Conceptualizing the Tiny House

     When we started talking about building a tiny house, it was just for fun. Once it became very serious, we started to ask ourselves the essential questions.

     Would we do it on wheels, or on a foundation?

     The benefit of wheels is that we would avoid zoning. That's a lot of money being saved, and that means debt free. We eventually settled on a trailer, wheels. Then it was time for more questions.

     How big could we build it? How big did we need it to be? How big did we want? Could we fit?

     We did just come from a boat, so we knew we could fit. There would be no downsizing, actually there would be more space. Being that the average size of trailers for tiny homes is about 8'x24'. We only need a 8'x24', but we want something like a 8'x40'. So we decided on 8'x30', it would be more than we need, and just enough of what we want.

     That is of course keeping in mind that we would have storage sheds for our hobbies, and most of our time would be spent outside. So there would be very little limiting of items. As for the things we would keep in the house, there would be very few but very important items. Sort of like the families in this article here which really breaks down some barriers between cultures, and necessities.

     [( http://flavorwire.com/205437/photos-from-around-the-world-of-families-and-their-possessions/1 ) this is the link to the article where those photos came from]

     Since we settled on the trailer it was time to design the layout. The most feasible option available would be a loft design. The kitchen, bathroom, and entertainment area would all be downstairs. The bedroom would be in the loft area, and the roof would be more obtuse to provide ample headroom. When we first started looking at floor plans for the trailer it wasn't hard for us to come up with some layouts. After all, our boat was essentially a catwalk with kitchen, breakfast nook, bathroom, and bedroom adjoined to it. We drew up several different floor plans and explored the idea of all of them.

     Here is a few:

      This one above was the first, where we explored the idea of using a 40' trailer. Which ended up being a lot of unused space. There's no loft area drawn in on this one.

     This one is 30' and closer to our final floor plan, again no loft.

     This is our finalized floorplan,with the loft drawn in, and the furniture/rooms set up the way they will be.

     So once we had a floor plan laid out, it was time to try it on. We used masking tape, a rock, and a tape measure to see what it would be like.

     This photo is looking through what would be the front door. The first square on the left would be the sofa, the second square that is on the right would be the dining room table. The L shaped square in the back would be the kitchen counter. Through the little walkway between the top right edge and the wall would be the door to the bathroom.

The Birth of Our Tiny House Idea

     This whole story was born out of a dream, a dream to live debt free. The story is about my fiance and I, two young Americans growin up in the heartland. Neither of us came from rich or poor families, just middle class Americans looking for a way out of the old ways.

(Not our tiny home.)

     Before our tiny house idea was our boat, the good news is it was still floating when we moved out. We moved back in with our family for a while to save money and figure out our plan. It wasn't long after that the tiny house idea came in.

     The idea rummaged around our heads collecting all of the possibilities for a while. Once it had gathered enough, it presented itself to us. The tiny house, totally within reason for us, it made more sense than a big house or an apartment.

    Let me explain why, we had just moved out of our boat and we owned that, for the most part. Though we did still pay about $700 a month to live in Marina Del Rey near the water (that's moorage, water, and electric). Why'd we move you ask, as everyone has. Well, a boat isn't like a tiny home. Boats at best are made to feel a tiny bit homey, tiny homes at the very least feel like home.

     The other things that motivated our change in pace were less bills, more rural feel, and a sense of independence. Our tiny home will be off the grid, totally self sufficient, and home. Boats can be a great place to live, but are not intended to be lived on when they aren't in motion. Boats in motion have air flow through the cabin, natural moisture control, and empty holding tanks. When they are being lived on while docked, the air gets stale, mold can grow, and the holding tank can start to smell.

     Our boat was 33' (pictured above), and one of the better designs for live aboard. That seems like a lot, but the interior length isn't quite that. Not at all, once you subtract the length of the cabin and chain locker, your down to about 20'. At most that 20' had an aisle way, and no more. The beam of the boat was 10' which once you subtracted the deck length and the shelf space the interior length was about 6'.

     Our tiny home will be built on a 8x30 trailer, which will have significantly more usable space than the boat. Aside from that it will also feel like home, even more so since it will be our design. It will also have outdoor space, gardens, creeks, who knows what else.

     If you aren't convinced that you should build a tiny house yet, read on. Join us on our journey to our tiny home.