Video taking off 10x its usual first day

Jay Cover left London for a handmade life in Hastings

NEVER TOO SMALL's illustrator profile looks beyond renovation to the cafés, workshops and friendships that make a place home.

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NEVER TOO SMALL Story of October 30, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 143,115 views a day, 10 times a normal first day on this channel (13,692).

Inside the Life & DIY Home of an Illustrator Who Left London for the Seaside

Things we can learn from the video

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0:46Cover introduces his move from London to Hastings with his wife, Iona.
1:45The Victorian house tour shows DIY kitchen work, hallway changes and under-stair storage.
3:52A café stop leads to Cover's studio, where simple drawing materials help him limit his creative choices.
7:35At Project Art Works, Cover collects a custom cat portrait by artist Charlie Stephens.
12:54Cover visits the London Centre for Book Arts and makes letterpress prints with its founders.
20:00Cover explains why his homemade bathroom vanity doesn't quite fit the scheme and might need another attempt.

The bathroom vanity isn't quite right, and Jay Cover is happy to say so. Showing the Victorian house he renovated in Hastings, the illustrator admits that his sink build works but doesn't quite fit the room. He might try again. Making the place himself meant leaving room for experiments, too.

His visit to NEVER TOO SMALL has drawn roughly 140,000 views in just under a day, around ten times the channel's usual first-day pace. For a channel known for ingenious micro-apartments, this episode of My City, My Backyard opens the door onto something broader: the life surrounding the home.

Cover moved from London with his wife, Iona Smith, in 2017. "I was extremely scared of making the move from London to Hastings," he says. Raised on the Isle of Man, he found a coastal connection again, alongside a creative community.

The house tour takes in DIY kitchen work, under-stair storage and a bathroom made from a former bedroom. But the film also follows Cover to Stooge Coffee and his illustration studio, where his drawing materials are deliberately simple: a pencil and Xerox paper. He explains that unlimited possibilities can stifle his imagination rather than free it.

At Project Art Works, which supports neurodivergent artists, he collects a cat portrait by Charlie Stephens. A trip back to London brings letterpress printing with the founders of the London Centre for Book Arts. The episode includes a Milanote ad segment.

Viewers are discussing the appeal of making things by hand and building a creative routine around community, with one connecting Cover's Hastings life to memories of visits to Mangalore. Cover puts his own changed priorities plainly: "I don't crave busyness or excitement anymore. Now day to day, I want quiet."

Published on Trari

Where next?

Also in DIY, building and homeViews jump 23x the channel's usual paceColin Furze's secret-garage update nears four million viewsThe long-awaited instalment arrives as daily channel views climb to more than twenty times their usual level.Channel: colinfurze · Story of October 31, 2026

A different discovery todayVideo taking off 47x its usual first dayDiane Sawyer's Patrick Stewart interview closes World News TonightThe October 29 edition also covers Alaska's Senate probes and a Pentagon firing, but its comment section belongs largely to the actor.Channel: ABC News · Story of October 31, 2026

What viewers say

In this era of AI and digital technology, this is the goal of mine - living with the community and creating arts/spaces out of hands.
@audacikoSee it on YouTube
You all leveled up on this video. You went beyond the organization of space to sharing a philosophy. The video work and storytelling is superb. This makes me want to find my own Hastings. Thank you
@sethmcginnis9828See it on YouTube
Sigh, this was a lovely video. It made me crave living in Mangalore, my home town, where I've never lived but used to visit every summer. What a lovely message about prioritising your community of humans and animals and a creativity-based routine. 💙
@vonvon_vazSee it on YouTube

5 more comments

I live far from the UK, but for some reason I just love terraced houses. Never Too Small hit the nail on the head for me with this post.
@lizabetx483See it on YouTube
I really, really liked this. It's lived at a kind of speed that relaxes me - unhurried and quiet with joy around every corner.
@wendyharper8930See it on YouTube
This was such a lovely mix of creativity, kindness and whimsy, I love Jay's drawing style. The pieces created by the artists in the art project building were so good, I instantly wanted the cat picture!
@c.newman9950See it on YouTube
Is this a fairytale for adults? Can I live like this? Can we all live this? Very inspiring. Loved it and the lovely people in it.
@angebo5951See it on YouTube
This video brought a tear to my eye. This is a life I would love to have, both as an artist and as a human being. Their home is just as warm and loving as the life they live. What a wonderful video, and a big thank you to Jay Cover for sharing!
@MonseStudioSee it on YouTube