Tiny House Blog

Nearly a year ago we asked you to submit your stories of life in a small home to be the subject of a video. We received many responses and out of that we produced two popular videos: one with Kyle and Jenine and their tiny American Dream house on wheels; and a second with the Jordan family in their Shotgun Shack Redux.

Our feature submitted by Debra Jordan of her family’s 320-square-foot home went viral with over a million visit in just a month.

We thought that was fairly successful so we’re going to ask you again for submissions. I’ll re-post our requirements and my details below, but basically anyone with access to a camera (even a still camera with a video setting) should apply.

Who I am

I’m Kirsten Dirksen, a former television producer (MTV, Sundance Channel, Oxygen, Travel Channel) and I now create videos for my husband’s and my website – faircompanies.com – and as a blogger for the Huffington Post.

What I’m looking for

I am looking for people who live in small spaces (house, apartment, trailer, yurt, etc) who are interested in being profiled for video stories. You would have to have access to a digital camera (whether a camcorder, something simpler like a Flip camera or even the video setting of your still camera).

What I’ll do with it

I would then edit your story and it would appear on faircompanies, on the Tiny House Blog, on my youtube channel and possibly on the Huffington Post and in a documentary I’m working on (see Can living smaller and simpler make you happier?).

The submissions process

1. You submit a few paragraphs describing your small home (ideally with photos attached) and explaining why you have chosen to live small (or if you didn’t choose it, what works about it for your lifestyle).
2. I will select a few people that we think would make great videos.
3. I will send you more information with shooting tips.
4. You will videotape your home and I will either interview you via Skype (for an example, see video The Burden of Stuff) or ideally, you (or a friend) will record your own interview describing your home and why it works for you to live small.
5. You will send me your digital footage via a filesharing service.
6. I will edit your video and post it to the websites mentioned above.

Please contact me with your submissions at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing about some unique small spaces.

While on vacation Royal saw this little house in St Anthony, Idaho and shared it with me.

Wendell Greenalgh is the builder and owner. He said that a number of years back he had been part of a crew constructing a new home on a site in Colorado. There was already an existing home on the site that needed to be removed. Wendell stated that he was able to recover enough lumber from the older home to construct this small house.

The house is 16′ x 16′. The top floor is a bedroom and bathroom. The ground floor is is the kitchen and living room. He was trained in stone masonry and concrete work so he also built a basement under the house. There is a balcony and deck off the 2nd floor level. He said that grandkids like to sleep on the deck or on the grassy lawn. The house is sited adjacent to a canal, so they can stand in the yard and go fishing. Continue Reading »

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. Continue Reading »

Elaine who built a Tumbleweed Lusby designed by Jay Shafer awhile back and had originally put it up for sale, later decided to keep it and live in it. Here is an update on life in her little house.

I’ve moved into my tiny house. I love the house. It’s very well constructed. The wind here in the Delta is so strong that at first I was afraid that even though it had survived being towed from the east to west coast, it might come unhinged by the wind. It hasn’t. It’s solid, quiet and a tranquil shelter from the strong gusts.

The cats venture out when the air is calm, but stay in when it’s blustery. We negotiate seating. I have two cats and two dogs and all five of us prefer sitting on a chair or soft spot up off the hardwood floor. Misty, my elegant female cat, claims the cushiest chair when she’s home, and I sit on a small triangular wooden stool that I brought back from India. Continue Reading »

Rev. Charles Cain says: “I don’t know these folks, but I found their story to be pretty inspiring.” How would you like to convert an old school bus into a RV and than travel with a family of 9 across the country?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain

Check out their story here.

Continue Reading »

What began as a tug at the edge of our subconscious some years ago is finally starting to turn into a reality for us. While considering our options for life, and wondering why the heck we had to work full time at jobs that we hate for the next 30+ years, we started thinking that there had to be something different. And different, indeed there was!

While poking around online we happened to come across Jay Shafer’s Tumbleweed Tiny House website and the light came on in our heads! We would build a tiny house! A palace on wheels! We’d already rented out our home in the city and moved to the country in an RV, so why not build a small home, we didn’t need the space anymore, and wild horses couldn’t drag us back to city living. Continue Reading »

Last year I introduced you to Peter King through a video put together by Stuck in Vermont. As of today a “Sequel” on the Peter King video has been added to the Stuck in Vermont website and I wanted to share it with you. You can visit Peter’s website Vermont Tiny Houses.

Peter has built 11 tiny houses since we saw him last but is not super pleased with his new moniker “The Tiny House Guy.” With the economy in shambles and foreclosures running rampant, tiny houses seem more relevant than ever. But Peter has some ideas that are even bigger than his tiny houses. Please check out the Stuck in Vermont article here and enjoy this excellent video below.