SIXTEEN tiny houses, A-frames, Huts, Art Studios….An eye candy photo gallery

Every once in awhile, I look through my photo archives and realize "Man, I have a lot of photos I've never used", so I then put together a fun, photo gallery, such as this one, where many of these shots I've taken of cabins, tiny houses, A-frames, and huts, get to see the light of day. So Enjoy, and may you get some inspiration, or a few ideas from these!
    Also, check out our fb page on Tiny Houses, and DIY projects- www.facebook.com/tinyhousehub
And details on our upcoming HANDS-ON building and design workshop in Memphis, TN- April 11-13th, 20141 I can't wait!!!

 A lil' A-frame Cottage-rental office I spotted near Acadia National Park in Maine….

 Doug Immel's Tumbleweed Fencl- which came out to our last Relaxshacks.com Building Workshop

 Joe Everson's Work- a 192 Square Foot Tiny Home in TN

 Above: My "Rock Shack" in my backyard, built and designed with recycled materials

 Another cabin on wheels called "The Cub" which I built and designed too- plans eventually coming!

 We built and designed this little getaway cabin in the woods for Vermont for only $300!

 Another reading/writer's retreat I designed in MA (not finished in this photo)

 An A-frame design of mine (it transforms!)- more details and photos coming soon!

 A tiny house in CT

 Another view of my Rock Shack (the one photo here I didn't take- its from Andrew Prince)

 Jim Matus' backwoods cabin in MA

 A micro modern cabin in MA that we recently toured!

My trash-built Gypsy Junker cabin that I built and designed (it sold last year)

A great A-frame I spotted on a road trip near VT

 Incomplete: A cabin I'm working on called "The Periscope"

I built and designed this tree house in late 2013 for a client near Boston, MA

A yurt, one you'll see, and possibly get to stay in, at our Memphis Hands-On Building and Design Workshop 2014

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

My Book….

The Weird Paintings in My Tiny Cabins....who? why?

The Super Cool Art of Painter Karl Mullen....

(because this site has always been a little eclectic with art and diy crafts too- not just tiny houses)

Check out this cool little video, laden with vibrant, funky, and damn off-beat oil paintings from Massachusetts artist Karl Mullen- some of his work has been featured in my past "Tiny Yellow House" how-to/diy videos on the little shelters, greenhouses, and tiny cabins I've created. I've posted two of those videos below. 

I LOVE this type of art, because its so very different, but also fun, colorful, and often thought provoking.

Other artists I currently dig and check up on.... Gus Fink and Cathy Johnson (of the blog "SHED OF REALITY").....

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

SAVE a FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS while building your tiny house....

This is a topic I'll be talking about at my Wilmington, NC Tiny House-Building Workshop on April 26th- 28th- HOW TO SAVE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS while building your tiny house, cabin, or travel trailer. We'll put some of these tips into action as we build a tiny guest house as well! There are a TON of tips I talk about, but let me drop one simple one on you by means of a question. First though, I want you to look at this photo....

Now ask yourself, "Did I notice that the floors are mere plywood?". Looks pretty darn decent doesn't it.
     By using plywood, and skipping a second layer of flooring (where applicable), you eliminate one step of work in the path towards your tiny house, the large chunk of time required to lay a tongue and groove floor is done away with (and the need for specialty tools), AND you're only buying plywood for the task.
     Now granted, you're going to have to buy better grade plywood than what you might have otherwise hid under a layer of fancy flooring, but you're saving a large wad of cash, time, and with a simple swabbin' of polyurethane, or some other protectant, these floors still look great! If you're worried about seeing seams, keep in mind that area rugs and furniture may be taking up half of the floor, visually, anyway.

I also love that the walls you see in this photo are structural, but with the addition of thick blocking, also become storage shelves- an age old trick.

Coming up, I'll also have alternate flooring techniques- ALSO money saving! A decent portion of these ideas are in the book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks", but I've come up with a few new ones since that book was printed.

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

ONE of the "nuttier", more offbeat, tiny house books....

I don't post too many book reviews on this blog, but I felt that this one was worth the attention/mention....

When it comes to books, I rarely like to spend over $15 or so, UNLESS I do a little research or peeking first. Well, NO ONE I knew had the book "The $50 and Up Underground House" by Mike "The Moleman" Oehler, and it being priced at $20 or so made me hesitate to pick it up a few times in the past.

Well, ladies and gents, I was an IDIOT not to, and in terms of being just out there(!), while making perfect sense, and being loaded with some GREAT building information, not to mention illustrations and photos that make Oehler's approach very clear, I ordered, devoured, and LOVED this book.

Again, its a bizarre book, and Oehler loves a good occasional rant, but, the information is great and after reading this book, I'm pretty damn inspired to go on and try building an underground dwelling at some point. I actually have always wanted to do this, but this book has given me a good, needed, kick in the pants.

To sum it up, if you're fascinated by underground dwellings, do check this one out.

OTHER INSANE Tiny House and DIY/Thrift Living BOOKS I LOVE (and some say my own book is insane (thank you!))

"Radical Simplicity" by Dan Price- a funky, journal-style entry on one man's streak of tinkering with tiny, homemade, dwellings. 

"The Art And Science of Dumpster Diving" by John Hoffman- humorous, informative, and down n' dirty- literally. This guy has done it all!

Here's a video of one of Oehler's Underground homes- almost THIRTY YEARS later! Still holdin' up!

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

FIVE tiny houses/off-grid cabins in Vermont- VIDEO TOUR

Here's another video I pieced together recently, showing FIVE cabins/tiny houses/guest huts (one of them a tree house) that I've designed and built up in Northern Vermont. Two of them were built as part of a hands-on workshop I had there over the summer. It was a blast, and I'm sure we'll have another.

Speaking of which, our next tiny house building workshop, where we'll all build a tiny guest house TOGETHER, will be April 26th-28th, 2013, in Wilmington, NC- a THREE DAY course, loaded with guest speakers, demos, and more! CLICK HERE FOR INFO.

ALSO, THERE ARE JUST A FEW DAYS LEFT to pick up a signed copy of my book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks", get some FREEBIES with it, AND have a ONE in TWENTY chance of winner some other AWESOME TINY HOUSE BOOKS as well! CLICK HERE for that.

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

New micro-homes in the UK! The Future of Backyard Living??

Wow, check these out- more spacious than they would appear, and pretty slick, fun, and modern at the same time....

-From Shedworking.co.uk and the BBC....

As reported by the BBC Oxford businessman Robin Swailes is marketing £25,000 shedlike pods (3m x 2.5m) with electricity, kitchen, bed, toilet, shower, underfloor heating and running water as small homes for those struggling to get onto the property ladder in the city.

The plan is that the upturned boatlike structures would be erected - once planning permission is granted - in gardens around Oxford and then rented out.

Interviewed in the Oxford Mail, Swailes - who has already set one up in his own garden in the Sunnymead area of town - said:

"We want to put pods all over central North Oxford and could have 12 in place by Christmas. People have been ringing to ask what on earth it is, so there’s lots of interest already. If the demand is there, there could be hundreds across the city within the next year. We came up with the idea because we can’t meet the demand for rental accommodation in central North Oxford." 

Oxford is one of the most expensive places to rent in the UK with an average rent of £891 a month – £185 more than the average for the rest of the country. Oxford has about 6,000 people on the council's housing waiting list and 165 more in temporary accommodation. The average house price in the city is £343,461.