"The Outback Shack" Micro Shelter/Hut....Photos and Video....

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 Its VERY gratifying to get email from readers who inform me that my designs, builds, or book have inspired their own creations in one way or another, and that was the case from Australia's Nathan Anderson, whose "Outback Shack" Shelter (Love it!) is a spin off/combination of ideas from my 2009 shelter on wheels "The Hickshaw", and my micro cabin "The Little Blue Bump", as Nathan states. "The Little Blue Bump", built at one of my hands-on workshops, was actually a video I almost didn't release, and its continually strange (and GREAT!) to hear that it has influenced quite a few people- in fact, twelve-year-old tiny house builder Sicily Kolbeck has cited it as her influential introduction to tiny housing in interviews- which is pretty darn cool.

Regardless, check out these photos Nathan sent on his great little shelter, and one which has improved on my old "Hickshaw" design in a few ways, I might add. Great work Nathan!

In the video, there's a cool little cameo/nod to my blog as well- thanks man! 

Nathan runs a really solid site/blog too, at www.TheDirtEffect.com

NATHAN'S VIDEO, AND MY "HICKSHAW" are both below....

MORE DETAILS from Nathan:

         I wrote to you last year as I was starting work on the 'Outback Shack' -
Micro Shelter. Well, it is finally finished and I have started to enjoy
the space. I have slept in it a couple of nights already.

I have built it on wheels so I can move it around the backyard to chase
the sun or shade. I took your advice and have used a transparent roof to
open up the space and let a whole lot more light through.

It is big enough to sit up in and long enough to lie down. It has storage
space behind the built in back rest and also in the entertainment unit
down the other end.

I have built it with three windows, one of which slides open. I got a
little keen and lay a floating timber floor which cost about 50 bucks. I
have gone with a natural stain for the external walls and I have used four
different colours inside (I bought some cheap tester containers which were
more than enough).

VIDEOS

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

TEN Drool-worthy, Rustic Tree houses in the woods....

From about twelve sources on Picasa.com

 THESE are the kind of tree houses I love, the one's built by real people, themselves, and all done without $80,000.00 in hired specialists. Granted, those luxury tree houses are great too, I just don't think they have half the charm that tree huts like this one do. 

A treehouse in the UK (source unknown)

A tropical tree house restaurant pod at a resort....seats four diners.....

The Fern Forest Tree House- Lincoln, VT

A Tree house log cabin! Wow.....heavy, but gorgeous!

A dinky, hokey tree house in Stoughton, MA- photo by Derek Diedricksen

NOT for sleepwalkers..... a stilt-house on a cliff....

The "Tree Cabin" in Vermont- an airbnb.com micro lodge. Not a tree-house, but close.....and ultra-cool!

The Mill Valley Treehouse- near San Francisco

A bizarre ferro-cement tree house brainstorm that didn't make the book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks"

Speaking of which, Amazon dropped the NEW book price back down again (thankfully!)- so grab a copy before they jack the price again....and thanks for your support if you do pick up a copy! NEW BOOK is in the works!!!

Scrap wood MICRO rocking chair- space saving, and STILL comfy!

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 'Saw this while I was invited out to speak at the Yestermorrow Tiny House Fair in Waitsfield, VT..... a pretty clever, yet simple design, that could be made out of mere scraps of wood from another project. I'm always on the lookout for these thrifty ideas.

If you missed one of the videos we shot up there, showing a sneak peak of my new tiny cabin on wheels "The Cub", AND a tiny house from Ecovativedesign.com that is insulated with mushrooms(!?)- here it is....

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Tiny Homes Want Great Outdoor Rooms- Extending Your Livings Space OUTDOORS.

     One trick in space-maximization, or more-so the art of tricking oneself into making a place feel larger than it is, is to create outdoor living spaces, or to visually extend your living space to the outdoors, by lines of sight (stone ways, fencing, bushes). This is something I talk about both at the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company Workshops I teach, and at my own Relaxshacks.com classes. It is also something today's guest poster, Carol, specializes in:

TINY HOMES WANT GREAT OUTDOOR ROOMS

Guest blog post by Carol Venolia, Architect (www.comehometonature.com)

I believe that the ideal living situation is a tiny home—cozy, well-designed, delightfully meeting basic needs—surrounded by outdoor rooms into which one can expand as the weather allows.

I don’t just mean having a deck. A decks is a flat surface that keeps outdoor furniture from wobbling, but it leaves you impaled on whatever the weather happens to be. The deep green art of outdoor placemaking involves creating micro-climates in which we can be comfortable in a range of weather, while nurturing wildlife habitat so that we’re surrounded by the sensory nourishment of greenery, birds, butterflies, and bees.

Creating Micro-climates

Before the advent of central heating and cooling, our ancestors relied on some basic climate modifiers to keep them warmer in winter and cooler in summer. We can revive these tricks and tools today to keep us comfortable without burning fossil fuels.

For winter warmth, design for passive solar heating: let in the south sun from about 10:00am to 2:00pm, and soak up that sun’s heat with thermally massive materials like stone, brick, or concrete. With the addition of a roof, overhang, or vine-covered trellis, the same space can stay cool in summer, as the thermal mass soaks up body and ambient heat.

For additional cooling, add even deeper shade, introduce water and transpiring plants nearby, and channel breezes toward your outdoor room.

The trick is to notice what your site hands you: sunshine, breezes, vistas, slope, water, plants. Then determine which of these you want to let in, and which you want to block, and design an outdoor structure accordingly—a roofed screened porch for bug-free shade, a stone patio for basking in the sun, a solarium for winter warmth that can also heat your tiny house.

Enhancing Wildlife Habitat

Outdoor living is even more fun when you’re surrounded by a nature paradise--and you can create your own. By adding basic habitat elements—food plants, water, shelter, and territory for raising young—you can nurture the web of life while surrounding yourself with birdsong and lush plant life.

To learn more about how to do this in your region, check out http://www.nwf.org/Home/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife.aspx

Learn More

If you want to go deeper with this subject, please visit my website (www.ComeHometoNature.com).

THREE DIY decor/lampshade videos you don't want to miss....

 Here are two fairly mesmerizing videos to get you going with some outlandish ideas for your own home, whether it be tiny, or monstrous. Either way, I love the use of recycled materials in the case of the plastic cup lamp shade (its so easy too, although a little large), and the over-the-top, yet simple, approach of the log-into-a-shade video, which is just fun to watch! Enjoy these videos three.....

Yes, I post on a lot of DIY decor projects too, aside from tiny houses and shelters- its what I'm into, and there are so many great design ideas I want to pass on to you guys. Don't worry, more tiny house stuff is coming soon, as I've been VERY busy building and designing. VERY busy.....

 Be sure to check out our NEW fb page/group over at www.facebook.com/tinyhousehub

 -Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

A tiny, dumpster-dived, gypsy wagon from GERMANY! Wow!

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Check out this video we recently released (forgot to post it on here- sorry!), showcasing a recycled-material-built n' decorated gypsy wagon in Germany- one owned by Nicolette Stewart. The blog ClickClackGorilla.com is her baby, and yup, run from this very tiny house on wheels. What I love most about her place is that not only was the shell/home FREE, but the interior has been outfitted with free, found, and scrounged, items- and it all works so well!

Nicolette's wagon was shown in the color photo section of my book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks", and I want to showcase her work more thoroughly in my new book....

And if you missed another one of my recent "Vlog" videos....here's one on building a funky, colorful, coffee table with free, salvaged forklift pallet wood!

Tiny House/Camper Hybrids from The Bread and Puppet Circus in Vermont

These two structures are both on the grounds of Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover, Vermont, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer. Every summer scores of volunteers from all over the world come to the Northeast Kingdom farm that has been home to Bread and Puppet since the mid-1970's to work on productions that are staged there.. Many pitch tents but some are housed in old school buses and other structures-- including these funky campers-- situated around the 160 acre spread. Relaxshacks correspondent Jon Kalish was there in early June working on radio stories about the group when he took these pictures on a drizzly spring afternoon.

 

Small House Eye Candy- a Cottage RIGHT on the marsh- Madison, CT

A SMALL HOUSE in MADISON, CT, RIGHT on the marsh near Hammonassett State Park. 

Growing up, this was always my favorite dream locale for a small home (well, not when the hurricanes hit). I couldn't get a more revealing shot of the place without majorly trespassing, but I think the locale speaks for itself. Just add a mini dock, a kayak or two, and its heaven.  \

Coming soon, MANY photos from the Yestermorrow Tiny House Fair that I took/attended, and shots of "The Cub" micro-house that I've been working on (which debuted at Yestermorrow). 

Above: a more expansive view, showing just how private (and amazing) this lot is! 

While in Madison, we also stayed at a super-cool little beach cottage (400 square feet)- part of the Beech Tree Inn/Cottages near the state park- highly recommended. More on that soon! 

Photos by Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Wood Shims as a Wall Covering? As Art???

Props to my friend, and recording engineer Joey Calabria, for this creative take on using up wood scraps and shims....to make a very classy piece of textured wall art. This shot is from his recording HQ "Acoustack Studios" in Hull, MA- the guy does really solid work, and its where Jay Shafer and I went to record our in-the-works tiny-house hip-hop tune (and soon to be music video!)
    Back on the wood scraps- It got me thinking (THAT'S that grinding sound...): What if you covered a whole wall in this stuff?? It'd look GREAT!

Meanwhile, guitarist Bill Bracken (of DEFDEALER) looks for some inspiration while laying down some riffs on the tune I wrote....

Another NEW video- DIY, Ultra-Funky. Pallet-Wood Table

 Here's another quick video I was messing with, under the banner of "decor for dollars"- after all, you want to not only build your modest or small home inexpensively, but you might want to furnish it that way as well.
     HERE is a very inexpensive and simple way to build a coffee table out of forklift pallet wood, and a table that harbors a good deal of storage within! Its a great project to knock out in a single day, and for those who are looking for project that doesn't take a heck of a lot of skill. Have fun!

Meanwhile, I've been killing myself day and night the last three weeks working on another tiny, tiny house on wheels, one dubbed "The Cub"- after a series of like-titled sketches I posted years back. Well, I'm finally building the thing, and if I can get the wiring done in time, I just may bring it up to the Yestermorrow Tiny House Fest- tomorrow..... and yes, I'll be having another one of my own HANDS-ON building workshops soon! Don't worry....MUCH info to come! \

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

An Ultra-modern/Super tiny Seattle, WA apartment- 182 square feet...

Here's one of our latest tiny house/micro apartment video tours- this time in SEATTLE, WA where we (myself and Christopher Smith from "Tiny: The Movie") had a chance to tour the 182 square foot micro apartment of Steve Sauer. Steve is an engineer at Boeing, and his attention to detail certainly shows in this very modern downtown apartment. Part Ikea, all funky, and very original, Steve's place has it all- again, in a mere 182 square feet! Check out more of Steve's design work at www.oixio.com

Steve's apartment is also a great example of the space saving use of "layering", or taking full advantage of vertical space, as you'll see in the following tour.....

ANOTHER "What the heck is THIS tool for!?"

Here's another found freebie I came across just recently. Its something I have no use for, but I thought it interesting. What's it used for? Take a guess.....

We'll get back to my tiny house/cabin on wheels updates soon, I promise! I'll also be teaching the Boston (at Simmons College) Tumbleweed Tiny House Workshop this weekend as well- should be fun! Last year's was GREAT! We have Sage Radachowsky coming out as a guest speaker, Ross, Tumbleweed's new solar expert, and even another guest builder/tiny house owner.

If you missed Sage's Gypsy Wagon tour that I hosted (over 500,000 views now!), check it out here....

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

What the heck is THIS? Tiny House Wall Art from Trash....

 To be used in a cabin I'm working on......The aim is to build it with a good deal of recycled materials AND to decorate it with as much free and found crud as I can- just for the sport of it. 

'Found this on a walk through the neighborhood, sticking out of the top of someone's trash can, and I can only imagine that it might be an old fashioned range plate (for a stove top). Any ideas? Regardless, I loved the cool, symmetrical look of it, blasted it with some "2X Coat Rustoleum Spray Paint", and it shall be a future wall hanging in my little cabin on wheels "The Cub", which I HOPE to have done in two weeks. The piece is not so profound, but that's kind of the point.

And wait til you see some of the other stuff I recently came across too! Jackpot!!

A recycled barn wood/fence plank ceiling in a tiny house on wheels

      So call me insane, but the last two weeks or so, I've taken it upon myself to design and build a tiny, tiny cabin on wheels (or a bunk house, art studio, or whatever else it could be used for) to debut at the Yestermorrow Tiny House Festival in Warren, VT, where in two weekends, my brother (Dustin) and I will official open the first day of festivities and speakers with a 90 minute talk and demo on salvage construction- basically, "How to save a crap load of money when building". 

    Which ties into this: This planked roof was absolutely free. Yes, it might weight a little more than a plywood roof of the same size, but I think the look is ten times better in the end run, and it has a cool tale behind it. This cabin, for the time being will only be a seasonal weekender on wheels, so we won't insulate it, but should we later choose to, the joist pockets are already there. Meanwhile, we do have this character-laden ceiling to look at when we sleep.

The planks: They were the storm-damaged fencing (true 1" by 6" spruce planks, 8' long) at a very well to-do residence one town over. I passed these blown down, fence segments for weeks until I finally located the residents mailbox, left a note asking if they might be getting rid of the wood, and blammo!- pne phone call and TWO entire trailer loads later, I'm up to my eyes in free wood! It never hurts to ask!

I'll have much more on this tiny cabin soon, one I've dubbed "The Cub" (a name I used for another design wayyyyy back, that never saw the light of day), and might even blog in a step by step manner on this....

 Above, you can see a splash of "tester" paint I used, a color I called "baby puke green". It was a $7.00 "Oops" can from Home Depot, but its not going to be used for this project.

Also, pre-painting the rafters saved me the hassle of having to carefully "cut in" with a brush if I were to paint AFTER the planks were installed.

 

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen