No matter how many times the question is answered via blog post, forum thread, Q&A, book entry, or magazine article, many in the tiny house community are used to being asked:
“What would the first steps be if I’m considering buying/building a small home for my future?”
It’s a find question. There is no doubt to that. But the fact remains that tiny house building (as with many things) there is no right or wrong, black or white, left or right. For every tiny house there is a different thought, process, or methodology. So a few of us had an ongoing conversation in an attempt to combine our personal responses into something more broad and more representative of a greater juncture. The conversation began innocently enough with Gabe Craft of Small and Tiny Home Ideas asking, “What steps did you make toward building/buying your small home? Sounds simple enough, right? We found out it was not. Responses came in from around the globe with some folks simply answering, “draw a sketch,” “buy a Jay Shafer book,” and even “find a good builder and buy something from them.” But the conversation got deeper and more people began sharing personal anecdotes and experiences that led to deeper answers and truths that have not yet been written about. For instance Ella Jenkins of Little Yellow Door admitted to backing herself in a bit of a corner.
“Once I had gotten so far as to know that I wanted a tiny house, (there was definitely research and videos and blogs) I just started telling everyone. Like, EVERYONE. The discouragement and doubt were surprising but encouraging to me, and then I’d told so many folks I couldn’t back out!”
This was a sentiment echoed by several others. Victoria Whitcher of Tiny Homestead Freedom added, “My husband and I started telling people too. All the negativity made us want to do it more.” And that is something that comes up regularly; negativity. Whether it be from friends or family or outside influences there seems to be no shortage of strange looks, comments like “it might be good for you but….”, and more! But the tone of the conversation changed rather quickly. We all know the negativity exists but few let it concern them.
Most tiny housers ultimately look within to take that first step. Says Dan Louche of Tiny Home Builders, “Start simplifying today. It’s easy, It feels good, and many of the benefits associated with tiny houses can be achieved by simplifying.” Laura LaVoie of Life in 120 Square Feet quickly added (and even wrote a blog post in response), “Deliberate living is very much a lifestyle that requires active participation. I came to this conclusion after years of following the path of least resistance and wondering why cool things just never happened to me.” The idea of simplifying, searching within, and making deliberate choices in life became the theme it seems. In her blog post 12 Monthly Resolutions to the Tiny House Lifestyle Macy Miller remarked, “I have heard from a few people recently that are wondering how they can get a little closer to the tiny house mentality/lifestyle. It inspired me to put together a list of monthly resolutions let’s say. These are things that I did, not necessarily over the course of a whole year but they were necessary in order to downsize and make the steps forward from my 2,500 s.f. lifestyle to my 196 s.f. house to see if it was going to work for me.” In the post she outlines steps such as making a list of priorities that are essential to your happiness in a house, asking friends for support, and reconfiguring and downsizing each room of your house.
Ryan Mitchell of The Tiny Life concurred with both an announcement and a thought. “The book I will have coming out in June has about 80 pages on how to start, finding your passions, setting goals, and making your way to tiny houses and tiny living.” Derek Diedricksen of Relaxshacks.com and Andrew Odom of Tiny r(E)volution chimed in with almost identical answers that were a bit less internal and a bit more nose-to-the-grindstone practical. Says Deek, “Start planning way ahead and read every blog, book, magazine, and view every potentially inspirational video you can get your little mitts on. Then start sketching ideas, and re-sketching ideas, asking questions of those who have already taken the path, all the while stockpiling whatever funky, free, found, and bargain materials you can get. Take the time to plan though- and contemplate all your options before you take action. If not pre-thought out, there’s nothing worse than a “coulda, woulda, shoulda” mentality after the fact.” Andrew added, “First step? RECONSIDER! Seriously. Reconsider. Have dialogue back-and-forth with yourself and whoever you will be living with asking “is it right for us? should we really?” This is not a light decision and should involve mental, emotional, and physical sureness as well as research and preparedness. Don’t get caught wishing you had put a window here or a drawer there!” Kristie Wolfe of A Tiny House on the Prairie spoke up saying “I do have construction know-how but I must say that I just dove in [to building a tiny house]. I had a general floor plan but it greatly changed with the materials I found on Craigslist or at auctions.” Even a general floor plan is enough to make you sure of your process. Sometimes the dreaming about a tiny house can become overly romanticized allowing you to lose sight of the actual processes and effort that will really be needed.
Someone who is familiar with the dreaming as she herself is the subject of many tiny house dreams with her Sol Haus tiny house, Vina Lustado paraphrased quite nicely. “1. Research, research, research; 2. Buy a small house book; 3. Try out a tiny house for a weekend; 4. Assess financial feasibility and if need be, get rid of debt; 5. Make a decision if it’s right for you; 6. Jump in and buy the trailer (or a set of plans)!” What could be more spot on than that nugget of information? Nothing according to Stacey Whitcomb who did almost just that. When planning and building her Just A Smidgeon tiny house she, “[I] started asking for help. Tried to get a feeler for who in my social circle had “know how”. [I] drew up my own floor plan and knew what [I] wanted it to look like. [I] collected tiny housers on FB and watched every youtube video available.” Not typically the verbose member of the group, the humble and sagacious Hari Berzins of Tiny House Family agreed with the idea of planning before building and then with great aplomb revealed that she and her husband Karl are going to be launching a much-requested eCourse in a few weeks that will touch on aligning your spending with your values and goals, land selection, downsizing, and even dealing with permits and inspectors! The conversation was an incredible one with so many tiny housers weighing in with their personal thoughts and responding with signs of support and agreement for each other.
Of course the conversation would not be complete without the likes of Joe Everson of Tennessee Tiny Homes just quipping with, “Have a company build it for you for what most people pay to do it themselves!” And perhaps that is the answer in retrospect. Dream it. Contract it out. Pay for it!
excellent bit of wisdom here. So many come to the idea of tiny living, either in a tiny house or just a smaller house than they have, and really haven’t completely come to grips with the actual process nor the time it may take just to get to the point of jumping into any tiny construction project. I know that my wife would not agree to living in a tiny house, nor even a small house (under 1200 sq ft). At least not yet. She is realizing slowly that we do have way too much stuff and has started to purge a few things a little at a time, once in a while. Maybe she is seeing some of the small results of my downsizing and purging of my own stuff. I don’t push it since I know her mind on it and she would totally resist otherwise. It must be her decision to downsize her stuff. So continuing on toward a smaller lifestyle with less stuff very slowly. Seems that many times when we are told the direction we want to take is crazy there is the tendency to forge ahead stubbornly anyway just to prove the naysayers wrong. Just the way we all are when passionate about something we feel is important.
Thank you so much R S. I totally hear what you are saying in regards to the “actual process.” It is quite a sight different from just dreaming about it. Good luck on y’alls downsizing. It is often a slow process but such a rewarding one!
Good stuff!
I’m still early on .. dreaming, trying to be patient, trying to work through zoning / coding red tape, verifying insurance, etc. etc. I’ve changed my house a million times and it’s still not quite there. I am trying to figure out how to get this built once I find land .. do I try and go at this myself or do I pay to have it done by someone who will be a lot better than me? So many things to try and figure out at once!
I completely agree with the negativity comments .. I have gotten that constantly from those closest to me and it’s not a good feeling. It’s hard to find something you are passionate about and have people close to you step all over it. But stay the course and I am certain it will be worth it.
TRYING to be patient. I hear that. I think perhaps that was our biggest hurdle. HAHAHAH! Stay the course indeed.
Thanks for the info. It let me sort out some things to make sure I was heading the right direction.
Have done a lot of research. It seems like I learn something new everyday. I’ve already made bids on two trailers. Lost out on the first one but have high hopes for this second one. Both have been 24 foot which is what our plans have been drawn for.
Because of our desire to help others with the process, we have already set up a Facebook page and Website / Blog so that we can share each step of the way.
In the next 30 days we have also chosen to go ahead and downsize considerably. Our current home has 1200 square feet but we will be moving into just one room that is 200 square feet. The only thing that we will be using outside that space is the bathroom and the cooking area.
Should confirm also a host build site within the next two weeks. We were going to build in our back yard but because of the slope of the yard we are concerned that the weight of the house and any moisture on the ground could hinder an easy removal. The proposed host site, if approved, will be easy to access both for building and for those who are curious.
We have also found two favorable locations to take our tiny home for the first year until we purchase our own property. We already know that the property will have to be in one of the surrounding counties because of some restrictions with RV’s.
Learning a lot from all of you. Thank you all for blazing the trail.
What is your URL Garry?
http://www.weewoodyhomes.com and FB https://www.facebook.com/WeeWoodyHomes?ref=hl
Not a whole lot there yet except for the interest, plans and allowing others to catch the fever.
Any suggestions are welcomed
I am purchasing an Amish built 10×16 shed with 2 lofts. As soon as it stops snowing, I plan on putting in the insulation and wiring for electric. I am looking for design ideas about setting up the interior.
A number of people online have done a similar thing. I would caution you though to have a contractor or framing construction friend/acquaintance take a look at the framework before you do anything to confirm that the structure is truly sound for living.
I will. It was designed for wiring and insulation. my brother is a building inspector so I won’t do anything without his advice. I know better. thanks
Ugh…had this all typed out and it disappeared! I am not a pc guru lol
Anyways great article! It has been a year this week that I started after discovering a u-tube vid that reminded me of a book that was in my mothers things when she passed ” Tiny House” by Lester Walker. Inside was tucked an article about Jay Shafer which I had tucked away 6 years ago. This started my desire and the next few months of many 4am nights researching everything I could. Next I went through my current home and decided what I could not live without and then designed my tiny house plans around those treasures. Next comes Craig’s List and putting every extra $ into picking up materials for the build along with downsizing and shrinking my living space to what I will be using in the tiny. Downsizing is an emotional rollercoaster and has taken me the better part of this past year! Next step is preparing all the antique windows and doors and anything else I can build and have ready for the build. Hopefully as weather and money provides I will get my trailer by April and start the build by May 1st. You can follow my slow progress on my build page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tiny-House/437517049664311
I like to hear that you are collecting unique materials and trying to keep your budget on a cash basis. That is so important in my book. Thank you for commenting Sheliah!
I’m in the drawing-designs-over-and-over phase. I haven’t downsized enough but feel that I could when/if the time was right and I felt that it would get me closer to building a house.
Part of transitioning to a tiny house is the mental and emotional aspect. If you carry baggage in those departments I assure you baggage will come in the other areas.
I am Sooo dreaming!! I have my thoughts/dreams on a two story shed. Perfect for my family w two (eventually 3) kids. The hard part is figuring out where we can build. We live in chicagoland now but may move to Texas (near family)… I do love Oregon tho. Choices choices. Tiny houses have been an obsession of mine for a few yrs, since I first discovered them. I have been slowly pairing down our possessions. Being really picky. Donating, selling, etc.. I would estimate we’ve purged 4 or 5 pull pick up truck loads of crape!! I am simply AMAZED at how much junk we gathered in less than a decade of being a couple. I am addicted to youtube vids, web searches, and drawing ideas in my handy-dandy notebook. In addition to tiny living…. living green and as self sufficiently as possible… my father in law lives partially off grid in Mexico. His utility bills BLOW MY MIND!!! Something to aspire to.
So long as a federal and state tax structure exist you will never be without some restrictive covenants. I think the key is to find land in a place where the covenants align with your beliefs and where you feel your family can thrive. It is a lot to think about, yes, but it is completely necessary in this journey. Great line of thinking though!
I live in Texas and there is one place I know of to put a Tiny House. There is a town called Sput, TX, they are allowing people to bring as well as build Tiny Houses. One warning if you can’t work from home or are not self-employed you may have trouble. The nearest big city for jobs is Lubbock, TX. It’s 60 mi. from Spur.
Several months ago, maybe even a year ago, I saw a video online about a tiny home. I was fascinated, intrigued, and thought how much I would love this! I have wanted to downsize and simplify our lives for quite awhile now. I showed the video to my husband, and got a kind of “ho-hum” response…he wasn’t interested at the time. So, I would look longingly online at other videos from time to time. Well, about a month ago, HE brought it up! He is very interested now in building a tiny home. We live in the Nashville (TN) area, and we found out that Tumbleweed Tiny Homes was having a seminar here, which we are attending this weekend. Ella Jenkins is actually one of the seminar speakers! Her enthusiasm is quite inspiring! We have bought a set of Tumbleweed plans, and we’ve started dreaming and brainstorming. I have also started to downsize. I made it one of my New Year’s goals (not a resolution, because they don’t last very long!) I am going through my house, a little each day…a closet, drawer, or part of a room, and downsizing. I hope to be able to have a garage sale sometime this spring and earn a little money from the sale to go toward the tiny home project. My husband and I have started looking at how-to videos online at various things we’ll need to decide about. And we’ve never even seen a tiny house in person! This is the most excited I’ve been about something in a long time!
Your story begins as so many others do Gwen. The power of video, huh?
GREAT ARTICLE! …and just in the nick of time for me!
I discovered the tiny house revolution on the web back in 2010, and converted a then-scoffing-fiancée to a now-tiny-house-disciple-husband! What made the difference? Chronic stress and 60 hour work weeks really made us both rethink why we were living the standard “American Way,” and how better we wanted to spend the rest of our one, and only, lives together. That really made the decision easy for us, and now we’re about to embark on our own tiny house journey.
Where are we now? We’ve been saving now for months, and I’ve just left my full-time job to begin preparations for building the tiny house and an accompanying blog to document the build. I actually attended a Tumbleweed workshop that traveled here to Atlanta last May, and it just further jet-fueled my desire to make this a reality for us. Since that time, we’ve downsized our living space to a 700ish sq apartment, and sold/donated many of our belongings. I’ve also been consuming as much content as I can on the web in way of videos, blogs, books, and interviews, and bouncing back and forth between different build plans. There are just so many wonderful options out there, I’ve had a case of analysis paralysis!
A lot of great points in this article! I plan to sit down and make a list of things that are important to us, and try to prioritize the crucial points to focus our decisions on so we can move forward. Also going to be learning/utilizing Sketchup to really nail out the final plan visually, and have found a local-source for a custom trailer that I hope to be ordering from in February. The hope is to start the build in March!
Thanks for the post, and great blog!
Thank you so much for reading Shendeavorelae (do you know how long it took me to spell that correctly, BTW?) I think what y’all are doing is awesome and it sounds like y’all are moving in the right direction. I like that you proselytized your own husband. That is hilarious. So y’all are in the ATL area? Will you be building there as well? We built in middle GA.
Hah, it’s a long one – good job, haha! She+endeavor+Celtic twist = yeah. 😛
Anyway, we’re currently living in Atlanta, but I will be driving up to build in my mom’s back yard in the northern suburbs (south Forsyth area). I have been reading through a lot of your blog posts and caught that you built in Georgia! Awesome!! (I’m always trying to find Georgia tiny-house people)
Whereabouts and how did that happen? I’ve read that you tried to use a lot of reclaimed materials, but did you have any good experiences with local vendors that you’d suggest?