salvaged

Tiny Steampunk House Built by Film Set Designer and Movie Stylist

Having access to leftover movie sets would be like being a kid in a candy store. For Brandon Batchelder, a set designer, and Chloe Barcelou, a stylist — it’s part of their every day lives. Working in the film industry has given them access to various film sets and the materials (and a steamer trunk) inspired their whimsical tiny house on wheels.

The couple periodically move for their work and have lived in various apartments and even a 20×20 shed, but Chloe had the idea for a tiny house made with recycled materials they scrounged during their various jobs. The 300 square foot home, built on a $1,000 trailer from Craigslist, took the couple about a year to build and cost about $10,000.

Yestermorrow Experimental Tiny House

by Kent Griswold

This week’s episode of SPACEStv’s “OffBeat Spaces” brings us inside an experimental 228 sq-ft home in Vermont designed to solve issues of sustainability while maintaining a sleek modern design. Built by a group of students at the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, this tiny home features salvaged pipeline lighting, a rot resistant … Read more

Reclaimed Wood for Tiny Houses

by Kent Griswold

Pat Crowe of Echo Reclamation recently sent some photos of a modified Tumbleweed Lusby he completed using reclaimed materials. He wanted to let me know that he is offering the materials for sale to tiny home builders interested in completing their homes in this way.

Pat is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The client who contracted the Lusby contraction wanted all reclaimed wood, so the interior ceiling, loft floors, walls, doors, cabinets, closets and shelves are all made of antique pine (pre-1930) that Pat brought from Texas, his home state. The exterior is of pine siding salvaged in Texas from a c. 1915 house that was slated for demolition. This is southern pine, much of it longleaf, and is beautiful material.

Pat says that using this type of material is more expensive to purchase and requires more labor to use, so it’s not a money-saving deal. But, if someone is looking for character and the satisfaction of participating in the salvage of wonderful old wood, it’s worth the extra cost.

Rustic Way Whimsical House

by Kent Griswold

Recently, I discovered a neat little company based in Minnesota that specializes in building whimsical tiny structures out of reclaimed wood. The company is called Rustic Way and the owner is Dan Pauly. The minute I saw this building I just couldn’t let it go. I just had to reach out to the owner of this company.

I had a great conversation with Dan this morning and he explained how his idea was born. He was looking for a way to build a unique sauna that is popular in the northern states and Canada. He was playing with some ideas and his little spa structure was born.

Rustic guest cottage-8 — Rustic Way Garden Shed

At the time he lived near a busy intersection and he placed the structure near the road. People stopped constantly to take pictures of it and ask questions. Dan knew he had stumbled upon a design that was a winner. Dan decided to trademark the design and took his love for salvaged and reclaimed wood and started to make several different designs using his whimsical theme.

Dan now builds a variety of structures from small play houses to a large guest house. The buildings are custom. Dan works very closely with each customer to achieve a final result that is a perfect match for his client’s needs.