People often wonder if tiny houses are practical for families. They might work for an individual or a couple, but what happens when a baby comes into the picture?
Macy Miller had her first child while living in the beautiful, modern tiny house on wheels she designed and built herself. She knew the house made sense for the way she used space, and was excited to have a home of her own without taking out a mortgage. She wasn’t actively planning to have children when she designed the home, but she made sure her design could accommodate an additional room, just in case. When I visited her last spring, she was happy with the house as it was, but was also open to making changes in the future based on what her family needed:
Macy: I did consider all the options, even having a kid. My life could have gone any number of directions, so I designed it to be very flexible. I designed the porch so it could be enclosed, so if I wanted more privacy, I could have a separate bedroom, or it could be a little nursery. I thought about doing it, but I love my porch, and I don’t need it: kids want to be around their parents… There may be a point that it makes sense for her to have a separate space, and I enclose that patio and it becomes her room.
See how this married couple, Peter and Shannon, built their own tiny house for less than $20,000 and how they are living simply in it.
This is one of the most amazing tiny homes I’ve ever seen. I think you’ll be really impressed once you see what it’s like inside.
Inside this little cottage on wheels, you’ll find everything you want from home… A 28″ flat screen TV, washer/dryer, kitchen with large sink, staircase to the loft, and lots of windows and natural light throughout. All for under $20k.
Great work Peter, Shannon, Peter’s Dad, (and their friends, family, and building team). This is yet another amazing example of what you can do with your own custom tiny house project with enough dedication and good old fashion hard work.
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Updated January 7, 2019
Couple Build and Live in Tiny House for Less than $20k
Dee Williams built her tiny house on wheels in 2004, so long ago that she had to track down Jay Shafer in person just to figure out how to build one. It was before the tiny house movement as we now know it – there were no blogs, videos or ebooks back then. Dee has lived full time in that little house in Olympia, Washington for over ten years, although last year she added a second, even tinier house to the mix: an eight-foot-long Don Vardo design with no loft. This second house has become her home-away-from-home in Portland, Oregon when she visits friends or teaches tiny house workshops.
The full story of how Dee came to build her first little house more than ten years ago is a long and rich one. Her memoir, The Big Tiny, came out last year and arrives in bookstores in paperback on April 22nd, 2015, and there’s no better way to hear the story than from Dee herself.
When I visited her simple little house in Olympia last year, most of our conversation focused on how the house has changed her life and perspective. For Dee, one of the biggest changes was that despite building the house to be “self-contained,” it actually taught her to be interdependent with others – to lean on her friends more and let herself be leaned upon.
Dee Williams’ Life in Two Tiny Homes
Dee’s new tiny house went book touring with her through California and Oregon. Photo by Dee Williams.
This is a DIY micro caboose camper that one our readers, Glenn Wallin Sr, built for himself. Thanks so much for sharing your project with us, Glenn! If you’d like to share yours, submit it to us here.
Inside you’ll find a full bed, air conditioning, kitchenette with 3-burner stove, pressure water and sink, port-a-potty, flat screen television, and lots of built in storage throughout.
You’ll even find a solar panel on the roof that’s hooked up to battery. The entire cabin weighs only about 1,600 pounds. It’s sort of like a teardrop trailer, isn’t it? It’s definitely something I’ll file in the micro house category, too.
Glenn built it for about $3,000 in material costs and it took him about 4 months to finish it. And it’s the 12th trailer he’s built. Pretty awesome, right? Please enjoy and re-share below. 🙂
If you love camping and getting back into nature whenever possible, this DIY micro camper might be the project you’ve been looking for.
And you can build it for only $700! It functions a lot like a teardrop camper since it’s a micro travel trailer that you can build on a small utility trailer.
Since it’s relatively lightweight you can even tow it with a car! And all of your camping gear can be stored inside when you’re not using it. This makes it really easy because you can just pretty much tow and go. And once you get to your campsite, set up is pretty easy. A lot easier than setting up a tent, right? And for novice builders, this is a great project to start on before building a tiny house on wheels, don’t you think?
They took a tuff shed and converted into a tiny house by themselves. So yes, they’re DIYers (Do-It-Yourself’ers). You’ll get to learn all about it by watching the video below.
This video is helpful if you’re interested in what it’s like to convert a shed plus what it’s like to live in one on your family’s land. Please enjoy and if you’d like to you can re-share using the social and e-mail share buttons below. Thank you!
Tiny House Questions with Couple Living in Converted Shed
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Are you interested in living off the grid? It can be challenging to provide for your own needs for energy, water and other resources, but for John Wells, it’s preferable to the challenge of working a traditional job so he can buy those resources from someone else.
John has received plenty of press, from Lloyd Kahn’s“Tiny Homes, Simple Shelter” to a 2011 New York Times Profile, for moving from upstate New York to the Texas desert to build an off-grid, 128-square foot home, and then blogging about it daily for years. I visited him personally to understand more about how he made that transition, and what makes an off-grid life work.
John felt the land he bought in Southwest Texas was so cheap that his off-grid experiment didn’t agree with him, he could quit without losing much. Living in a little house works for him partially because most of his life takes place outside. When his bills and mortgage were more than he could handle in New York, he rented his house to summer vacationers and moved into a travel trailer in his backyard. That experience helped him see home as a small place to relax after a day of activity.
Wow! A mere $7,000 to build a weekend getaway destination in just two weeks!? Almost unbelievable, and certainly amazing!
Tammy and John built this tiny, 180 square foot tiny cabin (with the help of a friend) to use for weekend trips with their two small children and dog. The cabin itself is obviously very small, but many features make it appear more open, such as translucent corrugated fiberglass panels and an attached deck and yard for the children and dog to play.
The plans John chose to build the cabin were actually inspired by designs for sheds! The costs were kept at a minimum, due to bargain-hunting, homemade curtains and bed linens, and even trash-can diving! I think you’ll agree that the cabin is truly a work of love and partnership!
Tiny homes often face challenges related to codes and zoning, but some are conventionally permitted and totally legal. Alex and Allison built their striking, modern 320-square foot home legally as an “accessory dwelling,” a type of small house that shares a lot with a larger, primary dwelling. But in their unique case, they bought an empty lot, applied for permits to build a primary and accessory home, and then built the accessory first.
They’re in the process of building a larger (but still modest) primary home, but meanwhile, they’ve been happily living full-time in their accessory dwelling in the quirky and cool small town of Yellow Springs, Ohio. Both share an interest in sustainable design, and in the ways that small housing can contribute to healthy, livable communities. Their drive to build small came partly so architectural designer Alex could design and build an entire, energy-efficient house. One interior plywood wall separates the public living area from private spaces like the bathroom, and the bedroom that’s lofted above it. Though it’s just “one big room,” the high ceilings make it feel much more spacious than its floor plan would suggest.
