Pootatuck Pallet Projects
by Doug Calderone
I have been a follower for many years now and wanted to take the next step and contribute. Around the same time I stumbled across your blog, I began experimenting with shipping pallets. Being a carpenter by trade, I already possessed the skills to build, but pallets are a whole different ball game. When building with pallets, one cannot just draw up plans and expect everything to work. Pallets need to be looked at as building blocks, like Legos for example. Drawing up plans is still a good idea, but the dimensions and structural integrity of pallets needs to be the main factor in design.
Before, I started building; I needed to find sources to obtain my pallets. The most common pallet can be found behind almost every store and it measures 4ft by 45 inches. It consists of 3 parallel 2x4s with 1x planks running perpendicular. These pallets are normally reused over and over and are riddled with nails. The wood is grade “d” lumber at best and is hard to drive a nail into. However, there are treasures out there; I have found many mahogany pallets and oak pallets. With some dedication, the wood can be reclaimed.
Hermit Deluxe 2012 Design Challenge
Guest Post by Joe Chipman
Since 2009 I have been designing and building two tiny houses for my own use. The Bunkhouse and the Hermit DeLuxe as seen in past posts on tinyhouseblog.com. http://tinyhouseblog.com/tag/the-hermit-deluxe/ and http://tinyhouseblog.com/stick-built/the-little-bunkhouse-in-the-woods-plans/ The Bunkhouse is complete with two twin beds, a 4 ft wide 2 ft deep closet and a 4 ft wide writing desk with a view out a window all in 64 sq ft.
Based on the Bunkhouse design, I am building and very near complete the Hermit DeLuxe a 160 sq ft tiny home on wheels. The Hermit DeLuxe sleeping arrangements has two bunks above the workbench and bathroom with a ladder access to three foot tall loft and a twin bed loft arrangement with a desk below on the other end of the Hermit DeLuxe.
Because I am nearing 50 years old and overweight I can forsee problems with these sleeping arrangements. In light of these problems I am planing to build a 24 ft – 30 ft caravan style tiny house on wheels in the future with readily accessible sleeping compartment based on my past designs.
These drawings are just the last 64 sq ft of a unfinished design called the Captain’s Getaway. I favor designs based on built-in furniture and using every inch of space like in wooden sailboats. Continue Reading »
Wooden Wonders
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
From The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again by by J.R.R. Tolkien
For the lovers of that hole in the ground, take a look at these little, wooden houses with the quintessential round door made very familiar by the Lord of the Rings books and movies. Wooden Wonders, in Unity, Maine, custom designs and builds these little wooden structures that can be used as playhouses, saunas, writing nooks, guest cottages, yoga or meditation rooms or maybe even a tiny house.
The structures can be integrated into your own landscaping and flower boxes can be added onto the back. The structures can be customized with different colors, additional materials, windows, dormers, interior shelving and other decorative features. Wooden Wonders also features a “heavy duty” package with double doors that allows for storing a lawn tracker or an ATV. Continue Reading »
Cozy Home Plans
Kevin Harrington, a licensed realtor and home remodel expert in Colorado has created a nice selection of tiny and small home plans called Cozy Home Plans. The homes range from 288 square feet to 781 square feet and his plans cost between $99 to just under $700. Kevin also runs a blog where he posts articles on home construction and DIY tips. He has posted about how to mix concrete, installing electricity, useful household tools and tiny house Feng Shui.
A few years ago, Kevin downsized from a 2,700 square foot home, got rid of about 90 percent of his possessions and moved into a 280 square foot 5th wheel trailer. He was in the process of researching alternative building techniques and stumbled onto the tiny house movement. He decided to start a website and blog to showcase his small home plan ideas.
“This tiny lifestyle I was living gave me back serenity,” Kevin said. “This was something that had been sorely missing in my life for a very long time. I just wanted to share my experiences.”
His goal with Cozy Home Plans was to add a few more feet onto tiny homes to make them more livable.
“Can a person live in 100 square feet? Absolutely, but can they share it with guests or a partner full-time? How about a larger kitchen, washer/dryer capabilities and storage for extra stuff in such a small space? Answering “Yes” to these questions became more difficult in such a tiny space,” Kevin said. “My solution was to add a few more feet to each house.”
Swedish Student House
The popularity of Stieg Larsson’s books, and subsequent movies, about a certain tattooed girl has given rise to a new-found love of Swedish design. Sweden’s Technical Week website recently had a story on a 94 square foot tiny home that celebrates that clean design, but is also making a statement at the same time.
This experimental, free-standing tiny home for students has a kitchen, a bath with a shower, a corner office and an eating area with two chairs. A sleeping loft is accessed by a ladder. This home will rent for 30,000 Swedish crowns ($4,400) a year, when most student housing in Sweden rents for about 50,000 ($7,700) crowns a year. The country has a lack of affordable student housing and most seekers have to stand in line for an available place to live. This home will be rented out for three years to one person who can give the best reason why they should have the house. Continue Reading »
Artist Retreat
By Mike Beamer
The main goal of this project is to create a space that will draw talented artists to Sisters, Oregon and provide them with an enriching experience of the area while facilitating the creation of great works of art.
The living and working functions are separated into their own units which face a common porch providing an expansion of perceived space and a connection to the outdoors. The modular construction sits lightly on the ground and is easily transportable on the back of a flatbed truck. A steel exoskeleton provides a rugged structure to which Structural Insulated Panels are bolted, providing a continuous layer of insulation.
The project aims to have net-zero impact, through the use of PV panels, capturing rainwater, and composting all waste. Contact with each of these systems will enhance the user’s awareness of personal consumption.
More information about this and other projects can be found here: http://sistersmobileartiststud
