Tiny House Blog

It is that time of year when most everyone gets involved in making their home festive for the holidays. I would like to see what you do to make your tiny house festive and share it here on the Tiny House Blog.

Here is what I would like you to do. Take photos of your decorated tiny home, interior, exterior, or both and send them to me at tinyhouseblog [AT] gmail.com. Also include a short paragraph explaining what you did to your home. I will then pull together a post showing off everyone’s home and share it with you on the the Tiny House Blog.

Please have all photos and descriptions to me by December 20. Thank you for your participation.

I will be taking a vacation and returning August 8th and will only be publishing two to three times per week during this time. I am trying to make this a real vacation and am taking the bare minimum of electronic equipment. I will only have an iPod touch with me with limited internet access.

I want to encourage you during this time to dig back through the archives and learn what you can from them. I will not be responding to emails during this time, but I want to encourage you to still send in your stories and ideas for the Tiny House Blog. Send all correspondence to tinyhouseblog@gmail.com. Thank you for your faithful readership and I will return to normal daily posts when I return.

Last night I was reading the comments on the Facebook fan page and one got my attention. “I hate to say it but your blog is becoming to commercial for my tastes.”

I than took the time to look back at my recent posts and see if this was true and I had to agree with this reader. The Tiny House Blog was starting to look like a Tiny House Craigslist. Needless to say I had a restless night trying to sleep.

I think it is time for me to refocus on where the Tiny House Blog’s future is going and I want you to respond with your thoughts.

The Tiny House Blog was started almost 4 years ago in May of 2007 with a focus on the different types of structures available for building a tiny house. As the blog grew the focus changed to include stories of people who are actually living the tiny simple life.

Over the last year or so it has grown to helping promote new businesses and helping people sell their tiny homes, showing potential tiny houses via craigslist and even helping people raise money for their projects. Frankly, I like to help readers if I can.

I think the Tiny House Blog maybe has grown to where it is trying to do to much and thus is becoming scattered in its presentation. A blog has one main focus area which is the post. Trying to present everything there just may be to much.

What are your thoughts? Please comment below in the comment section and give me your feed back. My goal is to make the Tiny House Blog have quality content and to encourage you to continue to come and visit. Maybe trying to post 7 days a week is to much, maybe I should cut back to 3 or 5 days. There are many new blogs and websites out there today, let TinyHouseListings sell the homes, etc.

I want to hear your thoughts and I will be taking a couple days off to think this through myself. Thanks for listening!

I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope you all have a great holiday! It has been a good year with the idea of tiny houses growing in the general public eyes, as the year progressed. It is great to see more people learning about the tiny house lifestyle. Along with all the publicity comes other issues that will need to be discussed and worked through.

I will be taking the next couple of days off to spend with my family. So check back Monday for a new post and if you choose go visit the archives by clicking on the Categories below the newsletter signup form.

Merry Christmas from the Tiny House Blog and the “Griswold” family!

*Update
I am really excited to announce that the Tiny House Blog has reached another milestone. Today is our 1000th post, and this is a great reason to celebrate. To celebrate I have asked my friends and suppliers of some great plans and books to offer you some discounts. These discounts range from 30% to 50% off, so if you have been putting off purchasing one of these items now is the time to purchase it. The sale is good for three days through midnight on November 21, 2010.

*Scott Stewart is also offering one 12×12 cube fully finished at a special price, just one during your celebration at $8,500 normally $10,500 picked up in his yard. Plus your purchase and story will be featured on the Tiny House Blog. See floor plan below.

Here are some new items of interest on the blog, the Store Page has easy access to our most popular products and I will be adding new items that relate to tiny houses as I find them so check often. I have also added a new page called Craigslist Ads that will feature the ads you send to me so look there regularly, too.

I have started a YouTube Channel for the Tiny House Blog and will be putting up movies to help spread the word about tiny houses and to show off your tiny homes.

Christina who writes for the Tiny House Blog on Monday’s wanted to share her thoughts about this milestone also, here is what she has to say:

Congratulations on the 1,000th post on the Tiny House Blog! It has been my ultimate pleasure in writing for your blog and contributing to the tiny house community. Each post I write, or each time I visit the blog, I’m inspired by so many other people who are simplifying their lives, living smaller and creating tiny homes in an effort to make a difference in this world. –Christina Nellemann

The Sale is over, thank you! Below are the most popular sales items back to normal price plus Scott’s cube.

This mini-booklet focuses on how to connect a tiny house to a trailer, and how to keep the walls and roof from twisting, leaning or buckling. We’ve also included information about moisture control and a common list of building materials.

It’s short and sweet, but loaded with enough technical information and resources to get you started.

The tiny price: $19.99 Click here to view more details.

Smalltopia: A Practical Guide to Working for Yourself is full of tips, tools, and strategies to help you create personal freedom through a very small business. Smalltopia is broken up into three sections: Philosophy, Business Essentials, and Case Studies. The ebook tells Tammy’s personal story of escaping the rat race and the lessons I learned along the way.

Purchase her book Here. $27

Scott’s Cube $8,500 contact ozarksbest@yahoo.com and mention the THB 1000th Post.

Happy New Year Everyone! It’s been a very exciting year at the Tiny House Blog as I mentioned in the Christmas post and it is fun to take a look and see what posts were the most popular in 2009. I was not totally surprised to see the results that made it to the top of the list, as they were some of my favorite posts too. It’s fun to see what they are as I can learn from this list and apply that knowledge to 2010 as we move into another year in the tiny house world. It will be exciting to see what is in the top 10 this coming year.

In 2009 the Tiny House Blog had 701,267 Absolute Unique Visitors and 4,279,202 Pageviews. Thank you again for all your support and I hope you will continue to visit the Tiny House Blog in 2010. Happy New Year – Hello 2010!

Here are the top 10 posts of 2009.

	1. Carre D’etoiles French Cube (68,494 views) The concept of the design is for a vacation getaway for resorts where you can experience a window to the sky, and an island of liberty. You can rent these at several places throughout France and use the included astronomical telescope to penetrate the mysteries of the universe.
	2. Little Cob Cabin (35,888 views) This beautiful cabin was built by members of cobworks.com and cob cottage. Located in Mayne Island British Columbia, Canada.
	3. Free Spirit Spheres (28,648 views) Tom Chudleigh of Vancouver Island, Canada has discovered the same magic with his Free Spirit Spheres, handcrafted tree houses that bob among the trees like giant apples.
	4. Simon’s Eco-house (28,200 views) Simon and his wife Jasmine had the offer to use this land if they built an eco-friendly house and were were offerd 2,000 pounds to help construct it. Simon with the help of Jasmine’s father built the home in four months.
	5. Better Barns Cabin (24,170 views) Better Barns Hardware plans would be perfect for a tiny house. Here are a few examples of finished products using the plans they supply. My favorite is the cabin below but you can view many more examples of there fine designs at the Barn Hall of Fame.
	6. Park Model Cottages to Go (23,708 views) Called park models because they can be parked anywhere, they are a maximum of 400 square feet under federal guidelines and therefore not taxed as permanent dwellings, making them an attractive option for beach, lake or mountain retreats.
	7. Small Cabin Plans (21,687 views) Small cabin homes are easier then ever to build today. You can find simple plans on many different web sites… You can also purchase complete kits that include not only the plans but all the materials required to build the cabin.
	8. Stone Mountain Cabin Plans (21,126 views) “I believe each person searches for solitude and comfort in many ways. I find comfort in the simple pleasures of life – a great book and the company of family. But most of all I find comfort in this great place of renewal, the cabin.”
	9. Ten Tips for Decorating a Small Studio Apartment (19,663 views) Studio apartments can be difficult to decorate because everything is basically all in one big (or not so big) room. Sometimes this small space has to accommodate several different activities: sleeping, entertaining, cooking and an office area.
	10. Tiny House in Portland (18,866 views) The 9 foot by 22 foot house was designed and built from an old green house foundation. The 198 square foot home has a peak height of 12 foot 6 inches. The siding is made from galvalume.