A Cartoonish, Funky Art Shed/Shack/Guest House

FIRST, there's a new tiny house related site that just came out, and I'll have much more on it tomorrow 

Its called www.TINYHOUSEGEAR.com

Sheesh, just when my productivity was coming back, out comes another addictive tiny housing site!

This cabin is serving as temporary storage for a few vintage heaters I'm working on restoring as well (in the right side of the photo)- A perfection kerosene heater (only to be used in a well ventilated room! And a old Sears model knock-off)

"THE A.D.D. Micro-Cabin of Bizarro Art, and Over-The-Top Color"

 From the land of misfit art....

Here's where I've been spending some time lately, working on ideas for my next book on tiny houses, forts, shacks, tree houses, cabins, n' playhouses.....it'll be quite a bit different from "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks"- with some team-ups with a few kick-butt architects in the field!

This little eight by eight prefabricated cabin/shed studio/office still has quite a ways to go, but I'm slowly getting there- all the while accumulating more weird and colorful art to display in it.....

Again, with the addition of a deck, a grill spot, some insulation and a little add-on bathroom, I've contemplated using this as a tiny, tiny house/cabin rental on airbnb.com. One for a micro artists or writers retreat perhaps- it'd even come pre-loaded with some art supplies, a library of ultra out-there books, and more...

Eventually, I think I'm going to give this cabin a tongue and groove floor- it'll cost me a little bit, but when coated with a few layers of polyurethane, it'll look GREAT!

Yeah, I've got a think for weird, voodoo-lookin' owl figures as of recent....no idea why....the other orange one you might see in some photos, was a recent gift from my brother, who is my "owl enabler", apparently.

The Shack, from out back....

Suffice to say, my kids love playing in this little place....

ALOT of PEOPLE ASK ME ABOUT THE LANTERN HANGER- So, here's the video explaining....

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen (all photos by...)

"The Darrington Cabin" Mock Ups- A Tiny Guest House/Office....

Here's another stab at the cabin design we might be tinkering with (well, ACTUALLY BUILDING!) at our April 26th-28th Tiny House Building Workshop in Wilmington, NC. THREE DAYS of building, designing, networking, guest speakers, demos, and MORE! CLICK HERE if you might want to sign up....while we still have space. Its limited to 25 people total. The list of guest speakers is GREAT too- with MORE to come!
Steven Harrell of Tinyhouselistings.com, Kent Griswold of Tinyhouseblog.com, Alex Pino of Tinyhousetalk.com, Laura LaVoie of 120squarefeet.com, AND MORE- they'll all be there as speakers!

I've never really messed around with Google Sketch-up before, just because I haven't had the chance, so with a little block of time today I decided to mess around a bit, with some off-shoot ideas (and there will be many other to come) for a micro-cabin I'll eventually be building, that I've named "The Darrington" (a combination of "Deek" and "Harrington" (a nod to Kevin Harrington of www.COZYHOMEPLANS.com, who has been so helpful with my videos, and blog.

The cabin is 8' by 12', and 10' tall at its highest point, and what you see here is a mere rough draft.

Not shown is the work desk, toilet, ladder (or steps) to the loft, gutters (by the entrance), and support legs for the flip-up wall/canopy (IF we decide to incorporate it into the build at all).

Again, these sketch-ups are pretty darn rough, as, well, I've used the program for about a total of 2 hours and that's it. I DO see how people can get addicted though, and heck, its a free program! No complaints here.

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

A Micro Office Makeover- FLOOR STORAGE ("FLOORAGE") for your tiny house

UNDER FLOOR STORAGE IN YOUR TINY HOME OR OFFICE:

Well, with 1000 projects going on, a 3 Day NC Tiny House-Building Workshop coming up (April 26th-28th), two kids, two bands, a hosting gig for the DIY Network, another book contract signed/in the works, and well, all the other things that come with life, my micro closet office, or "Cloffice", had gotten a little messy as of lately.....SO I figured a lil' makeover was in order. (Note: The rest of the room to the left is clean....)

BEFORE

AFTER

"No, you can't have my vintage vhs copy of 'Tremors'!"

In the photo above, the closet makeover is not 100% complete, but its getting there. The new space acts as a little reading/play nook for my kids, which they love- its very fort-like, and if I have to do any computer work while at home, they're inches behind me, so that I can keep an eye on them.

HOW? TACTICS....

Basically, I utilized the under-stair shelving I had installed (on stairs I also had built a few years ago, the office too...) for storage of books, magazines, and future giveaway items for the blog, AND.....I built what I call "FLOORAGE". Floorage is the building of a thin, boxed, floor section, ON TOP of an existing floor. Its almost like building a stage, but one that is hollow, and opens up for access and storage within. Mine was made of a few 2by6's and some left over tongue and groove cedar I had. Slap an Ikea rug and a pillow or two on top of that, and Whammo!- a simple under-stair-office makeover!

TOTAL BUDGET- $45.00

Naturally, some of the items I parted with, or moved elsewhere, but believe it or not, most everything fit in here, AND there's a little room to spare... The edge of the storage/floorage box also has a nice stained/trim edge now, which isn't shown in this photo.

I talk about this a lil' bit in my book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks", but will expand on more of these style ideas in the next book I've been working on....
-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Lynn Knowlton's Recycled Material Tree House/Tiny House Getaway

NOTE: For all you tree house fans out there, the next cabin/tiny house design we're tackling, and actually building, is a design also double-intended for possible tree home use because of its light weight, paneled/pre-fabricated construction (we'll do it all on site- from scratch), and ease of set-up. We'll be working on this project as a group in WILMINGTON, NC, April 26th-28th, as part of another Relaxshacks.com Tiny House Building Workshop that I'm hosting. Steven Harrell of tinyhouselistings.com will also be co-hosting this event. Many guest speakers are also soon to be announced. CLICK HERE for details and to sign up....

Made almost entirely from recycled materials by Lynn Knowlton, and located outside of Toronto, this tree house/tiny house in a tree serves as a getaway, entertaining spot, and guest quarters, but it could also make for a very nice all-around tiny house/actual home as well. I especially love the attached slide, and the simple awning-style windows.

Again, for my upcoming follow-up book to "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks", we're looking for some owner-built (or photos of those you took) tree houses, forts, tiny houses, shacks, shed offices, and more- email them to kidcedar at gmail dot com, and you just might end up showcased (and credited, of course!) in the book.

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

The Mod 105 Pre-fab 20 min assembly shed/cabin!

 INFO ON OUR NEXT Relaxshacks.com TINY HOUSE BUILDING (HANDS-ON) WORKSHOP- HERE! APRIL 26-28th- WILMINGTON, NC- co-hosted by Steven Harrell of Tinyhouselistings.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Love this one- tiny, modern, n' simple. I might personally change out the doors with some other custom built ones for a cabin, or shed office use, but still, this thing is pretty "darn" clever. Hmmm....come to think of it, it'd make a really cool, and easy to install tree house office! Yes, I've been obsessed with that genre and built a few of 'em recently. I just like the slick, clean lines of their design.
      www.Shedworking.co.uk, a great site run by Alex Johnson also posted on this just recently too. Apparently, this unit can be assembled in as little as twenty minutes! Check out the cool time lapse video from the Mod 105 company below. You can find more on them at, yup, www.mod105.co.uk

Again, I'm a big, big fan of small pre-fabricated dwellings, and if you missed Dustin's old video on a tour of the 1970's designed Bolt-Together House, a design by Jeff Milstein, check that one out below too!

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

10 Sheds/Cabins- Would You Live In These? (and "My Cool Shed" Book Review)

DO SCROLL DOWN for a cool gallery of over TEN shed/cabin interiors and exteriors!

 BOOK REVIEW: "My Cool Shed" by Jane Field Lewis and Tina Hillier

 Overall Grade: B+
First, I'll note that I was/am a very big fan of Lewis' first book "My Cool Caravan"- if you haven't checked that out, and are into that scene, its a rather well done visual overview on some AMAZING micro/mobile dwellings....my father bought me a copy for a gift, and I later bought a copy as a gift for a friend.
    Anyway, as for "My Cool Shed" this is the third (and thinnest- 159 pp) offering of the trio of books from this author, and while I DO love the photos, the layout, and most of the selections, I can't help but feel that the book was a little rushed layout-wise, perhaps so as to hop on the still hot trail and success of the other releases (and I'm sure another is already in the works). My Cool Treehouse? My Cool Tent? My Cool Doghouse? Laugh it up, but just you wait.....(And I'd probably buy the former two).
   Back on track, there are some GREAT photos in here, but also a few full page and 1.5 page ones that just seem to be a waste of space (a light bulb by a plywood wall needed more than a full page spread?). A decent chunk of the sheds and cabins featured have already been featured in many other similar books too- especially the classic author sheds of "George Bernard Shaw", "Dylan Thomas", and so on- however, if you don't own 4023 tiny architecture books, as I do, and haven't seen those sheds a few times already, this would be a GOOD thing- they are classics, and they are clever, attractive, n' cool.
    BUT....BUT...aside from a few critiques (and I hope you made it this far, as I have many good things to say as well!) this book is still leagues better than other genre offerings out there (although perhaps not as compared to Alex Johnson's very recent "Shedworking"). "My cool shed" is also pretty darn eclectic, which I do love, and features a couple of builds/cabins which I have never-ever seen before- one killer tree house too! I do like the quality of the print, the paper, and the hardcover aspect of this too. Its a pretty classy book and a great tome that is chock full of photographic ideas for those in search of a future shed-escape.
    All in all, its a very good eye-candy ride through the world of tiny cabins and sheds (all inspirational, and not instructional, which I'm more than fine with), and while not THE BEST book on the subject out there, if sheds are your thing, this one would still rank pretty high up there. I'm certainly not sorry I spent the money, its just tough to beat "My Cool Caravan" when Lewis set her own bar so high.

Here are some interior photos of some of this book's content, and a link below, so you can decide for yourself.

LINKS to LEWIS' BOOK- Mine as well.....

 

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen