Livin’ Large, Living Tiny

Guest Post by R Blank (this is a repost from his original blog)

My wife and I have now been living tiny for several months. For those who don’t know, tiny homes (living units under roughly 200sq’) have become increasingly popular in the past couple of years. When we researched many options for different types of tiny homes, we found a lot of information — but very few first-person accounts of the experience.

And, after all, that’s what tiny living actually involves — a fundamental shift in thinking about consumption and space utilization — the rest (what type of tiny home, whether its mobile, how its built, etc) is all just details.

Our Shipping Container from LEED Cabins, in Place, with the Completed Porch and Privacy Fence

Given the increasing popularity of tiny homes I thought it might be valuable to someone out there considering the same to read some of my thoughts on what this experience has been like for us.

In our case, this isn’t a tiny home, so much as a my home-office. But we decided to place this small office structure on the land first, before building our home. Our land is 30 miles away from the nearest town (where ‘town’ is quite loosely defined; we’re literally 20 miles away from the nearest service at all, which is our post office), which makes development quite challenging. So we started small, so we could establish a base of operations without too much trouble (that it took us a year to even get this far, is an entirely separate story).

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Teardrops for MINIs

For those of us who want summer to go on for just a little bit longer, here are some tiny teardrop trailers that exemplify the ease of summer camping. MiniTears are beautifully designed and built by Kurt Bowden in Northern California for MINI Cooper enthusiasts and other small car owners. … Read more

Exhibit Mobile Artist Studio

By Jennifer Pecenka

This movable studio is a live/work space for the artist who seeks inspiration from the land and a vehicle for interaction between the display of work to the public as well as a response to the land and context in which it sits.

In a space as confined as this street legal 8.5’ wide x13.5’ tall trailer, privacy with the ability to utilize nature as a living room allows the greatest flexibility of use and comfort. Claiming outdoor space with the unfolding façade is vital for both functionality and inspiration for the artist in addition to its mobility for tours or living simply off-the-grid. Its operation gives the artist control over daylight, ventilation, and security through means of slatted screens, folding awnings, sliding skin, and extending decks.

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Joseph’s Gypsy Wagons

Joseph Crowell has been building buses and vans for many years, but was recently inspired to build his first gypsy wagon by Sunny Baba, an activist and spiritualist who has built dozens of gypsy wagons.

Popomo on Fox Business News

Fox Business News recently ran a video featuring Tumbleweed’s Jay Shafer and his tiny Popomo house which was parked in the middle of Manhattan. The 172 square foot Popomo was on its way to the East Coast of the U.S. and Jay was interviewed about it and his other tiny … Read more

Modern Sheepwagon

This beautiful custom sheep wagon by Wizard Wagonworks is based on the original “sheep camp” of the 1880’s with a modern twist. It is designed for both highway and off-road use as well as for durability, comfort and ease of maintenance. Kenny Harris of Wizard wagonworks is in the cabinetry business and built two of these sheep wagons according to a customer’s specifications. One is now being sold for $60,000, but Kenny can build any custom sheep wagon for less than the current price.

The exterior of the wagon contains laminated oak struts, a T&G planked floor and metal roofing. The wagon is insulated and the exterior wood is finished with teak oil. The interior has oak bead board paneling and the benches, tables, cabinet doors and drawer fronts are solid oak. The wagon can by towed by a truck or other large vehicle and handles well on the highway with speeds up to 70 MPH.

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