Tiny House Blog

Guest Post by Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell

The temperatures are dipping and the weather forecasters are predicting frosts – if you haven’t see them already – and it’s time to start cranking up the heat again.

For those of us who live in smaller sized homes and have access to wood to feed the wood burning stoves, though, it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief, as we won’t be paying the high electricity bills for the air conditioning of summer.

When we built our Little House, we intended on using it primarily in the summer, so we didn’t go to the expense of installing a central air system, as we figured we could use a window air unit and a wood-burning stove in the winter – along with space heaters. I did want a beautiful rock fireplace, but given we ended up living in The Little House full time, I’m glad we went for efficiency, rather than beauty.

For four years of using The Little House as a weekend retreat and mainly over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, we never used the wood-burning stove. Even during the first year we lived here full time, we only used a space heater, as the place is so well insulated, it used relatively little energy. As well, having just moved and the transferring of jobs didn’t allow my husband the time to cut wood.
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Tara, one of our readers brought this cool kitchen idea to me that I thought could be integrated into a small or tiny house design. Here is what the company has to say about there product.

The revolving concept Original Circle Kitchen® offers intelligent kitchen comfort compressed into the smallest space but with a storage capacity equivalent to 12 cupboards and a bench top length of approx. 3000 mm, equipped with refrigerator, dishwasher, ceramic hob, oven with microwave, range hood, sink and waste bin as a conventional kitchen.

This kitchen creation can be placed anywhere in the room, also space saving centrically in between walls and in angled corners or recesses and it can be harmoniously integrated with other key living spaces.

Equipped with sliding doors the kitchen work area can favourably be hidden in open plan spaces and commercial buildings. Especially for architects and interior designer arise new planning perspectives through the new “room within a room” concept particularly where space is at a premium.

Through open style this kitchen concept is easily accessible and extremely user friendly. Deep cupboards and annoying doors in the way whilst working belong to the past. Appliances and kitchen contents are clearly visible. As this is a rotating kitchen, the complete work area may be reached from a sitting or standing position.

Mobile and without alteration, the circular kitchen can easily be taken with you when relocating. The Original Circle Kitchen® is available in different dimensions and models depending on equipment: Model Apartment, Office/Foyer and Motel.

You can learn more by going to the Original Circle Kitchen® website.

Photo Credit: Original Circle Kitchen

by Kent Griswold (Tiny House Blog)

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Pallets are really Michael Janzen’s specialty from Tiny House Design, but I happen to like them too and enjoy seeing what can be built with them also.

Craig one of our readers, sent me a couple of cool links to chairs that are being built with pallets and if you know of any more I would appreciate you sending them my way.

The chair above is designed and made by studiomama, a while back we featured a beach house designed by the same company. As we all know wooden shipping pallets are usually thrown away after each use but this comfortable chair has been designed to recycle them. Plans are available at studiomama so you can make your own. The next chair pictured below is also designed by studiomama.

The chair at the bottom of the article was designed by Andrew Montgomery of Falls Church, Va., a fifth-year architecture student in Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture + Design, did. He designed a chair with a single shipping pallet and it won the Green Stewardship Award from Design Within Reach.

Montgomery said, “Once a pallet is used and discarded, no one usually looks past its original purpose to ship goods. But underneath all the mistreatment during its initial use, there is beauty.” You can read the full article here.

Copyright © 2009 Tiny House Blog

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One of the questions that comes up often with regards to a tiny house, especially one of the tiny houses, like Jay Shafer’s Epu is how do you do your laundry? Jay says that he uses the laundry mat. That is ok for some, but is there an alternative?

My sister-in-law lives in Thailand discovered a neat tiny hand powered wash machine that I think would work perfectly in a small space, and when not in use could be stored away easily. Plus the price is right at only $50. Here is the company’s description:

If you’re looking for a greener alternative to washing your clothes, it doesn’t get much greener than our hand powered laundry machine (well, laundry washer, it’s not really a machine if you crank it yourself!).

This portable washing machine requires no electricity, which saves money in energy bills. It is also portable, which enables you to use in places that don’t have electricity.

When you’re in a hurry to wash a few items, this washing machine easily solves the problem of having to wait around for your electric or gas washing machine to complete a full load of laundry or feel bad about only washing a few items at a time.

Made of plastic with no mechanical parts, the hand powered washing machine comes assembled. Just attach the handle and go! It can last a lifetime and requires no maintenance.

Because this washing machine is so small, it’s easy to store and move from one place to another. This is an ideal washing machine to have with you in an RV, on road trips, at weekend sports tournaments, in apartments, especially those with limited access to laundry areas, on camping trips and those who want to make their lifestyle more energy efficient.

This small washing machine uses less water and powder detergent per load of laundry. The washing cycle is also extremely fast (from 10 seconds to 2 minutes) saving you an extraordinary amount of time.

If you work in the yard or outside frequently and don’t like to put your really dirty clothes in the wash with your other clothes, this washing machine allows you to easily separate them and get them thoroughly clean without staining other clothes.

How it works:

• Insert your dirty laundry along with a measured amount of water and soap (instructions are included that list the appropriate amounts and temperatures)
• Secure the lid, but do not overtighten
• Turn the handle approximately one turn per second
• Once the washing is done, release the pressure of the lid by slowly turning the knob
• Rinse your laundry either in the portable washing machine after draining the dirty water or in the sink
• Then hang the clothes to dry!

Five pounds of clothes is equal to approximately 10 shirts or 2 pairs of jeans.

This tiny hand powered portable washing machine can be bought from Clean Air Gardening for $50, so if this fits your needs go check it out.

The Crank

Washer with Clothes

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Darrell pointed me to these modern Murphy beds that would work really great in a very small space.  These are European designed, functional change furniture. They use a unique “intuitive Lift Mechanism” and are easy and safe to operate. They are made of strong metal and wood frames support a comfort mattress.

These modern Murphy beds are made in Italy and shipped to Denver, Colorado at a company called Flying Beds. These Murphy beds are not cheap but would be a very worthwhile investment for your small space.

The Tama Desk Bed above is made of embossed aluminum metal frame houses wood slat foundation for mattress. Just one simple movement without moving anything from the swinging shelf, lowers the bed. (Even the computer can rest while you sleep.) Wall fastening is mandatory. It comes in Double and Queen size.
 

Mr. Hide Sofa

The most unique Sofa in Europe. Comfortable to sit on or sleep in. The sofa seats three comfortably and transforms into a bunk bed when required. A simple intuitive and safe mechanism permits super imposing the second bed on the sofa.
Cushions come with fully removable fabric covers for easy cleaning. Embossed aluminum color metal structure has slatted base and incorporated ladder. The sofa features a practical storage compartment for bedding.
 

The Twirly Bed

This is an amazing bed that stores into only 22″ depth! That allows for 9″ deep shelves. When the table is lowered, it becomes almost 5 feet in length! The mattress is European in firmness. Shown here in Walnut melamine.
Straight from Hollywood. Queen bed disappears and becomes an extra length work table. Bed is stored away fully made. Inutitive lift system is fingertip ease operation.Wall fastening mandatory. 

The Computer Bed "The Tale"

The Computer Bed “The Tale” is in the popular computer bed format. The advantage of a metal bed frame and wooden slat foundation. Operation is from gas assisted pistons often referred to as intuitive in nature. In reality the gas piston dampens the natural action of weight transfer from bed to desk to bed. We love this transfer of responsibility. It is the Murphy Bed concept to perfection.

To view more Murphy beds go to FlyingBeds.com.

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