Carina (Dirtbag Minimal on YouTube) built this spacious and minimalist DIY tiny house on wheels with no previous building experience!
It was a housing solution for her that fit into the gap between renting and buying a full-sized home, and another advantage of building a THOW was that she could move it wherever she wanted (as long as she could find a parking spot for it!).
Image © Dirtbag Minimal
The Shiship is a really cool tiny cabin that was designed and built by Repère Boréal in Quebec, Canada.
It’s a simple structure made with a single high-cube shipping container and it measures 31′ long x 8′ wide, and 9’6″ tall. On the exterior, you can still see most of the original shipping container with lots of exposed corrugated steel and massive cargo doors at one end. It’s an interesting visual reminder that the shell of this cabin had another life before it was repurposed.
The cedar accents balance out the more industrial look of the container and make it feel more welcoming, and the massive wooden window frame at the other end is a dramatic feature that defines the outside of the structure and makes it pretty unique.
Image © Exploring Alternatives
Hope you’re not afraid of heights because this tiny A-frame cabin is perched 40 feet in the air! The exterior is all windows and angles, including a diamond shape on one side, but the interior is full of curved details and has a cozy ambiance to soften the feel of the space. It was designed and built by the team at Repère Boréal in Charlevoix, Quebec, and they call it The Uhu.
Getting up into the cabin is a pretty cool experience: you climb an enclosed spiral staircase and once you reach the top, you cross a 20-foot bridge to get to the cabin’s front door.
Image © Exploring Alternatives
This is a 1969 International short school bus that was converted into the Old School B&B in British Columbia, Canada. It’s built with materials that were salvaged locally and it’s decorated with fun thrifted vintage items to bring us back to the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.
The bus has a roof built above it to protect it from the weather and to cover the outdoor bathroom/outhouse as well as the porch area.
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Image © Exploring Alternatives
Prefab homes have had a negative reputation in the past for being mass-produced and poorly made but Hewing Haus is one of several amazing companies that are challenging this stereotype by building prefab homes with quality materials and attention to detail.
They have a series of small home designs ranging in size from 200 ft2 to 600 ft2 and we had the chance to tour the smallest model at their warehouse in Chilliwack, British Columbia.
These tiny homes are not built on trailers. Instead, they can be transported on a regular transport truck and craned into place onto a variety of foundations, including helical piles. They can be used as cabins, bunkies, retreats, rentals, accessory dwelling units, and laneway houses to name just a few options, and they can be set up almost anywhere (be sure to check out the video below to see a bunkie being installed on top of a cliff with a helicopter!).
Image © Exploring Alternatives
This epic DIY truck house is 8′ long x 6′ wide and sits on the flatbed of a 1996 Ford F-350.
It was designed and built by Timmy from Truck House Life as a full-time home on wheels for his adventurous lifestyle in Alaska.
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Image © Truck House Life
This monolithic cob house is completely off-grid with a 1-kilowatt solar power system and a backup generator for electricity, a Rumford fireplace and propane radiant in-floor heating, and a constructed wetland for natural wastewater treatment.
The modern interior living space is approximately 1,000 square feet in size with an open-concept kitchen, dining, and living room, as well as 2 bedrooms, a mechanical room, and a bathroom.
Image © Exploring Alternatives
Jake & Kiva started building their 20-foot long tiny house in 2014 and they’ve been living in it full-time with their cat and dog for 4 years now!
They came up with some brilliant solutions and designs to maximize the small space and make it as functional as possible, and the build cost $36K CAD.
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Image © Exploring Alternatives
This is a stunning DIY conversion of an ambulance into a camper van, built by Amanda and her dad over the course of 7 months.
The vehicle is a 2006 Ford E-350 cutaway that used to be an emergency response vehicle for the US Navy. Amanda bought it for $10,000 CAD and the conversion cost an additional $10,000 CAD.
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Image © Amanda Lemay
