My wife, Christy, and I took a 1994 Blue Bird school bus and turned it into a home for us and our little boy.

We spent the summer of 2011 doing most of the conversion. I worked days as a carpenter and put in long nights and weekends on the bus and was rewarded with a comfortable, warm, and unique space for our family, free from rent and mortgage.

We spent the winter months traveling from Georgia to Washington state, spending most of the time around the south-west.

Along our journey we found out that we were pregnant with our second child so, though our time in our new home has been short, we are now in the prossess of selling the bus in order to fund a move to Alaska. We hope to get enough money from the sale to be able to start a life there and begin plans for another small, simple yet beautiful and unique home, this time though on a soil foundation!

More pictures and information at my website… http://deorwoodworking.wordpress.com/green-cedar-pictures/

Contact Josiah via this email: Nemo8484 (at) gmail.com he did not give me a price…

When I pulled this post together last night there were 148 responses. There were a few duplicates so they were removed. It was so much fun to read them and I wanted all of you to have a chance to see them and to add your answer below if you choose.

Here are the answers:

• Cozy
• Smart
• Precious
• Efficient
• Love
• Plenty
• Simple
• Claustrophobic
• Dwell
• J/K
• Zen
• Home
• Revolutionary
• Um…tiny?
• Easy does it!
• Harmony
• Compact
• Organized
• Sufficient…Cozy…Enough…Bliss
• Comfortable
• Cute
• Freedom
• Kindness
• Sustainable
• Sweet
• Gemütlich
• Perfect
• Affordable
• Bijou
• *tiny* (with sparkles)
• DEBT FREE
• Home
• Snug
• Possible!
• Intimate
• yeah
•  just right… charming
• Liberating
• Micro~cosmic man!
• Tiny
• Snugly
• Smart
• Innovative
• Uncomplicated
• Homey!
• Freeing
• Peace
• Responsible
• “Compact?” “Efficient?” In the end, “enough”…
• Serenity
• Enough
• Simplicity
• Functional
• Delightful
• Safe
• Oomblegok
• Awesome!!!
• Unshackled
• WANT!
• Life
• Independence
• Practical
• Enough
• Heaven
• Large! Wait…what?
• Adorable
• Sweet
• Soothing
• Spacious
• Supplementary
• Plenary!
• Plenty
• Absolute
• Efficiency
• Comfy
• Casita
• Complete
• Bliss
• Doable
• Special
• Footprint
• Cozzzzy
• Modest
• Grand!
• RV
• FUN!
• Home
• Inspiring
• Green!
• Amazing
• Love
• Enveloping
• Escape
• Sanctuary
• Innovative
• Shed
• Shelterrific!
• Magical

Peak Moment is an online television series featuring people creating resilient communities for a more sustainable, lower-energy future. Programs range from permaculture farms to electric bikes, ecovillages to car-sharing, emergency preparedness to careers for the coming times. As of May 2010, over 170 half-hour programs are available online.

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

Their comprehensive and beautiful website profiles their living and working on the boat with a child in tow. They purchased the Spindrift in the San Francisco Bay area, and are living there until they can get the boat ready to sail down to Mexico. They purchased the boat for around $40,000 with money they saved up while working, and are doing much of the boat repairs themselves. For additional income Pat also does some day trading and they have written a book on their around the world sailing adventure.

The Schultes emphasize that they plan on keeping their lives simple by not buying a lot of stuff, TVs, cell phones, insurance or a lot of toys and clothes for their children. They are proud that Ouest will grow up on the water rather than in front of a television.

Photos Courtesy of bumfuzzle.com

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

To learn more Google  ”one plank chair”  or “two plank chair.”

Not a Windsor,  for sure,  but if you are getting down to simplicity and utility they work! instructables.com has step by step instructions on building your own. They can be made simply or as fancy as you want, you decide.

The 8-square-foot structure houses the dreams of the residents at Nickelsville.

It’s called a “simple small sturdy sleeping structure,” and each resident hopes to soon call one home.

“It’s sturdy,” said resident Mike Whistler, who helped build the prototype. “It’s a lot better than a tent – I can say that much. And it’s durable.”

Photo Credits: KOMO News

Mike Jones, another Nickelsville resident, designed the structure, and several others help build the prototype, which now proudly sits outside the old Lake City fire station, the current home of the Nickelsville (tent encampment).

A mix-and-match of donated and newly-bought parts, the structure cost roughly $250 to build.

Read the complete story at the KOMO News webpage.

Mike, who rides a bicycle instead of owning a car, appreciated the green aspects of the tiny mobile home but was a bit concerned about having to pick it up from Oregon and bring it back to his home in Connecticut. So, he looked at it as an adventure, bought a van sight unseen in Washington and towed the house across the country with his son.

“We had a hell of a good time,” Mike said. “It was the best time of my life”.

He and his son explored the country for several weeks and slept in their new little house. Mike was worried about driving in windy areas and under overpasses, but he said the house did great. He was pleased that he could park the house in cities across the country and spend a few days. He was also thrilled that he had no issues with police officers, and that people showed genuine interest and wanted to take pictures of the tiny house.

Currently, the house is parked behind a rental property that Mike lives in and manages. He bought the house fully finished but with no interior divisions. He wants to keep the kitchen simple with a foldout stove and no plumbing and he has his water delivered and uses a shower at a local health club. He will be purchasing a composting toilet, solar panels, batteries and a generator for power and a Vermont soapstone vented propane stove for heat. So far, he has experienced no issues or inconveniences with not having a bathroom or plumbing. He also recommends that a tiny house should have as many windows and glass as possible to let in light and give the illusion of more space.

“The skylights and the glass door make a big difference, ” Mike said.

After his changes and additions, Mike spent about $25,000 on his tiny house. Mike is working on getting the house parked on a piece of borrowed property near Hartford, Connecticut. So far, he has had nothing but upbeat and excited responses from his neighbors and friends and is looking forward to slowly transitioning into his tiny home.

“I don’t want to work as much and give away my hours anymore, ” he said. “Right now, people are working as hard as they can to clean and maintain their homes instead of doing what their hearts desire.”

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

It turns out it’s a tiny observatory built by a local man named Michael. His neighbors affectionately call it the “Milk Carton.”

He built it about 3 years ago and it took him several months. It is 2×4 construction built on concrete piers, but does not have heat, plumbing or insulation. It is two stories tall and an internal ladder goes up to the second story. Michael owns several telescopes and uses the house for digital imaging. The telescope sits on the second floor scanning the sky, and Michael sits on the bottom floor with a computer capturing the images. He is mostly interested in planetary nebula.

I thought the deck in front of the observatory was a nice touch and must be a great place to hang out in the summer. This winter, Michael is using the observatory for a storage area and does not have the telescopes set up in the house.

I was most impressed with the orientation of the observatory. The roof window looks toward the West part of the sky where there are fewer city lights from Carson City in the South and Reno in the North. Also, the deck is located on the East portion of Michael’s build so the tall house blocks most of the hot summer sun but still allows the winter sun to hit the deck from the South.

By Christina Nellemann for the (Tiny House Blog)

The FirstDay Cottage company in New Hampshire offers a house kit which they claim a couple, and a handful of friends, can build in approximately fifteen weekends and for under $45,000. These house kits can be customized for each customer and can be built with almost no carpentry experience. What I found very refreshing about FirstDay is that they insist that their kits are so simple to put together, that they encourage all their customers to contact them frequently to get advice and support throughout the project. They even help to get the owner/builder financing.

While these houses are little larger than the average tiny house, the smallest is under 1,000 square feet. The smallest of the plans is the Basic, which is 16 feet by 30 feet or 960 square feet and costs about $26,900 for the kit.

The FirstDay Kit Includes:

• Instructions and plans
• Posts and beams
• Sheathing and decking
• 2″ High-R Foam Insulation
• Roofing and siding
• Windows
• Interior and exterior doors
• Nails
• Building wrap
• Interior partitions
• Kitchen cabinets

I actually found the FirstDay plans through this couple, who are living the simple life in upstate New York with their young son. They built their own FirstDay as a spec house and then built a tiny cabin in the woods from the scraps left over. The entire project cost them about $900.

By Christina Nellemann for the (Tiny House Blog)

The sad news these days seems to be centered on people losing their homes and maybe having to live in their car, truck or RV. Dave Thorsrud has been living out of his van for over a year, but he is doing it in an effort to live a simpler life.

His website, Lives in a Van, chronicles his year of living richly on the road in his Pleasure Way van. He writes:

“Ironically, I left the full time job to travel in a van because I wanted to maximize possibilities. With a full-time job, a house mortgage, a car payment and various other debts, my only option when the alarm shrieked was to go to work. This was true during the week and frequently true on the weekends. So I craved choices. I needed to know that if an opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime experience came my way, then I could grab hold with both hands and embrace the new path.”

In order to find his more authentic life, he quit his job, sold all his belongings in five days and packed anything left into his van. During his search, he has traveled across the U.S. and parts of Mexico, met interesting people and has documented it with prose and excellent photography.

Dave lists the best aspects of living in a van as having no daily commute, the overall cost of living is low, all laundry can be done in one load, and every day is a new adventure. He also lists his rules of the road, which can be a metaphor for any simpler life:

DAVE’S RULES OF THE ROAD

• Avoid drive-thru value meals at all costs.
• Take photos of everything.
• Sing along to whatever is on the radio–even talk radio.
• Exercise whenever possible.
• Take care of the vehicle.
• Meet people–especially strange people.
• Drive slower.
• Never hesitate to take an exit, get sidetracked or get lost.
• Take the backroads when possible.
• Take notes, write daily, find the inspiration.

By Christina Nellemann

Photos by Matador Travel. Schematic by Lives in a Van

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