy, healthy base for customers to transform into the tiny space of their dreams: An adorable tiny home, stunning sleepout, hardy workshop or a unique pergola - the possibilities are endless.