Sketching It Out

While I am waiting for the plans of my tiny home to become available on Tumbleweed Tiny Houses' website, I sketched out the approximate dimensions and interior on our driveway. As you can see, my Chihuahua, Roxy, fits in the tiny house just fine. It was helpful to see it all chalked out on the driveway but still difficult to imagine what the space will feel like with the tall ceiling and south facing windows. As a kid, friends from school would come over to my parents house and comment at how small our house was. Parked in my parents drive, I'm sure my tiny house is going to make their 1200 sf house look ginormous!

Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

My Tiny Solar House will be a design from the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. Jay Shafer started this company in California and currently sells plans for 10 different tiny homes ranging in size from 65 square feet to a whopping 700 square feet. Many of the smaller models, including the Fencl model, which I am interested in, are constructed on trailers to make the house transportable but to also get around the minimum size standards found in the ordinances of most cities and towns in the US. Jay's homes are beautiful. He creates his plans through subtractive design- eliminating wasteful space and making the most efficient use of the smaller space. Tumbleweed Tiny House Co. also sells homes that are already constructed, although you could build one less expensively on your own. The homes that they construct are gorgeous- cedar siding, pine interiors, cathedral ceilings; check them out: TUMBLEWEED TINY HOUSE CO.

My Tiny Solar House

This blog will be documenting the construction of my tiny home, which will be powered by solar panels, use reclaimed, recycled, or sustainably produced building materials, and be constructed by myself, friends, family and anyone else interested in building a tiny energy efficient home. I have decided to build this home for a number of reasons. First, I want to be free from a mortgage and costly utility expenses. I will be able to pay for the materials for my tiny home upfront, no mortgage or loan will be needed due to the relatively low cost of the construction. Using solar power for the electricity in my tiny home and propane for cooking and heat, my utility expenses will probably top $20 a month during the Ohio winter. Second, I want to avoid experiencing the negative effects of the current mortgage crisis. Our area of the country has been hit hard and the housing market is saturated with homes for sale. However, it doesn't seem like the sale prices have completely adjusted and I would hate to buy something only to sell it in a few years and chance losing money. I would rather build something that I could take with me (yes, my tiny home is going to be on wheels!) and therefor avoid the risks involved in the current housing market. Lastly, building this tiny home will allow me to afford such things as solar power and sustainably harvested lumbar. These things can be a little more costly to the wallet but much less costly on the environment. Having a tiny home allows me to afford building methods that are more sustainable.

So here I am, jumping in. It takes a certain degree of bravery to get to the next stage when I actually begin scouting out my building materials and then pounding the first nail. This is a path less traveled but I hope by documenting my experience on this blog, others might see a tiny home as an option for them too. I think it may be a good solution for some considering the challenges our country is facing today.