You made your floors out of WHAT??? Money Saving Ideas for your Tiny House/Cabin

"POOL LINER FLOORING FOR YOUR HOME, CABIN, or KIDS FORT!?"

Being installed: In this photo the flooring and baseboard trim (to hide and tack down the edges has yet to be installed). 

Here's an idea we toyed with at our last workshop in MA- and one I've never seen done before. My neighbor (fellow salvage enthusiast) thought of this- "What if we take my old metal above-ground pool walls, and use them as flooring?". Well, we did, and it works pretty darn well, its 100% recyclable, costs us NOTHING, and looks pretty wild! I do recommend putting down a layer of flooring padding (the thin foam rolls) before laying out these sheets- it'll minimize any noise.

SO, if you're into thinking outside the box/going the bizarre (and affordable) route with your home, here's something to consider, as above-ground pools are thrown out CONSTANTLY! 

This shot's from our not-yet-finished cabin "The Relaxshack", which also features a 100% free and salvaged back wall- what I've dubbed "The Wild Wall"…..

Here's a video showing and explaining this colorful, and cost-effective technique….

These are ideas, alongside 1045 more, that we'll be demonstrating, discussing, and IMPLEMENTING in a hands-on/get-dirty manner at our Memphis, TN Relaxshacks.com Workshop- April 11-13th
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS!

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Modern-Art Repurposed Kitchen-Cabinet Window Coverings???

 Here's a simple little DIY project I had some fun with… and yes, we'll be making some DIY funky, recycled-material decorations for the TWO cabins we collectively design and build at our Relaxshacks.com Hands-On Tiny House Building Workshop in Memphis, TN- April 11-13th, 2014. SO many great guests and speakers are on our roster too! 

 Here's a little something I made, along many other recycled-material art pieces for my cabins, as the weather wasn't so hot the last few days here in Massachusetts and forced me inside. While the winter here can really slow me down in terms of making any progress on the various cabins and tiny houses I've been working on, on the bright side, it does leave me a little time here and there to focus on fun, indoor, activities, as well- such as making this bizarre little modern-art piece out of an old kitchen cabinet door I had been saving for far too long. The old cabinet door (thrown out on the sidewalk from a neighbor's renovation) is adorned with a multitude of scrap wood from many projects in the past.

Yes, I save just about everything, but its only because I know I'll always find a use for it.

So the idea: Aside from being a wall hanging, made from salvaged and free materials that could add some color to a room, this repurposed-cabinet door could serve as a window covering, in lieu of a shade or blind, that swings to close a window, and when in closed mode, serves as interesting art. You could even decorate the inside of the door, so that when open, it stands as an art piece as well.

Here's a closer shot, where it shows the 1960s/70s looking handle- one I left attached so that a clue as to what this used to be, would be evident.

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Uh-oh! Deek's buyin' up lanterns n' funky art....NEW CABIN on the way?

Quick Announcements: Only TWO slots left at our Wilmington, NC HANDS-ON Tiny House Building Workshop- April 26th-28th..... Also, for those who missed the announcement, our NEW facebook page TINY HOUSE HUB is now up and running....www.facebook.com/tinyhousehub. Thanks! We have another AWESOME giveaway coming tonight or tomorrow too- so check back!

FUNKY ART in FUNKY SHACKS

Artwork by Keemo- probably soon to be seen in one of my NEW CABINS! 

   Yup, anytime I start hitting flea markets, yard sales, or buying funky art off local or underground artists, it usually means I'm starting to stock up on decor items for an impending new cabin project, and in this case, its beyond true, as I'm working on THREE cabin prototypes right now! 
     One is a collaborative effort, as I've previously mentioned, with DAVID STILES from NYC- his architectural work is FANTASTIC, as is his sketching (and books!), and I've designed a transforming A-frame Cabin (a damn affordable one) that he'll be drafting out full plans for. I can't wait to show you guys! The interior, and exterior will have a 60s/70s look to it, with a twist of bizarre-modern, so it'll certainly be unique! The design is inspired in a few ways, by the work of Lester Walker, and Jeff Milstein, if I had to pick two names in the tiny house and design field. 

Bear on a framed Birch Ply panel- high quality! by Keemo

 Thankfully, here in New England the snow is finally going away and its getting a little warmer so that I can get some work done, so soonish, you'll be seeing and reading more about these projects.

Anyway, in particular, I've REALLY been loving the artwork and paintings from this guy who goes by "Keemo"- his art is wildly fun and colorful, and damn reasonable too....

He's a cottage industry, diy guy, with a family to feed, so give him a look, or some support- www.KeemoGallery.com

I bought four REALLY cool pieces off him recently.....(the bear above is one of 'em)

Lantern above: This I found at a Barn/Weekend Flea Market in Douglas, MA- such a nice little New England town, and the flea market owners were VERY NICE!- all based in a GREAT looking, vaulted roof barn too- I'll be back! You can find more on them at...www.DouglasFleas.com (Bosma's Douglas Flea Market is the name). 

One of my in-the-works cabins- a reading/writing/napping art studio of sorts....video to come (when its done!)

Simple micro paintings on scrap wood that I recently did (in my home).

So UGLY that I LOVE it! A painting I picked up at a thrift shop a ways back....

Another cool/weird painting from KEEMO below....