One of the requests that came about during my Where To From Here? post on the Tiny House Blog was for more “How-To” information relating to tiny houses. Since I personally am more of a publisher of information and not a construction expert I did not feel I have the know how to do this myself.
A while back I met Drew Odom as he was looking for tiny house builders in the Atlanta Georgia area. He said he was getting ready to start building his own tiny home and would also be starting a blog. I have followed Drew now for some time and he has written some excellent how-to articles.
I have asked Drew to share his knowledge with us here on the Tiny House Blog. He will be posting every other week on a topic that should help all the do-it-yourselfers build tiny homes.
I would also like to invite you to share topics you are interested in learning how to do in the comment section below.
I am going to let Drew tell a little bit about himself, so here is Drew Odom.
Not ten years ago America entered into a time of adjustable-rate mortgages allowing us to build bigger, live larger, and finance more, then we ever had before. Fast forward to today when the nation is crippled by subprime mortgage crisis and home sales are down by nearly 37%. Somewhere, someone convinced us that in order to be happy and to show our successes we needed to have more stuff and more places to put it. We needed master suites alongside our master baths in our McMansions. We were led to believe our countertops must be granite and that if our heating and cooling system didn’t necessitate multiple zones we were living in too small a house. But is all that true? If our homes are smaller and our possessions minimal, are we still able to make a house a home?
What if we all paid more attention to our passions and our dreams rather than our position in the rat race? What if we traded our 2-story split level dreams for Tiny Houses comprised of less than 200 sq. ft. where you can see all of your worldly possessions simply by revolving in a circle?
Some would probably call it a r(E)volution…
In essence, Tiny r(E)volution is a media-mentary on our goal to downsize, minimalize, prioritize, and proselytize, the plight of our Tiny House as the center of our sustainable, organic, homestead in rural North Carolina.
Having been a published photojournalist as well as a graphic designer, I am much more comfortable dreaming, imagining, and planning, than I am building. But with a team of contractors and builders in my family, I have grown up knowing the difference between a ball-peen hammer and a claw hammer. Coupled with our desire to pay for our tiny house “cash on the barrel” I have had little choice but to learn as I go and do a lot of things on my own. This isn’t to say we haven’t benefitted for several great people and great resources along the way.
In addition to just our home we are also homesteaders and gardeners. We grow nearly 65% of our own food. My wife grew up in the rural south and so having her feet in the dirt is one of the finer parts to life. Far more than half of our lifestyle involves the outdoors and so our version of a tiny house involves the land around it as well. So having beautiful, healthy plants is important to us; mentally, physically, and even spiritually.
If there is going to be a r(E)volution it has to begin at home and for us that home is the very dirt beneath our feet.
We hope you will join us here every other week for an ongoing series of how-to blog posts. Some will be projects we have already walked through while others will be projects we are planning. You can also find us at our home on the web – Tiny r(E)volution or find me on Facebook or Twitter. We love talking with like minded people and sharing our daily adventures in minimalism, tiny house living, gardening, homesteading, and just living the good (and simple) life!
Thank you Drew and I am looking forward to your contribution to the Tiny House Blog, a special welcome to you!