As you may be able to tell from some of my previous blog posts, I love all things Hygge, Cottagecore and Tiny House related, so I was really thrilled when I discovered Hippy Highland Living on YouTube. Molly creates online content from her tiny house in the Scottish Highlands dedicated to sustainable slow living. Her calming and nature filled videos where she shares her daily life in the tiny home with her partner and adorable dog Skye bring me so much joy.
As well as her ever growing YouTube channel, Molly has an Etsy shop and a superb Substack blog where you can read her stories on life in the Highlands or as she describes herself “musings on nature, books, plant food, creativity and, most importantly, how slow living can change your life”.
What was it about ‘tiny home living’ that inspired you to build your very own?
I started watching YouTube videos on Tiny Homes a few years ago and instantly fell in love!
As a minimalist, who is keen to live as sustainably as possible, I adored the concept of living in a smaller space. The financial saving was equally as important, as neither myself or my partner wanted to be tied down to a mortgage at this time. Living Tiny has meant that we can both afford to work part time and follow careers that we are passionate about, which we are grateful for. Additional upsides include the fact that we were able to design a home exactly to our specifications and can move it, which gives us some flexibility.
Is there a recipe for a home that encourages slow living?
I love this question!
The fact that we were able to design our home means that we ensured it fit around our ideal lifestyle. We keep our space organised and clutter free, as this means our home always feels peaceful. We allowed space for activities that are important to us and encourage living slowly. For me, this included a (slightly) larger kitchen with plenty of storage, as I love to cook healthy food. There is also just enough space to roll out my yoga mat and a comfy reading nook on our sofa.
Living close to nature also helps us slow down. We love to open our french doors in the summer so we can feel more connected to nature.
Which space or design feature do you love most within your tiny house?
The kitchen is definitely my favourite space. I spend a lot of time in here.
I really enjoy the open storage for our pantry. We made the shelves from wood we salvaged, some found on the shore of Loch Ness, so it feels very rustic. As the colour scheme for our home is mostly neutral, I really like the splash of sage green for the cabinets. I feel it adds a bit of cottage character to what is otherwise quite a modern open space.
I like to use functional items as decor, which works really well in the kitchen, such as my mugs, biscuit tin and teapot. It means we can still make the most of the space and it looks pretty!
How do you balance a minimalist lifestyle with accumulating special pieces for your home? (I particularly love your hanging mugs on display as well as your book collection.)
Living tiny has meant that we have to be more thoughtful about everything we purchase for our home. It was important to take our time and add things slowly, which we started to do when we’d lived in the space for a while. Not only is there limited storage, but we wanted our home to feel cohesive, so we tried to ensure everything complimented the space.
I think it all comes down to prioritising what’s really going to add value to our lives. There are some things I’m happy to, or even prefer to keep minimal, like clothes or home decor. However, there are other items that I enjoy having more of, with mugs being a guilty pleasure! I also enjoy borrowing items. Although I’m a big reader, I have a relatively small book collection as I borrow most of my books from the library or friends.
Rather than a constraint, I think this is an upside to living Tiny. Being thoughtful means that I tend to buy items that also align with my values of living sustainably and not wasting money on unnecessary things.
What is your final vision for the tiny house and is it your ‘forever home’?
Although the future is uncertain, I think we will be living Tiny for a good number of years yet.
We would like to buy some land in the next few years, as we are currently parked up in my partner’s family home. When this comes, we definitely want to make more of the outside space, such as building a decking. A shed for all our outdoor gear would be handy as we are both nature lovers. We’ve also considered building another smaller space, separate from the house, that we can use as an office as we both often work from home. We are very keen to have space to grow our own food and have the odd chicken or two!
For now, we are very content where we are and feel so grateful to have such a beautiful home.
Jalan Interior 