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This tiny writer’s cabin retreat is a guest post by Greg Hughes – share yours! 

Thought you might enjoy a few pictures of my friend Jeff’s recent project for his wife.

It’s not as slick as some of the purpose built tiny houses you feature but the difference is, outside of money for paint, caulk, and screws, this was almost completely free.

His wife was in need of a quiet place away from their house to do her writing. He looked into manufactured tiny houses but didn’t want to spend that much money.

He noticed an old farm outbuilding on his neighbors land and inquired about it. The neighbor told him they never used it so he could have it for free.

He rented a trailer and dragged the whole building to its new site on his land. After pressure washing, 22 tubes of caulk, paint, and a deck built out of lumber from the family barn it is ready for some creativity to happen within.

Electricity is currently supplied by a 400 foot long extension cord from the main house. The great thing about it is it is located on a remote section of their 3 acre plot and is completely out of site from the main house so his wife never knew what was being done. She has been away and family business and will get the surprise of her life when she returns in a few days.

Please enjoy and re-share below. Thank you!

Husband Surprises Wife with Tiny Writer’s Cabin Retreat

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Images © Greg Hughes

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This is a 5′ x9′ Tiny Travel Trailer guest post by Kay Beam – share yours!

I built a 5′ x 9′ tiny travel trailer. I wanted something to camp in with hard sides so that I could bring my granddaughters with me. I made the walls 5′ high with a dropped floor so that I could stand up in it. At the dropped floor the inside height is 5’8″; I’m 5″6″, so there’s 2 inches to spare.

The floor and walls are made of ¾ inch plywood, and the roof has luan placed on spars. The walls and roof are skinned with aluminum. I ordered manufactured windows and a door.

It weighs just under 1,000 pounds, and tows very easily. It has an inside kitchen and a place to shower. There is a shower pan with a drain in the floor, and a shower curtain that hangs from the walls. The shower pan stores under the bed and I bring it out and place over the floor drain when I need to use it.

There are electrical and water hookups, and I’ll be installing a water heater. It took me about 180 hours to build and cost around $5,000.

I ordered a custom made trailer chassis and built on top of it. The trailer is very comfortable and convenient. I’m very happy with how it turned out. It was a fun project!

Below is a breakdown of the building costs. Please enjoy and re-share. Thank you!

5′ x 9′ Tiny Travel Trailer

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Images © Kay Beam

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This is a guest post by Michael Scheer about his two off-grid cabins in Northern Arizona.

My name is Michael and about 5 years ago I wanted an off grid place for vacation and retirement. Like many others I am tired of bills, bills, bills and knew I would never have enough money to retire on unless I became debt free and my home was paid off.

A couple years passed and as things happened I had a friend who went through a divorce (I recently moved out of my ex-girlfriends home 8 months prior) and he needed help monetarily in order to buy a home and asked me to move in. The move cut my rent in half and enabled me along with my bonus check to purchase some land I found in northern Arizona at about 6500 ft elevation. Summers are mild with highs in the low 90’s high 80’s and winters are in the 40’s and 50’s with light snow. I picked up 6 acres for less than $4k.

Months later I decided to put in my first cabin. I bought a 10′ x 18′ cabin shell from Weather King Portable Cabins for approximately $4,200. I put in paneling, bed, couch, small coleman table/sink combo and shelving. I also purchased some solar panels and four 35amp hour batteries for power. I camped out until the cabin was delivered, this was in late May.

I had everything unpacked and was getting ready to work on the cabin when long behold a blizzard hit, my paneling was flying across the land, stuff was getting wet and the temperature went from 75 degrees to 30 degrees in a matter of minutes. Luckily, I have one neighbor (only one) who lives about 100 yards away who came to help, we got everything inside and covered and the learning experience began. Please enjoy, learn more and re-share below. Thank you!

Man Builds Two Off-Grid Cabins in Northern Arizona

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Images © Michael Scheer

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A Guest Post by Ethan – (Send us your tiny living story)

My name is Ethan, and my girlfriend Kelsey and I have been living in 100 square feet for about 6 months so far. Our journey to tiny house living started last October when I started looking around for a trailer to build my own house on.

By November I had found a great deal ($1500 for the trailer) on craigslist and got started on the project immediately. When December came around I had my shell built and over the next couple of months, I worked on the interior. It took me around 6 months total but that was mostly due to my work schedule and only having Tuesdays to build and the weather also rained me out a couple of weeks in February.

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

Couple’s $7,000 Tiny House, And How They Built It

Ethans DIY Tiny House

In total, I put in around 20 days of work, and we both seem to love the outcome.

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