Palawan Tiny Homes

06/04/2024

Check out these incredible before and after shots from our recent tiny flat renovation in El Nido! Despite many challenges, we completed this project in just under 3 months. While I initially planned to wait for better daytime photos, I couldn't wait to share these unedited snapshots taken on my camera phone.

I was watching an episode of The Established Home and Jean Stoffer said something that struck a cord with me. She said: "Most of the design work we do is high-end. But thoughtful design, beautiful design, can be done with all sorts of budgets. You know, it's easy to spend money on something. It's harder to make something look and function really well on a real budget." This project was quite the journey. We faced unexpected hurdles due to the limited availability of materials in El Nido, resulting in increased costs from shipping items from Puerto Princesa or Manila. Nonetheless, we tackled the task with determination to keep costs low. We prioritized reuse and upcycling wherever possible and scouted clearance sales, echoing Jean Stoffer's belief that great design can thrive on any budget.

One of the highlights for me is the inclusion of built-in window seats and storage cabinets, along with the compact yet highly functional kitchen. Despite its size, we ensured ample storage throughout the space, including a floor-to-ceiling cabinet in the bedroom featuring a convenient pull-out cleaning closet. We're thrilled with how this renovation turned out! 🏡✨

05/01/2024

What a great way to start the year! ❤️🎉

24/11/2023

Yung pic ka ng pic pero di mo namalayan naka full screen mode ka pala. So now you have to retake everything again in the right aspect ratio. Womp womp. 🎶Sometimes it be like that.🎶

Anyway, interior and covered patio are done. Just doing some finishing up of the yard. Who knew an ampitheater garden would take this much time & work? I myself can't wait to see the ampitheater vegetable & herb garden planted & producing food.

We're planning open house days in December for tiny home tours. Stay tuned for dates and appointments. Excited to meet some of you!

15/11/2023

After a long hiatus, we hosted our first guests for this season. It always warms our hearts to read our guest's reviews and we look forward to welcoming more of you soon!

14/11/2023

We started putting up some Christmas decor in our tiny home. Pencil Christmas tree + miniature knitted stockings gives a cozy holiday vibe without taking up too much space...perfect for tiny homes!

22/10/2023

I was cleaning the tinier home yesterday with my youngest and as he looked around the almost finished space, he said "wow, I can't believe this used to be just our storage place". And it struck me that I'd completely forgotten that! What a glow up. Shout out to our tiny team of super talented and hardworking people. Teamwork truly makes the dreamwork. ❤️❤️❤️

12/09/2023

Our tiny home has been out of commission since June when we started our tinier house project. We've been hosting very special guests (my parents) long-term these last few months. We're so sorry that we couldn't accomodate some of your booking requests but we're doing our best to finish the tinier home within this month.

Reading through some of our last reviews, we've realized how much we miss hosting guests in our tiny home. We really can't wait to welcome guests again soon!

12/09/2023

We've been getting more long-term bookings for our studio unit. We recently hosted a couple from Russia who stayed with us for a month. Prior to them, we had another couple from Australia. It's interesting that all the guests we've hosted in our studio unit have been digital nomads from different countries who've been traveling the globe for the last year or longer. And we're so happy that they've all enjoyed their stays with us.

05/09/2023

Can you believe it's already September? Just a quick update on the bathroom in our tinier house project. This bathroom is 4 sqm in size. As you can see, we kept it simple and neutral. & while we still have a few minor things to add like the glass shower divider, pull down door for laundry bin as well as some towel racks, we're finally in the homestretch & hoping to finish this up soon!

13/06/2023

We get a lot of messages asking us how much it costs to build a tiny home. As with any home, it depends on the size of the tiny home as well as the materials, fittings & accessories you choose. I almost always refer people to Cubo Modular to have an idea of what prefab modular house kits cost. Their most basic house kit costs 699k + 299k for installation with an interior space of 15sqm (36 sqm if you include the lofts). They have upgraded house kits that costs a lot more and they recently added an option to design and customize your own.

I read this article earlier about how Home Depot in the U.S. is "making tiny home ownership easy" and their steel frame tiny home kit costs $43,832 for a 1 bedroom 620 sqft unit (540 sqft footprint).

It's exciting to think about all the new options finally becoming available out there!

We just broke ground on our second tiny home unit and can't wait to share updates with you as we progress.

Home Depot is offering a little luxury with this tiny home kit.

05/05/2023

We understand the importance of hygiene and cleanliness, especially during these times. Steam cleaning is an effective way to kill germs and bacteria without using harsh chemicals. The high temperature of the steam is enough to eliminate any potential pathogens that may be lurking in the bathroom. It's also environmentally friendly, as it doesn't require the use of any chemicals that could be harmful to the environment.

04/05/2023

We recently joined a Box Truck to RV Conversion group and it's making us rethink our next build. Initially, we wanted to work on our 2nd tiny home (the interior space measures 6m x 2.5m and we wanted to build out a patio area complete with an outdoor kitchen, dining & sala space and maybe even a hot tub). But after seeing all the cool box truck conversion builds...we want one too!

We've spent the last year slowly accumulating appliances and supplies to work on our Isuzu Elf truck. We've got a composting toilet, propane water heater, 2 roof vent fans, a 14,500BTU rooftop aircon, hideaway sink and faucet (this one was a unicorn auction find!), solar (dc) fridge with freezer, tabletop dishwasher amongst various other things.

But, we've also been compiling things for the tinier home's outdoor kitchen which we think will be SO AMAZING! We're talking outdoor beverage fridge, wood fired tabletop pizza oven, built in bbq, built in ice maker, dishwasher (yes, we're obsessed with not doing dishes manually), stackable washer and dryer, white porcelain farmhouse sink with coil spring kitchen faucet...the list is long and our bodega is full. 😂

It's such a toss up!

Maybe we can crowdsource...

🚛🆚🏡

Would you rather see us post updates on a tinier home or an RV conversion?

02/05/2023

Our tiny home is clean & ready for our guests today. The welcome party is already in position to give them a warm reception. 🐮💚

27/04/2023

Our studio unit has just received its first review and we're thrilled to share that this delightful couple (digital nomads) from Brazil were so smitten with it that they requested to extend their stay!

Having traveled extensively in the past, we've experienced some extraordinary accommodations as well as some questionable ones. With this in mind, we've made every effort to incorporate features and furnishings that we, as fellow travelers, would appreciate and adore. We take great pride in going above and beyond for our guests, as evidenced by many of our reviews. Our goal is to exceed expectations and we're grateful for the feedback we've received thus far.

~

Again, for those who messaged about availability and pricing, please check our listing on airbnb:

airbnb.com/h/palawanstudiorental

25/04/2023

Another small improvement we made to the tiny home is installing this wine chiller (which we won off auction 😉). Our guests can now enjoy various types of wine such as red, white, rosé, moscato, and also local and imported beers, making day drinking so much more convenient! *high five*

Starlink and a stocked wine chiller...saan ka pa? 😂

24/04/2023

In the age of remote work and digital nomadism, reliable internet and dedicated workspaces have become essential for those who seek to maintain their livelihoods while travelling the globe. At our tiny home, we've noticed a recent influx of such guests who are delighted to find an electric height adjustable desk and a solar-powered home that circumvents the regular power outages from our local electricity provider. While our fiber plan with PLDT boasts impressive speeds (for Palawan) of over 100 Mbps, it's not immune to the occasional mishap that results in disrupted service due to fiber optic breaks or cable line problems. In light of this, we've decided to explore an alternative to PLDT that can offer more reliable service to our guests.

Luckily, Starlink (the space-based internet service provider that promises high-speed internet connections for users anywhere in the world) has recently become available in the Philippines, and we're excited to compare its service and speed to our current plan. We're so grateful to our friends at Poochie’s Kitchen for lending us their Starlink service for testing, and thus far, we're thrilled with the level of service and speed that we've received. As the digital nomad lifestyle continues to grow in popularity, we're determined to stay ahead of the curve and offer our guests the most dependable and high-speed internet connections available. However, the question remains: would offering this option attract more digital nomads to our doorstep? If you're a digital nomad, we'd love to hear your thoughts.

23/04/2023

Here's another small yet significant modification we made to our tiny home. We replaced the narra table and the 50" TV in the primary bedroom with a thin ledge and a smaller (40") smart TV. This change has had a remarkable impact on the room's overall feel, making it look more spacious and providing additional storage space. The open space below the ledge can now be used to store luggage or bags.

Additionally, we relocated the old TV to our studio unit, and our current guests are delighted with the added amenity.

22/04/2023

As I mentioned in an earlier post today, we recently did a few minor updates on the tiny home. This is the shallow cabinet that holds all our solar control system (controllers, inverter, batteries etc). We used plywood for the doors which were painted white. A local glass company quoted us for full length mirrors to go on each door panel but it was WAY over our budget. Instead, we ordered these cheap small mirrors off Shopee & used thin mouldings we already had on hand to frame each square. We only spent about 500 pesos to DIY and we think it turned out pretty great.

21/04/2023

Sorry we haven't updated in a while. We had our hands full launching our studio unit as well as doing small updates on our first tiny home project (will post pics on those soon).

We're still new at hosting on airbnb but we've been so blessed with all our recent guests. Thank you so much for all your heartwarming words. ❤️❤️❤️

EDIT: For those asking about rates and availability, please check our Airbnb listing po:

airbnb.com/h/palawantinyhomes

& this is for our budget-friendly studio unit:

airbnb.com/h/palawanstudiorental

30/03/2023

This little guy got lost in our property late one night and our dogs would not leave him alone. We placed him in protective custody for the night & then turned him over to a conservation group the next day. He is a Palawan Pangolin and is listed as critically endangered. We were amazed to have found one in the "wild" (aka our driveway 😂) and thrilled that he's been released in a safe area.

22/02/2023

The struggle is real y'all.

I'm so ready to start working on the 2nd tinier tiny home. This time I might even document our progress. Who's down to get spammed with content? 🙋🏻‍♀️

10/02/2023

So I'm super new/bad at this social media content creating thing. It's not second nature for me to take vids to document our DIY projects and post about it. It comes more as an afterthought and then I scroll through my pics (zero vids of course) and realize they're all crap. 😆 Where's a time machine when you need one?

Well, whatever. Here's an update on our porch.

07/02/2023

Our tiny home has various Alexa enabled lights, plugs and appliances to help make your stay more convenient & comfortable. Because, really, who wants to wash dishes or vacuum the floor when on vacation? Now if only we could train Alexa to make us a bourbon sour or give a foot rub, amiright? 😆

05/02/2023

Here's a quick 2.5 mins tour of our wip tiny home. No audio because a really cute kid came in mid vid asking for snacks & Kuya water delivery guy also dropped by. 😅

02/02/2023

We just added an electric projector screen! What movie should we watch tonight to test this setup out? Previously we used our portable projector screen on our roofdeck to watch Home Alone with the kids (it was right around Christmas time) AND WE LOVED IT! Now we're excited to try watching movies in the yard with the firepit too. It's been quite a challenge planning out our string light placement in this yard because of the multiple levels and separate spaces.

Anyway, we've positioned the gas grill in the patio and are getting ready for our first guests arriving in a couple of days!

We're so excited!

01/02/2023

We're finally in the home stretch! Our schedule was delayed because of heavy rains yesterday. The yard is still in dire need of landscaping, outdoor string lights still need to be hung and the porch still needs styling, but to be honest, my brain has already turned to mush. Is there a phone-a-friend feature on here? 😆

But hey, to everyone who asked... Yes, we are now on airbnb!

airbnb.com/h/palawantinyhomes

First 3 bookings gets a 20% discount plus week long bookings gets an additional 10% discount. Airbnb won't let me make other promos until after we get our first 3 bookings.

Book na so we can make money to build more tiny homes. Our second, smaller unit (18 sqm) is dying for some of our attention! 😁

31/01/2023

One of the most important things we've learned about tiny homes is that with the limited space you have to work with, you really have to be intentional with how you plan each space. That means taking into consideration your own lifestyle and your own preferences and building the space around to suit your needs.

For example, in our 7.5 sqm master bedroom, we knew we wanted lights and charging stations easily accessible on both side tables. We opted for wall sconces to free up precious space on the side tables. We then added the light switch for the sconces conveniently next to the bed and made sure to have a plug and 2 USB outlets built into the same wall socket. We love that we can charge so many of our devices and still have plenty of room on our side tables. The warm glow from the wall sconces makes the space so cozy and comfortable. As an added bonus, we had 2 pieces of nxled 4 watt LED smart music bulbs in our storage that we ended up using. It's like having surround sound when you're listening to Spotify in bed.

*For some reason fb won't let me add pictures and videos together in this post, so I'll add the video of the nxled 4 watt LED smart music bulb to our stories for those who want to see it in action. 😆

26/01/2023

It's been a cool and gloomy morning here in Puerto. The perfect weather to snuggle up in bed with a good book and a hot cup of coffee.

26/01/2023

Soaking up some me time.

26/01/2023

Nagsaguipi River at Km 32 on the north highway is only a short 20 minute drive from us. We went once in the morning but we'd like to come back another night to try their firefly watching. No boat needed. We were told you just walk down the river. Has anyone gone?