Guest Post by Michael Mckenna
Zen House… I often hear that term about my little houses; breathe out, open your eyes, feel that feeling…Peace, soft edges, captivating small views of an otherwise big picture, a house that fits the land, and you, and, ahhhhh, tells you, you are home. Not modern, but not old-fashioned. I think my houses sum up what most of us are looking for: to be comfortable in our skin. I am a great fan of Christopher Alexander and his book, Pattern Language.
He reminds us to think of the smallest detail: where to put the light switch, what is the most comfortable height for the kitchen counter, details that eventually make my houses as unique, as comfortable, and as “just right” as your favorite slippers. Pictured is Josefina’s House, a minimalist Artist, who gathers inspiration from nature and transforms it into large art forms for public places. She lives and makes art in a 600 square foot house.
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Small Zen Small Home on a Foundation
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I’ve been following Shane and Carrie’s process for a little while now after finding out about their blog, Clothesline Tiny Homes.
I was excited to find out that they were featured on ABC 12 in a video that you can actually watch (below) so you get the full tour of their new tiny house.
Shane is a contractor and he says he’s willing to build more if people want to buy them. For me, it’s just exciting to see more and more people- especially couples- choosing to live in tiny houses.
At just 204 square feet, it’s going to be a big change from what they were used to. But here’s the exciting part…
The couple’s housing bills are going down to $300 a month from $1300. That’s where part of the power of small comes in.
This allows Shane and Carrie to gain financial independence much faster. Not only that, but it also makes life way easier, simpler, and practically stress-free.
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Photo Credit Shane and Carrie at Clothesline Tiny Homes
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Guest Post by Andrew Odom
Just what does make a community? Is it a group of people with common interests or experience?
Perhaps, yes. But let’s face it. The commitment level of individuals within the group will range from highly engaged to slightly interested. The group membership will be fluid as folks ebb and flow.
So it’s a group of people with just a little in common?
Well, if you are like me, you are not just interested in tiny houses but also in homesteading, in technology, and in food sourcing. So perhaps this is not the main community for some. Perhaps it isn’t even the one with which they feel the strongest connection. People’s interests change over time, as circumstances change. But there always has to be a few that remain committed – né, passionate – day in and day out. They have to see past the slow days and the challenges and continue to find the drive and the excitement.
Does it depend on a few people making a lot of noise?
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Photo Credit Tiny r(E)volution
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The other day on Facebook I posted something titled, 5 Reasons You SHOULDN’T Live in a Tiny House.
I did this because for all the reasons that there are to live tiny, there are also reasons that some people shouldn’t, at least for now, right?
So here’s a recap of what I wrote- below- and then I’ll show you some of the comments that others left which I found insightful.
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5 Reasons You SHOULDN’T Live in a Tiny House
1. You have kids who are accustomed to their own space
2. Extended family/friends stay frequently (and you like it)
3. Your spouse despises the idea, and this person is more important to you than the size of your house
4. You enjoy cleaning or forcing your children to for punishment (better yet, discipline!)
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Guest Post by Laura Lavoie
Trust me, I never thought I would be the kind of person to downsize my life and move into a 120 square foot house. I didn’t like to be outside. I didn’t like to get dirty. I didn’t like to try adventurous things. A few years ago, something changed for me. I realized that living conventionally didn’t inspire me and I finally decided to do something about it. When the idea came to us about building a tiny house it seemed like the perfect thing.
Our first taste of adventure came when we decided to move away from everyone we knew to Atlanta. It was still a safety net, though, because it was a job that moved us here. We knew we wanted to do something more. We had fallen in love with the town of Asheville, just three hours away from Atlanta. We started to spend more and more time up there and talked about buying some land and building our own house. Our minds were made up when a friend shared Tumbleweed Tiny Houses with us. This teensy, portable house was perfect!
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Photo Courtesy of Laura Lavoie
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This small beachfront home is the epiphany of a simple yet luxurious beach shack. It’s tiny, yet seems ‘small’. It’s a modern and open oceanfront hut which can completely close up to protect itself from the environment.
It was designed by Crosson, Clarke, Carnachan Architects for a family of five (clients) and it’s named the Whangapoua Sled House because it’s built on large wooden ‘sleds’ so that it can be moved when needed, more on that later. As most of you know, you can’t build a solid foundation on sand so the wooden ‘sleds’ are a great solution, allowing this home to be dragged by a tractor or placed on a barge where it can be moved a few feet or anywhere around the world. Although more expensive and difficult to move because of its larger size in comparison to most tiny houses that we feature, it’s still mobile if you absolutely needed to move it yet large enough for a family to comfortably live in. At 430.556 sq ft square feet it’s not very ‘tiny’, although relative to most homes today… it is!
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Modern Beachfront Cabin by Carnachan Architects… Built for Family of Five. The Whangapoua Sled House!
Photo Credits Jackie Meiring Courtesy of Crosson, Clarke, Carnachan Architects
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This entire micro home including the deck is just 90 square feet. If you only include the interior, it measures just 50 square feet. This is just a bit beyond a tiny house, isn’t it? I’d definitely consider it ‘micro’.
Good news is that in many areas this would just be a simple backyard shed or accessory structure meaning there’d be a chance you won’t need a permit to build something similar. On this one, there’s a downstairs area and upstairs loft both with wonderful views through the large window. Surrounded by nature, forest and wilderness, you can relax in peace, write, or just take a nap. It can even work as an efficient, inexpensive, and handy guest suite for when you have visitors.
If you enjoyed this you’ll LOVE our Free Daily Tiny House Newsletter with even more!
Shed-style Micro Cabin with Deck
Photo Credit Robin Falck
Notice how the window is angled to bring in light and provide great views of the landscape and the sky at night. The lower half is the living area and the upper half is the sleeping loft.
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It’s called the Tall Man’s Tiny House because the builders are brothers and they are both 6’7″ tall.
They designed and built the house just as if they were going to use it for themselves.
So if you’re tall or you plan on sharing your tiny home with someone else who’s tall, this might be your chance to pick up a ready-made home for a really good deal. More details on that below.
The windows are huge which makes it feel so open inside. In the pictures- at least to me- it looks like a much larger home.
It’s also unique because it has both a modern and a rustic feel to it. It turns out that one brother is a builder and the other an artist/designer. It’s no wonder it turned out so nice.
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Tiny House Design for Tall People
Photo Credit Tall Man’s Tiny House
It’s 130 square feet inside without including the sleeping loft. They built it on a trailer with dual 3,500-pound axles and the home weighs an estimated 6000 pounds.
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This post is based on a video created by Kirsten Dirksen of Faircompanies.com about a woman living in a shipping container and a tiny home on wheels with her family.
A friend suggested she build something after being forced out of her last home where she was renting.
After that she was able to attain a shipping container for free that used to bring things back and forth from China.
The homeowner spent $4,000 to convert the container into a home so that now there’s a kitchen, living room, tiny playroom, and more- all crammed into the small space. She customized everything without any previous carpentry experience.
You’ll also get to see the awesome tiny house on wheels that the woman built right beside her container house so that she and her children can enjoy more space.
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Photo Credit Kirsten Dirksen/Faircompanies.com
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