Just a few days ago I received an email from my friend Ryan who blogs about tiny houses at The Tiny Life. He basically announced that after 3 and a half years of writing and talking about tiny homes that he is finally going to build one for himself to live in as his home. A mortgage-free home. So I decided to arrange a phone call to interview him that way you can get a glimpse into his thoughts and reasons for making this change and how he’s making it all work.

I’ve transcribed the interview for you to read below but I’ve also uploaded it to YouTube so you can listen to it there. In the near future, it will be available on iTunes as a podcast so that you can listen to it from your iPhone, iPad, iPod, PC, or Mac. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Oh, and if you’re curious, he’s building and designing a slightly modified version of Tumbleweed’s Fencl design which looks like this:

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Photo Credit Tumbleweed Houses

I can’t wait to learn more about the house. But for now, enjoy the interview then if you want to leave your thoughts at the bottom of this page in the comments so we can all talk about it.

Listen to the entire interview or read the transcript below:

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By Laura LaVoie

“Wow, you live in something that small?”

“Oh, I could never do that!” 

“I would live in a tiny house, but I can’t because of all my books.”

We’ve all heard the negativity on the internet. It isn’t just part of the tiny house community but all over there is an epidemic of individuals trolling websites on topics they couldn’t care less about to simply make comments about how that thing is the worst thing they’ve ever heard of. I think there is something about the anonymity that the internet provides that makes people bolder than they would otherwise be.

I believe the tiny house community is all about positivity. People can give our choices political assignments even when no political motives are present. People can write us off as those crazy folks who live a little weird. That is fine; but dealing with internet comments is part and parcel of blogging the tiny life. So, how do we deal with them?

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• Moderating comments. If you have a blog, it is never a bad idea to moderate comments. Not only will this eliminate the spam messages with random links, but will also allow you to control the message of your blog. I don’t post anything that is abusive. I do post things that might be construed as negative and use them as conversation starters.

Image courtesy of Teerapun / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you thought that a 15-year-old building a mortgage-free tiny house was amazing, now there’s a 12-year-old with her sights set on her very own mortgage-free humble home.

Austin Hay is the young man behind Mini House Builder. Today he’s 17-years-old in his senior year of high school is has just about finished his little home.

Now on the horizon is a 12-year-old who goes by the name of La Petite online. In her blog, Tiny Maison, she’s already begun to share her knowledge and passion for building.

In one of her recent YouTube videos, which you can watch below, she’s laid out the possible floor plan for her house inside her living room using tape. By the way, this is a great way to tour get a feel for a tiny house without having to travel very far.

Right now La Petite is in the process of creating blueprints and ideas for her house and by March of 2013 she plans on having acquired her materials and having started the construction process.

So far she’s already acquired some reclaimed building materials like her bathroom door, front door, and some windows. And she’s sketched out some of her design ideas which I’ll share with you in this post.

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Guest Post by Nicole Young

I hate clutter with a fiery passion. Every time I visit my in-laws’ home I cringe and try to subdue the urge to straighten and purge. Worse, according to my husband, is when I get home and try to start donating and tossing things around our own- already minimalist- home.

You see, every visit sparks a fear that one day our home will be overrun with useless knick-knacks, long forgotten children’s toys, and other junk. Many of my friends ask me for advice on clearing clutter from their own home, so I’ve decided to write down my best general advice and put it out into the world.

Have a Storage Unit

You need a dedicated space to store valuable, but infrequently, used items. If you don’t have a basement or spare space in the garage you will probably need a storage unit. When utilized properly, storage units will be invaluable. When utilized poorly, however, it will just be an expensive junk room you have to travel to.

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Have you ever wondered how to build a tiny house on a trailer? You’re not alone..

Dan Louche of Tiny Home Builders has been creating how to videos on exactly how to build a tiny home of your own. His latest design is called: Tinier Living. It’s a smaller version of his popular Tiny Living plans. Since this is his third build, he’s been documenting every part of the construction process in video so anyone (including you) can learn how to do the same thing. Dan just finished installing metal roofing on the house and added video footage on exactly how to do it.
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So here’s a photo of what the house looks like right now:

Photo by Dan Louche

If you want, watch a time-lapse video of Dan installing the metal roof onto the house below:

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I was excited to find out that Clothesline Tiny Homes was featured on HLNTV earlier this week.

That’s right- Shane and Carrie were on national television just the other day giving America a tour of their tiny house.

If you missed it you can watch their segment right here on Tiny House Talk. Not very long ago Shane and Carrie decided to design and build their own mortgage-free dream house.

It’s modern, sleek, and precisely created for their own needs. It’s unique relative to most other little houses out there because it was built on a gooseneck trailer which is similar to a 5th wheel travel trailer.

This allowed them to create an extra spacious sleeping area as opposed to the upstairs sleeping lofts that can sometimes feel cramped for some.

Photo Credits Clothesline Tiny Homes

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This little loft apartment in Paris is available as a vacation rental through Airbnb.com. It’s located between la Bastille and Père Lachaise with 645 square feet of open space on the 5th floor. Just two blocks away you can jump aboard a bus ride to the Louvre museum and Metro Charonne. There are also plenty of restaurants, bars, and food shops nearby. Inside there’s a full kitchen, bathroom, wireless internet, and even a washer and dryer so you can feel right at home.
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Just scroll down to take a photo tour of the small space below..

Nothing fancy and pretty simple, wouldn’t you say? Below is a view from the loft.

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This video based post is going to show you how to build your own rustic lantern hanger that you can use in your tiny house, cabin, or current home. Derek “DEEK” Diedricksen of RelaxShacks.com is going to show how he did it for just $2.00 using recycled materials, some creativeness, and a little bit of labor.

Here’s what you’re going to need:

• Piece of wood to act as hanger
• Wood to create border
• Scrap plywood and paint
• Lantern to hang
• Hammer and nails

Pretty simple right? So let’s get started!

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Play the video below and Deek will guide you on how to do it. Let me us know what you come up with afterward in the comments or on your own blog.

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