Kay alerted me to this neat article about four people living in 180 square feet mostly on weekends that she discovered over at apartment therapy.
Tammy, John, Sam, Will, and their dog Dobbs from Gambier Island, British Columbia, Canada, armed with a hacked $25 shed plan and an incredibly generous friend with actual skills, constructed this cute little cabin.
Their cabin is a work in progress and probably always will be.
Photo Credits: Tammy Everts
The footprint is 10 by 12 feet. That’s right: 120 square feet. The sleeping loft is 6 by 12, making the grand total 180 square feet. The deck, which was added this past spring, is 10 by 10, and boy, does it make a difference. With both doors open, it feels luxuriously spacious, believe it or not. The materials cost – including salvaged windows and doors – was about $7,000.
Based from the Californian from Just Sheds for the pitch of its roof. The 10 by 12 with a 13-foot ridge gave them enough room to tuck in a sleeping loft. They hacked the plans to extend the roofline out 4 feet over the door, and they built the floor out of of 2x4s.
Please go to apartment therapy and read the complete details and a well written story.
What a charming and funky cabin. Gambier Island is the perfect location for this tiny, simple place.
LOVE IT! Can I borrow Stefan?
Love those roof trusses. Lots of great ideas. Gambier is a wonderful island, there is a ferry but it’s passenger only and depending on what part of the island you’re on it may make more sense to take a water taxi. Barging is the only way to get large loads over though.
I love seeing stories about families in small or tiny houses! The only thing I personally wouldn’t like is not haing a bathroom (they have an outhouse) for two reasons. I’ve lived in the mountains in BC (although not on Gambier) and I wouldn’t want to send my cougar snack sized kids out in the woods to go to the bathroom in the dark (we lost a cat this way) and two, I do need bathing facilities of some sort. I guess because they only live in it on weekends this isn’t a problem for them though.
Very cool!!! I hope you can enjoy this for years to come!
Thank you for sharing this article. VERY well done and totally inspiring!
Like Amanda , I do need a real bathroom and shower . But I also love to see all the tiny houses and admire those people who can live in the tiny places ( to me , it looks like a doll house or play house …for fun and adventure ) It is nice to see how people put their belongings , shelves and all …very neat and cozy . TM.
This little thing is beautiful! I’m with some of the others though, I think I’d need a real bathroom. I’d love to have something like this out in the woods for camping trips and such though!
The photo gallery over at their site is great! I like the pictures of the kitchen area. The photos must be pretty misleading, because the interior shots make it difficult to believe it’s so small.
Lotsa character. Four people in 180 square feet is very commendable too- its a veritable “fart-sauna”….
No, I’m sure those kids will have some fantastic memories of shackin’ up in a such a cool little cabin- I know I did while growing up…..
Very nice work- they should be very proud.
-Deek
Relaxshacks.com
Brilliantly done. Beautiful site, beautiful cabin, beautiful memories for your children.
Try a camping shower bag – they’re about $25. Add a shower curtain to the deck area. It also provides an easy way to wash dishes.
To create spaciousness, store everything away.
Love a daybed with underbed storage – store pans, dishes and dry goods in pull-out cardboard boxes. To limit kitchen items, try one-pot recipes. Use a pot as a mixing bowl, a spoon or mug to measure, a fork as a whisk and a mug as a ladle.
Use the studs in the wall to create narrow shelving – store dishes vertically. Add mugs hooks beneath a shelf. Cover shelving with two curtains of recycled fabric.
Store extra blankets in pillowcases on the bed.
Great concept! I’m currently building a 12×12 in North Idaho, yours give me some ideas for mine.
Thanks
I remembered this one from way back and wanted to take another look as my dh and I are starting to look more seriously at going back to BC, buying land and building something for weekends and overnights for us, our 3 kids and large dog. I still love this one, but still feel I really need bathroom facilities attached to the house rather than an outhouse. This has definitely given me some great ideas though and I think I could make something similar work by maybe making it 10×16 instead and tacking on a bathroom in the back and making the bed on the main floor a bunk with a trandle to accomodate all three kids.