Inspirations...

Decided to wait to build until next summer or the following, but going to continue using this blog for ideas and inspiration.

Saw this on another tiny house blog. Fallen in love with it! http://rusticway.com/

This isn't a tiny house, but I love the window in the front!

And this shower is amazing. Placed right, I wonder if a wet room is necessary?

http://www.appliancist.com/?start=330 is definitely a website to keep an eye on. Deals with house designs, appliances, and bits and bobs! Here are a few ideas from it

Love this, space saving and stunning. What if the lid was also a breadboard?

Scale placed into the counter top? Could be used as a surface?

What if the second level floor was partly glass to show off beams etc?

Tin that has been shapped or battered a bit. Fantastic anywhere with natural or coloured light.

Dan Phillips from Huntsville, Texas is inspirational. He builds houses from waste. He has built using cans for walls, license plates on the roof and PAPER MACHE floors of popular labels. His website and blog: http://www.phoenixcommotion.com/

 

Bath tubs!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/29Z2a8/dornob.com/quite-possibly-the-coolest-hot-tub-you-have-ever-seen

Pics of other tiny houses

Just realised there are no pictures of completed tiny houses, and only a couple of what look like really really awful frames that are about to fall apart!
So this is what is possible for a tiny house, some on wheels and some off wheels!

Yes, you can live in a treehouse. There are some fantastic designs out there. Saw one earlier made in the shape of a sphere...lots of stairs with lots of gaps to look down through...think I will stick to the ground!

The next two pictures are of the same house. It looks quite big, doesn't it?

And finally, a picture of what a tiny house can look like on the inside. Many people seem to sleep upstairs in the attic, but this is not the only option. Like my hammock....

Ok, NOW off to do some more work! 

More bits and bobs!

Told several more people about this crazy little project, and everyone is enthusiastic. My mom and flatmate are a little worried about the practicalities of it. My mom more the legalities of building it, but thats crazy because its basically a caravan for want of a better word(but oh, so much better than a caravan!)

Couple of other things, definitely want a hammock(read today that it is possible to sleep in a hammock in a tiny house and wanted a hammock for donkeys years!). Found this website which maybe handy later http://www.hammocks.co.uk/hammocks.htm

Also wanting a stable door. The top of the stable door needs to have glass in it through....I think.

Read of a forum today, two things that people wish they had thought about before building their houses, the door must open outwards because it increases living space and lets less cold into the house when it is opened up. Also the roof should be as low as possible, again to conserve heat.

Also need to find out a few things from other tiny housers, namely...

How much energy does your tiny house use?

How much does it weigh?

Any suggestions on how to do the toilet. As it will be on rented land for the first ten months and its unlikely to havesewage pipe/drain access and I cant compost blackwater etc there.

Power, power, power hungry...or not so much?????

Solar panels.. this is by far the cheapest I have found. And from the discription, perfect for what I need. Only about £700 including the battery! http://www.solarshop.co.uk/solar-panel-120w.htm

Need to double check this has enough power for hot water showers, my laptop and cooking, which alas will be electric not gas as dont want to use fossil fuels(althrough gas is so much quicker to heat up a stove/oven and cool it down again, meaning I can use the stove top as a counter more easily)

But with government grants available of up to £2500, and a £250 discount through Able and Cole veg boxes, I definitely need to keep the options open. Also want to look more into wind power, and the possibility of selling power back the the grid.

Decision made!

For a while I have wanted to do something crazy during summer, woofing, world travel, hitch-hike the UK, do a few marathons, volunteer at some of the big festivals etc.

Last summer I wasted, stayed home, bored stiff. So after a friend came back from a holiday in a roulotte(gypsy caravan to me and you), and I am still stuck for a place to stay next year at uni. I first heard about tiny houses about two years ago, and wanted to do one then too. The whole sustainability thing, small footprint, eco-friendly, minimalist thing has always appealed to me. And now I cant help wondering, if I dont build a tiny house now, and live the crazy idea out, when am I? When I am 40 going through a midlife crisis with children, a mortgage and tons of responsibilities(hopefully to sensible for that!), or when I am 70, finally retired from work, kids moved out, but maybe feel to old to do something crazy? So I have decided to try and build a tiny house.

So this blog is to note down information I find, and to let others know whats happening and how they can help, because, I am not sure I can complete this, not sure it wont fall down, not sure it wont cost three arms and four legs, actually not sure about a lot of things about it. But I am sure of one thing...to get it done, I will need help!

This is a guy who has made his house of shipping crates! www.tinyfreehouse.com/page/9/

This is also a really cool idea I like a lot for strawberries, flowers, or possibly a way of clearing grey water(water from the shower, sink etc with chemicals in it, althrough I want to use only vegan chemical free products where possible). Think this could go nicely on the back of the house where it wont get too much damage from the wind when travelling.

And a few students making a house from recycled stuff at school! It was their blog that made me wonder if a blog would help communicate with everyone else about things I am on the prowl for! http://thescraphouse.wordpress.com/page/4/

So, this is the start of a crazy, hard working, but fun summer that hopefully I will never forget.