Jennifer Francis' tiny house/cabin (for rent) in Austin, TX

 Austin, Texas is pretty darn awesome.
     Its known by many as "The Live Music Capitol Of The World", but it certainly also deserves some credit for its forward and free-thinking citizens, and their love for unusual, and tiny, architecture. While down there to teach a two day tiny house building workshop for the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, I was able to stay in two different tiny rentals/dwellings ("When in Rome..."), AND see a third. That third tiny house was a guest cabin built and outfitted by Jennifer Francis- one you can rent on airbnb.com for under $60!

The airbnb listing link... https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/658102

Jennifer is beyond friendly, a great host, and her cabin, while not fully complete, already exudes character. With its large columned front porch, its very reminiscent of the pioneer cabins of old. Her backyard is also very fun, funky, and private (she's at the end of a dead end street).

Here are some photos I snapped, and you'll soon see more (alongside the other cabins I saw, AND the workshop) over at www.TumbleweedHouses.com. 

 The interior wall siding? Fence Boards....

 

 

There is no bathroom (guests use the one in her main (also small) home), but she's working on that. Also, the opposite side of the tiny rental also has a mini loft (it wasn't finished, so I didn't photograph it).

Again, since its so new, check out our new facebook page/group over at www.facebook.com/tinyhousehub
 
-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Salvaged Window Greenhouses, Cabins, n' Micro Structures...

Check out some of these great looking, and inventive structures, all which have utilized many discarded (recycled) windows in one way or another. We'll actually be doing a demo on re-glazing windows at our North Carolina (Wilmington) Tiny House Workshops as well- April 26th-28th.

          Above: I just LOVE how the builder kept the original paint and stain color on each window......

From re-store.org

Photo from Houzz.com

wordever.com

A greenhouse cabin I built with recycled windows (and some homemade) for a MA-based horror author

 If you're looking to recycle free windows into a tiny house, cabin, or greenhouse, here's a video I did a little ways back on the subject- something we cover in the workshops for The Tumbleweed Tiny House Company too....

-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....

Tiny House/Shelterpod Cabin DESTROYED BY LAVA!

 This lil' video is just painful to watch! Its such a cool little cabin/shelterpod (that could make for a great, modern, tiny home), and its destroyed so quickly by lava flow from a volcano. As they say, "Location Is Everything".

The write-up from the video:
This shelterpod was owned, designed and built by Mr. Paddy Daly who lives in Bellyacres Eco-village adjacent to Seaview Estates. Paddy was welcomed in to Bellyacres as family would be when the lava flows inundated the area in early 2008 and made it impractical (and illegal) for him to continue living in his private property.

The shelterpod was built on lava flows from the 80's or early 90's about 1000 feet from the coast. It was a unique design consisting of a small living pod resting on a large deck. It had an electrical system consisting of a solar panel, storage battery and an inverter to supply 120 volt AC current. Two large plastic tanks sat under the deck and were to be supplied with rain water from the roof through the gutters and downspouts which were in the process of being installed. Spectacular views from the deck and large windows could be seen in all directions.

Paddy was not only generous enough to allow visitors to rest in his pod while it was standing tall but also generous to share its dramatic end with the public. His generosity will continue into the future as he plans to leave Bellyacres in June, 2010, and begin a two year Peace Corps agricultural tour in sub Saharan Africa.

Good luck and mahalo to Paddy.

Recorded November 3, 2009
-----------------------
 And for those who missed our OFFICIAL EVENT POSTER....er...."posting"- here you go again! This workshop is filling up, so if you're interested, don't hesitate! Its gonna be FUN and very educational!

                    Joe from Tennessee Tiny Homes is now going to be part of this TOO!
and possibly Shelton Davis from RepurposedGoods.com as well....we'll have more on that soon!

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

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...)

Andrea Funk's Super-Awesome Cabin/Tiny House!

 Blog reader, and fellow tiny house and cabin enthusiast (who's home was featured in a FULL PAGE photo in my book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks", Andrea Funk, just gave me a new set of photos showing the progress on her beautiful cabin in the woods- one where she also partly runs her cottage-industry business "Too Cool T-Shirt Quilts". Check this place out!

TINY HOUSE BUILDING WORKSHOP....
Also, I haven't mentioned it too recently, but slots for our 2013 Tiny House Building (Hands-On!) Workshop are filling up. If you're interested in joining us, check out the link for this Wilmington, NC THREE DAY workshop (April 26th-28th) and/or email me at kidcedar at gmail.com. Guest speakers include Kent Griswold of tinyhouseblog.com, Alex Pino of tinyhousetalk.com, Laura and Matt LaVoie of 120squarefeet.com, and more to be announced. All in all, it will be close to 40 hours of building contact and hands on instruction- we'll all be building a tiny guest house together. All ages, and all skill levels (even NONE), are welcome.

Hi Derek,

Here are some more photos I thought you could share. We are getting close to having the cabin finished. We need to work on the steps and railings.

So we began the house over 5 years ago. We wanted a cabin in our woods so we would not have to dive up north and spend the weekends taking care of a second home. So the cabin is in the back woods about 300 yards from the house. We have power, no sewer. Electric base board heat. I hope to get a propane stove eventually.

The first year we got the post and beam "foundation" and the basic structure of the building, including the windows and the 5th and 6 photos. Then I cedar shaked it. Then the ceilings went in - painted boards that we recycled from a 100 year old building . (we planed them, tongued and grooved) photo 7. Photo 8 is putting up the knotty pine. It's been a slow project, but we are getting close. I don't think that David wants to finish the sleeping loft with the railing so he can go out and sleep there without me. I can't sleep in the loft without a railing - too scared of falling.
   -Andrea

Here's the book the cabin is shown in...alongside a TON of hand sketched tiny house and shelter concepts, other photos, and building and design info from the likes of Lloyd Kahn, Jay Shafer, Mimi Zeiger, Duo Dickinson, David and Jeanie Stiles, Colin Beaven, Alex Pino, Kent Griswold, Dee Williams, and many more....