Tiny House Blog

by Andrew Odom

So much time is spent thinking about the exterior build of tiny houses – the trailer, the framework, the weight, the roof, etc – that the interior is often overlooked. But is that wise? Isn’t the interior what transforms an otherwise stark and impersonal trailer or foundation into a home? It is if you ask Stacey Pridgen of Rooms and Spaces and tiny places.

“The interior is what turns a trailer into a home. It is where a person lays their head at night and you want that person to feel like they are in a palace and not an outhouse,” says Pridgen.

A contractor, creator, builder, craftsman, artist, and innovator for over 25 years Pridgen has been putting hammer to nail since he was just 16 years old. “I started when I was 16 years old or so. I got a job with a construction outfit as a framing assistant. I spent a lot of time helping, lugging material, and trying to learn the trade.”

Stacey never remembers wanting to be a doctor or a lawyer or any sort of corporate tycoon. He craved the dirt and the outdoors. College never even appeared on his radar as he went directly from high school onto the job site. Continue Reading »

by James Kinkaid

I have been working on a tiny house project since June, when I found a 1948 Trotwood camper for sale alongside the highway here in Ohio. I purchased it, complete with original ice box, for $350.00 delivered. I renovated the inside first, then had my neighbor Tim help me drag it out into the woods behind my house. I painted the outside and built  deck from reclaimed lumber from the Habitat for Humanity store near me.

I am a teacher, so I got some of my techie kids involved in designing and building off the grid energy technology for the project. They built a pop can heater designed to heat the inside space with passive solar heat, a solar panel to charge a 12 volt battery for lights, an outdoor wood-burner to channel warm air into the camper, a water collection canopy and filtration system, and an outdoor privy. Continue Reading »

by Marcus Barksdale

I recently completed a tiny house for my personal residence in Asheville, North Carolina, and wanted to share a description, a few pictures, and a video of it with other tiny house enthusiasts. I include a lot of detail to help others learn from my thought processes.

I’ve wanted to build my own house since childhood, and became fascinated with tiny houses upon discovering Lester Walker’s book Tiny, Tiny Houses in the late 1980’s. At the time I owned a small, post-war house in Austin, Texas, and it always felt so huge and inefficient. The rest of life distracted me for a long time, all the while I constantly dreamed about, researched, and drew tiny houses for fun. After leaving a toxic job and traveling for awhile, I decided it was time to follow this life goal and build my little house.

I chose to build a fixed house, rather than a trailer-based dwelling, for several reasons:

• I’m an urbanite and I’d rather live in town so I can walk or ride a bicycle to get places than drive a car very far. But it’s pretty hilly here in Asheville and harder to find an in-town backyard into which you can physically move a tiny house on a trailer.
• I didn’t want to worry about getting caught violating housing codes by living in what the local governments would consider a recreation vehicle.
• I didn’t want to own, or need to rent or borrow, a large truck each time I needed to move a trailer-based house.
• A fixed house provides equity, potential rental income and better resale value.
• I wanted the creature comforts of a large shower and full-size range.
• I wanted outdoor rooms with more permanent features, such as a porch dimension,” except kitchens.

“Each dwelling unit shall be provided with a kitchen area and every kitchen area shall be provided with a sink.” Continue Reading »

Deb Durham blog #3 (small house feature)

Hi there! Last time I featured this home’s bathroom/laundry/soaking tub remodel solutions within the existing footprint of the home. I renovated this 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,200 sq. ft. all adobe home outside of Santa Fe, NM.

Now I’ll show you how to visually expand the space throughout a home with choice of materials, colors and furnishing selections plus one more remodel for the master bedroom space since many asked about the master shower and why I did not put the soaking tub there. Again, your idea of small may be smaller than this home, but these tips will apply anywhere you want to get a bigger bang for the buck out of your square footage.

Continue Reading »

Guest Post by Jakob Barry

Just because a tiny home has a small kitchen doesn’t mean there should be any less of an appetite for entertaining, as a little creativity can go a long way in finding space for all the necessary items.

To help pack in the cutlery, food making accessories, plates, bowls and more a ceiling rack is perfect for alleviating some of the spatial stress in cabinets and cupboards.

It won’t solve all your problems, but can make accessing frequently used cookware a little easier while adding some extra character to the kitchen. If you think a ceiling rack would be useful in your tiny home here are a few things to consider: Continue Reading »

Mike Irish just contacted me with an update. He says, “Last year I bought a big house to remodel and it seems to take lots of money and time. I think I like the wee houses better.

The good new is I have another Wee Irish Cottage almost finished. It is 8ft X 26ft with 8ft X 20ft insulated living space with loft, and a covered 8ft X 6ft trek deck porch, insulated windows and door. The outside is covered with cedar bevel siding and the inside is T&G pine with bamboo flooring.

There is a small kitchen with a sitting area and under counter fridge, 36 in. shower stall and composting toilet. Downstairs there is a hide-a-bed if you don’t want to use the loft. I am advertising the Irish Wee House on Portland Craigslist for $12,500.

Continue Reading »