If you’re looking for a small house design that’s still less than 500-square-feet..

And if you also like yurts..

Then you might like this small home from Mandala Homes.

It’s a 21′ round cottage that adds up to approximately 322-square-feet of interior living space.

In the time lapse video below you’ll get to see the circular cabin being put together in “fast-forward”.

Since all of the panels were prefabricated- including the subfloor- it took less than 9 hours to put together.

I encourage you to watch the video below then if you want share your ideas with the community in the comments at the bottom of the page.

Photo Source Mandala Facebook

If you want to watch the time-lapse construction video click below:

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By Laura LaVoie

Someone asked me the other day what the advantages were of small houses versus apartment living? Why, she asked, would someone prefer living in a small house rather than renting an apartment? Certainly one is not superior over the other. The simple answer comes down to preference, but here are some other reasons people may consider tiny houses rather than apartment living.

• No Shared Walls. I’ve lived on the 16^thfloor of a high rise apartment. I really liked it there.  And I would do it again. There were occasionally issues with a neighbor playing music way too loud at 2 A.M. or us needing to be cautious of our television volume or playing the guitar too loud and bothering other residents. This is simply a fact of apartment living.

Photo Credit Brownstoner.com

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This 8′ x 26′ tiny house on a trailer is being built by Bob Pritts of East Tennessee. It has a country cottage style to it and is being constructed on a 26′ trailer. At approximately 208 square feet it’s going to be his retirement home. With no mortgage or rent, it’s going to help him create a lot more disposable income. So that’s why people say less is more… Since it’s such a small space, Bob splurged on some granite and cherry wood for the inside. Once he’s done building it, it’s going to be parked in a mobile home lot. Bob chose to install plenty of windows throughout so he can enjoy a lot of lighting. Instead of having a sleeping loft he went with a longer trailer and designed the living room to double as a bedroom just like you’d see in a studio. Bob also opted for a full sized shower and insulated the house really well so that it’ll be easy to cool and heat throughout the year.

Please don’t miss other exciting tiny homes – join our FREE Tiny House Newsletter!

Photo Credits Bob Pritts

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Do you ever wonder how a tiny house is built strong enough to be towed without warping or incurring any type of damage due to strong winds? In our last webinar, we talked briefly about what’s known as Simpson Strong Ties. Also known as Seismic Strong Ties. They’re sometimes called Hurricane Ties too. You use these in stick built structures to help make them stronger, especially useful for the trusses, rafters, and studs on little homes on trailers. These genius ties make building your dwelling easier and way stronger than they’d normally be without them.

To learn more about Seismic Strong Tie Connectors click here. If you want to place an order for some strong ties for your construction project, see the links below:

Please don’t miss other exciting tiny homes – join our FREE Tiny House Newsletter!

Photo Credit Tumbleweed Houses

Photo Credit Simpson Strong Ties

You can also get these in packs of 100 right here.

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By Laura LaVoie

Building a tiny house started out as a very personal journey for me.  As time went on we were asked to help a small organization in South Africa build a shelter for kids. To be honest, volunteering with a non-profit organization had never been on my radar screen before but sometimes the right project comes along. A friend had moved to South Africa and was working with an organization there that helped orphans and other vulnerable children. Next thing we knew, we were making plans to travel to Durban South Africa to work with them to design a sustainable shelter using the skills we gained from building a tiny house. Fundraising has been continuing and eventually, we will be able to go back and build it.

Tiny houses are a great fit for a lot of nonprofit organizations. They are small, portable, and can be inexpensive to build. They can also be built by volunteers who may not have experience in designing or building. 

I am not the only tiny house builder who took my newfound skills and applied them to charitable causes. You may be familiar with Kendall of Nerd Girl Homes. She is a high school senior who is building a Tumbleweed Tiny House (the Lusby) to give to someone who needs a home or she will auction it off and donate the money to a charitable cause. So many tiny house builders build for themselves; it is amazing to hear about someone, especially in high school, building a tiny home for someone else.

Please don’t miss other exciting tiny homes – join our FREE Tiny House Newsletter!

Artist/Photo Credit Joni Beckner

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By Robin Harrington

Extra bedrooms can serve multiple purposes. Not only do they have the potential to be accommodations for guests or a home office, they can also serve as extra storage space to help keep the rest of the house clean and organized. What happens too frequently, however, is people do not use the space optimally. Sometimes they attempt to cram too much into a limited space and end up with a clutter. Other times they over decorate and the room looks too busy. Spare rooms should be optimized so they can adequately serve any purpose they are needed for. Here are some tips for organizing your spare bedroom so it will serve your home well.

Minimize Clutter

Whenever you are looking to maximize space in any room, it is important to minimize the clutter. Having too many pieces of furniture, too many decorations or too much of anything will make the room look small and disorganized. When you begin to store things in the spare bedroom, choose wisely which pieces fit well in the room. Then, make sure you live by the rule: a place for everything and everything in its place.

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This is Art’s SIP Tiny House on Wheels. SIP stands for Structurally Insulated Panels. They come pre-manufactured with insulation and everything. All you have to do is put the panels together. Don’t worry, at the bottom half of this article, you’ll see how it’s all done.

The outside of Art’s house was covered with 100-year-old reclaimed cypress from around the area in Louisiana. You would never know it was built with SIPs from looking at it, right? Much of the trim and structural supports for the structure are antique pine that was removed from barns and other buildings in the surrounding area.

Inside you’ll find fresh and locally milled tongue and groove cypress to clad the interior walls and ceiling. The flooring is antique pine salvaged from the surrounding area. When you walk inside it actually feels roomy thanks to the 11′ ceiling. The couch triples it’s service as a convertible guest bed while serving even more with storage underneath.

Be sure you take a look at the way Art designed and built his loft ladder because it folds up in a unique, space-saving way that’s great for tiny houses. Enjoy! To explore more amazing tiny homes like this, join our Tiny House Newsletter. It’s free and you’ll be glad you did! We even give you free downloadable tiny house plans just for joining.

Art’s SIP Tiny House on Wheels

Photo Credit Art

I encourage you to see and learn about the rest of this unique little house below:

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This tiny bunk house is essentially a stick built travel trailer. It’s 8′ by 6’4″ and was just built in 2012 using a heavy duty trailer frame. The bearings, rims, and tires were all replaced and 2×3 construction was used throughout.

All joints and siding were glued and screwed and it has a brand new steel roof. Brand new LED trailer light set was installed along with five LED lights and LED lantern to use for lighting. Currently for sale with an asking price of just $5,000. This could be your next travel trailer, micro guest house, or who knows?

Don’t miss other super cool tiny homes kind of like this – join our FREE Tiny House Newsletter for more!

5k Tiny Bunk House on Wheels

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