When “glamping,” a form of camping that involves staying in luxurious accommodation on a “campsite,” became popular a few years back, it inspired many people to ditch their homes for good in place of a quirkier alternative.

One young millennial couple decided to do exactly that, having first lived in a cargo van conversion as part of the #vanlife movement. When traveling by road got too much for them, they didn’t want to go back to conventional living – so instead, they built a yurt.

And this is no ordinary yurt either!

The couple considered a bunch of living options, including an old submarine, before settling on their yurt. We have to admit, life aboard your very own submarine sounds pretty cool, but it’s clear that a yurt is much more practical – not to mention cheaper to maintain.

For a start, the yurt has a massive skylight in the middle of its ceiling, which lets in a whole lot of natural light. You probably wouldn’t find much of that in a submarine.

Zach and his girlfriend Nicole didn’t have too many rules when it came to finding a non-traditional place to live. They simply wanted to downsize.

Of course, being a creative duo, they also wanted to take on a unique design challenge, and the yurt was ideal for their aspirations.

From the outside, all yurts are basically identical in appearance. They’re shaped a bit like a circus tent, with a cone at their very top. In fact, they’ve looked the same for centuries.

The first recorded yurt in history dated back to 600BC. “Yurt” was the term used by Greek historian Herodotus to describe the tent-like structures that the Central Asiatic warriors, known as the Scythians, lived in.

Zach and Nicole didn’t want their own yurt to be reflective of those of the past. Instead, they wanted to add their own modern twist on the design.

Yurts are essentially studios, meaning they’re made up of just one room. In Zach and Nicole’s home dwellings, they’ve installed a divider just off from the couch. This makes their living room a more privatized feel, separating it from the rest of the space.

There are plenty of small-space nifty furnishings here, too, including the couch, which can be converted into a bed when guests come over to stay.

In the very middle of the living space is a large, cube-shaped unit, which wears an incredible flowering garden on its top like a hat. This fits into the space naturally, acting as a divider to offer more privacy to the area at the back.

Interestingly, this unit isn’t just for show – it’s big enough to fit the couple’s bathroom! And as it turns out, the thing that we initially assume to be an indoor garden actually gives way to the couple’s bedroom. The loft space was cleverly designed to match the shape of the yurt itself.

The couple was very firm on their idea that they wanted their yurt to have a modern indoor feel. This meant that splashes of paint on the walls and color pops on the furniture were out. Instead, they opted for a more elegant alternative – plants.

For the most part, the yurt’s palette is muted, with blues, greys, browns, and whites. The splash of greenery provides just the right amount of color needed in the space.

Unlike most yurts, which don’t often have exposed frames, Zach and Nicole’s yurt has a latticework frame that’s not covered with interior paneling.

Zach explained that traditional yurts use an orangey shade of wood to make up their lattice, which he didn’t seem too fond of himself. His own yurt’s lattice is fashioned from white wood around the walls. He said:

“We definitely didn’t want to hide the lattice because it is quite striking and unique of a geometric pattern inside the yurt. But we wanted to just kind of subdue it, and not have it be such an overpowering element to the design and feel of the space.”

It turns out the latticework is more than just for appearance – it also holds little potted plants! Indoor plants are supposed to boost mood, concentration, creativity, and productivity, so they’re a good shout for the artistic duo’s living space.

Luckily for Zach and Nicole, Portland doesn’t see aggressively cold or icy winters. Their yurt doesn’t use traditional insulation and still manages to stay warm year-round.

The outer shell of the yurt is covered with two layers of a type of insulation called Reflectix. If it ever does get a bit chilly indoors, Zach and Nicole are prepared: they have a little wood-burning stove that’s perfect for providing some much-needed warmth.

We’re not surprised that this couple feels no need for a big, modern TV in their living room. The view out of their French doors is far more interesting. According to Zach, there’s plenty to watch just outside their yurt. He said:

“I didn’t think I would say this, but I’ve become quite the bird watcher.”

Yes, bird watching! Coming from a millennial, that’s pretty impressive. Still, with such a stunning view of their natural surroundings, we’re not surprised.

Some design features in the yurt are for more practical purposes. For example, Zach’s little office space was something he couldn’t live without, as he works from home.

With the big divider in the center of the home, it’s easy to imagine that this is an entirely separate room. Everyone’s welcome – even the birds!

We can even see that Zach and Nicole have made practical use of one side of the cube unit, turning it into a whiteboard.

Across from the office is the kitchen-dining space. There’s a fancy island for meal prep and eating. With not much breathing room, we’d imagine cooking is a one-man job in this yurt!

The minimalist theme extends right into the kitchen. There’s no giant, hulking oven; instead, they have a countertop convection oven for all the essentials: roasting chicken and baking cookies.

If you’re worried about how they cook their breakfast fry-up, there’s a countertop appliance for that, too.

The most enjoyable aspect of the yurt’s design is that you can walk from one room to the next without coming across any obstacles. There are no doors, no walls, nothing to make the space feel closed-off.

Continuing around from the kitchen, we can see the entrance to the bathroom.

Let’s just say, it’s a small one! Even for such a tiny space, the couple has well-equipped the room with a modern sink in keeping with the rest of the home. There’s also a secret closet for storage. Commenting on this, Zach said:

“Everyone says to be minimalist you need to get rid of all your things, but the truth is you just need to hide it all. So it’s all hidden in here and it’s kind of our junk closet.”

It’s pretty obvious by now that Zach and Nicole pulled out all the stops with their design features, and this doesn’t exclude their bathroom. It has a fan that operates based on humidity levels, and motion-activated lights.

Still, there are signs that their home has been lived in, and these are particularly notable in the bathroom shower stall. It’s yellowy in color, thanks to the well water that the couple shower in. Zach mentioned that he doesn’t usually bother with trying to clean this off, apart from when he has special guests over – such as the YouTuber from Australia who came to film the yurt!

Of course, there’s also a compost toilet in the bathroom, which is best not going into too much detail about.

We have a clear favorite area in the yurt: the loft bedroom. It’s lucky both Zach and Nicole are young and nimble, as you can only get to it via a ladder. It also helps that they’re on the shorter side, as taller people need to watch their heads when climbing up!

The bedroom really benefits from the sunlight that pours in through the skylight. The cleverness of the design gives the impression that you’re simultaneously basking in daylight and darkness.

The couple has a full-on thriving garden up in their loft, but, as Zach points out, there are some clear disadvantages to having a mini forest in your home. He said:

“It is a pain to water all these plants. They are in fact all real.”

The loft is about as minimalist as it gets. Zach and Nicole only use their space for sleeping (and perhaps another common bedroom activity).

Even while living in a yurt, the couple hasn’t had to ditch their technology. The room has a power source for charging their stuff, including their old boombox for when they fancy listening to some nineties throwbacks.

There’s no denying that the yurt’s best feature is its skylight. What a view to wake up to in the morning! Again, though, Zach points out a few grievances to this:

“The thing is, sleeping here under this massive ring, and being able to see…I mean you can see the stars at night, hear the owls. It does make for a rude awakening in the morning.”

Curious to try out yurt living yourself? There’s no need to actually buy one yourself if you’re not ready for such a big lifestyle change. There are plenty of yurts on Airbnb, or at those glamping sites, we were talking about earlier. You don’t actually need to buy a yurt to get a feel for what it’s like.

Although there’s no guaranteeing you’ll find something quite as cool as Zach and Nicole’s home!

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Source: YouTube/ Living Big In A Tiny House