Tiny House Blog

Derek Diedricksen aka Deek shares another Tiny Yellow House video with us. This time a tour of a German Caravan videography by Nicolette Stewart and based in Mainz, Germany. Nicoletter publishes a blog at clickclackgorilla.com which tells more of her story.

In this video she shows how she restored the caravan, previously used as a basic shed, and how she made it into a livable home. She lives in a small community of tiny homes similar to hers.

Nicoletter says on her blog: Oo la la!  A video that we filmed almost three years ago about my Wagen and renovating it and how I dumpster dived the hell out of the building supply store.  Deek of the blog relaxshacks and the book Humble Homes, Simple Shacks turned that footage (with help from some other excellent folks whose names you will find in the credits) into another lovely segment of Tiny Yellow House TV.  Ever wondered what my voice sounds like after reading so many silent words on a screen?  Well, now you know.

Enjoy!

I just enjoyed a fun weekend with Deek and his brother at his tiny house workshop in Wilmington, North Carolina. I will be sharing a post about the experience soon. Deek and Make Magazine just released his latest video and I wanted to share it with you.

This is what Make Magazine says about his video: This is Derek “Deek” Diedricksen’s last video for us. And it’s…a little different. He pokes fun at his rather sketchy looking single-pole tree house, which he jokingly has dubbed “The Lollipop Fort Of Death.” It looks less than safe, but he insists it is. The song he wrote about it sure is catchy.

Be sure and stop by RelaxShacks.com to see more of Deek’s cool designs.

I am currently on my way to check out some tiny houses in the tropical nation of Belize. However, I thought I would leave you with a video of my teardrop trailer, the Sunflower, put together by the lovely Kirsten Dirksen of Fair Companies. Last fall, I met Kirsten’s parents at Austin Hay’s tiny open house and began to converse with her by email. She became interested in my bright yellow teardrop and wanted to show the lifestyle from my point of view.

From a mix of random video that I shot with my Sony Powershot, Kirsten edited together a very nice snapshot into the average life of a teardropper. During our final fall camping trip in the Eastern Sierras, my fellow teardropping friends and I get a little goofy in the video as we hike, soak in natural hot springs and cook over hot coals with a Dutch oven. My little cat also makes a guest appearance. If you are interested in learning more about how I got my teardrop and about teardrop trailers in general, you can visit my blog at www.tinyyellowteardrop.blogspot.com.

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

Hey all, a belated happy new year, and here’s a brand new video mini-tour of “The Whittled Down” Caravan, which made a guest-structure appearance at our Tiny House Building Workshop in Massachusetts this past November (one of five tiny shelters, structures, houses, we had on site!). It was built by Tristan Chambers and Libby Reinish (now of Easthampton, Massachusetts) for a mere $1,500 – trailer and all. They drove it to Massachusetts all the way from New Mexico, where it was originally built. This little wagon also had a full page photo spread in “Humble Homes, Simple Shacks.”

By the way, some guy named Kent Griswold (tinyhouseblog.com) will be trekking cross-country to speak and hang out at the next workshop that I’m hosting alongside Steven Harrell (from tinyhouselistings.com) in Wilmington, North Carolina (April 26th-28th). Other speakers include Laura LaVoie from 120squarefeet.com, Dustin Diedricksen (environmental engineer and small house dweller/builder), Alex Pino of tinyhousetalk.com, and more….its almost becoming a tiny, “tiny house convention”. We’ll ALL be building a tiny guest house too, and holding campfire discussions at night. Its limited to 25 people to keep it more intimate.

We’ll have the full roster/event poster out soon, and keep you updated. You can also sign up at Relaxshacks.com for this three day, hands-on, workshop.

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

My initial interest in tiny houses started with my desire to own a simple cabin in the mountains. Kirsten Dirksen from faircompanies.com recently released a new video on an updated concept of the modern day cabin. Indoor cabins!

Architect Terri Chiao knew she couldn’t afford the rent on a 750-square-foot Brooklyn loft without a roommate, but she didn’t want to divide it up with walls. Instead, she built a cabin and a treehouse inside the space to be used as private living quarters, leaving the remainder of the space free for dinners, parties, and art salons.

The 88-square-foot cabin — complete with under-the-floor storage space and a driftwood rod as a closet — was Chiao’s first home. Now three years later, she shares the 100-square-foot treehouse– lofted 6 feet off the ground to house her office below– with her partner and fellow artist Adam Frezza.

The two indoor shelters were built over the summer of 2009 with the help of friends and neighbors and just $2,000 (mostly spent on wood, tools, and hardware). Frezza and Chiao, who work together on art projects, now use the “cabin in a loft” to host “traveling artists.”

Both spaces have windows that let in sunlight and fresh air and are divided by an area with potted plants that the couple liken to a garden or urban lawn. “As a result, living in the space can feel like living outdoors, in a small community of two houses.”

For someone who wants to be close to nature, but doesn’t mind a little less privacy, a new bubble hotel/campground has been built just outside of Paris by designer Pierre-Stephane Dumas. Each of his “rooms” are transparent, air-filled plastic bubbles placed discretely in the garden of the Chateau de Malmaison, which is the former home of Napolean’s Josephine.

“I think nearly everyone of us has dreamed of something like this,” Dumas said. He built these bubbles primarily to stargaze from the comfort of bed without having to set up a tent. Continue Reading »