One of the regular readers of my blog and a fellow small home enthusiast, James (aka NomadRip in the Comments section), forwarded me the following video. I haven’t laughed as hard as I did while watching this video in quite a while.

The self-proclaimed Moron Brothers’ are bluegrass musicians who live on a self-built shanty boat which is featured in the video below.

Thank you, James, for reminding me that no matter how modest (and currently torn up) my little floating home may be, there’s someone out there living in something even more humble.

And I just have to say that even though their little shanty boat is a little more… rustic… than what I eventually hope to end up with, these two totally understand the appeal of living in a little house on the water.

I am also  more than a little tempted to send the video to my father and a few coworkers as an illustration of the place where I’m living.  However, I doubt that would help their difficulty in understanding my choice in a home.

Every now and then someone comes along to remind us that just about anything is possible.  Take for example, Michael Janzen.  Janzen made a pretty big splash last year because of his work with a very tiny house.  Janzen decided to leave his traditional home behind… in favor of a smaller one.  Of course, as we all know, finding a unique small house is always something special.  However, what made Janzen stand out is that he got his small house for free.

Janzen has been earning his tiny house through sheer ingenuity and resourcefulness.  Thanks to Craigslist, Janzen was able to collect all the materials that he needed to build his small 80 square foot home.  His story was even featured in The New York Times. And the story about  his “free house” is still going strong. Just last week, Janzen posted an update about his project on his blog tinyhousedesign.com

Janzen’s story is a great one because it underscores what is possible in tiny housing.  Much can be accomplished with tiny housing for some obvious reasons.  By needing less materials and land, it is possible to re-envision home building.  Because fewer resources are needed, new possibilities are opening up for would-be homeowners.  Janzen’s ingenuity has carried over to his tinypallethouse.com website, which promotes the idea of using pallets to build quick, cheap emergency housing.

Of course, competing with “free” is a pretty hard act to follow.  However, there are many low-cost alternatives to consider when looking for a tiny home.  Take for example, Bungalow In A Box.  This innovative company  in Maine is building some cheap and very sharp looking homes that can be delivered to locations.  Their 12′ x 16′ Bungalow is about $14,000 if you live fairly close to Maine.  If you need delivery, it runs $4 per mile.

Obviously, if you live in San Diego, you might want to consider another kit builder.  But if you are in New England and are considering a tiny house, make sure you check these guys out.  They can do custom designs and have built homes as large as 4,400 s.f., and other structures as small as 60 s.f.

With a little looking you can find an amazing variety of tiny homebuilders and individuals who have amazing ideas where tiny homes are concerned.  The notion of building a home from free material found on Craigslist should spark everyone’s imagination.

After my recent  trip to Portland to check on my floating home, I decided there were a couple of things I wanted to take care of prior to my pending move-in–like, say, having a source of heat and doorknobs with locks installed in the place.

My mother is coming out to visit in Albuquerque the beginning of April, so I decided to postpone moving my car up to Portland until after her visit.  (It was either that, or we’d be using Charlie’s decrepit Chevy Blazer while she was in town, and the thing burns through gas.)  Plus I had a project at work pushed back to this week.  Taking three days off work right now is problematic.

When I purchased my tiny home, the wiring and heaters were both from the 1960′s.  I replaced the electric panel and ripped out the old heater and stove as part of the initial renovations, but the electrician I used went out of business before the new heaters were installed.

I am happy to report that as of this morning, two new Com-Pak Plus zonal electric heaters have been installed in the front half of my house.  I’ll eventually need to install heating in the new back room as well, but I figure that can be handled at the same time as the rest of the electrical work that needs to be done there.

My house is not currently plumbed for gas and I plan on installing a wind turbine and possibly solar panels at a later date, so electric heating was the better option for me, albeit a somewhat less efficient source of heat.

While not so much a creature-comfort, new gutters also went on the place this week.  Next up is the locksmith.

I certainly haven’t minded up until now having neighbors poke their heads into my place to check on the work being done, but I’d rather it not happen unexpectedly once I’ve moved in.  (Plus, I also don’t need the browbeating I’m sure I’d get from my mother once she discovered I was  living in a place with no locks.  Never mind that there’s two separate security gates and a long walk down rampways before you even reach my place in the marina.)

Jay Shafer at Tumbleweed Tiny House Company has just release a new small home design, the New Vessica.

The New Vessica is designed with two options–the bedroom in the loft or downstairs.  It is 278 square feet or 372 square feet, respectively (not including the loft which is not considered “habitable space” in standard square footage calculations).

This tiny house is designed to be a stationary home, affixed to a foundation, rather than on a trailer like many of Shafer’s smaller designs.  It is also not a modular home, meaning it cannot be built and shipped to you like some prefab designs. This home is designed to meet International Building Code.  Estimated building costs are $100-$200 per square foot depending on the local cost of labor.

Through the end of March, the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company is offering a discount $200 on the plans for this tiny home.

Plans for this small house can be purchased through The Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to what changes I want to make to my tiny kitchen.  In the process of researching options for small-space kitchens, I came across the Hansen Instant Kitchen.

This all-in-one design provides a full kitchen in a compact space.  It includes an oven, refrigerator, sink, and storage drawers (even under the sink).  All you need to do is connect the electricity and water and you’re ready to go.

The cabinets are made of FSC Certified oak with a natural or soap finish and it comes with a steel top.

Hansen Living is founded by Knud Kapper, a Danish architect.  They won the prestigious award at ICFF for Best Kitchen and Bath in 2004 and their kitchens have only recently become distributed in the U.S.  (They are carried by KitchenDesigner.org.)

Per an article at ApartmentTherapy, “Knud explained that when he embarked on designing Hansen’s product line, he asked some of the best chefs in Copenhagen what made them ‘laugh at the typical consumer kitchen.’ Then he did the opposite. The result is a collection of free-standing units with no overhead cabinets, but rather drawers below counters. Each drawer is lined with a metal perforated bottom to allow air circulation. The base pieces are raised on legs to allow access for cleaning the entire kitchen floor.”

You can see additional photos of Hansen designs over at the Hansen Flickr site.

I really like the use of space in this design, but I also like the idea of having overhead cabinets, as well.  If you have other small kitchen cabinet options to suggest, I’d love to hear them!

In the following podcast, the New Colonist‘s editors discuss living small including community, energy use, and sustainability.

The world of housing is on the verge of being changed forever.  New attitudes, new designers and new techniques are set to merge with a global re-evaluation of how, where and why we build homes.  New visionaries are on the scene and they are definitely shaking up the concept of what a house should and can be.  Slowly the idea of lugging tons of wood, brick and mortar out to a home site is beginning to fade.

One very interesting company that is having an impact on the tiny home movement is kitHAUS.  kitHAUS has some striking designs and great ideas, with homes ranging from 187 square feet all the way up to 289 square feet.  Their largest design is the K1, is currently available in California.  If you like lots of sunlight and want that “wow” factor in your home, then this tiny house delivers a substantial punch.  One entire wall is an essentially a massive window, measuring almost eighteen feet high and seventeen feet across.  If that is not enough light for you, then consider that the K1 has windows that wrap around an  entire section of the house.

In addition to a great design and a very modern look, consider for a moment that the K1 kit, which largely consists of aluminum, comes delivered on a truck ready for assembly and can be assembled in just a couple of days.  There is even an off the grid solar option by Ready Solar.  K1 just has that cool factor that will grab most people’s attention.  At $75,000 dollars it may not be the cheapest small home on the market, but it definitely one of the most eye catching.

If you are on a tighter budget then maybe you’ll want to consider the K4, which is about 187 square feet and costs approximately $43,000.  While smaller than the K1, the entire K4 kit weighs a mere 7,000 pounds.  There is even a solar heating and air conditioning unit that has been designed specifically for the K4.  Much like its larger cousin the K1, the K4 has ample light exposure and a very innovative design.  Many will appreciate the prominent shutters and the maple plywood walls.

Take a peep at the K1 and some of their other innovative designs at www.kithaus.com.  If you are considering a tiny house or a modular home, these sleek, modern designs might be a fine fit.

A growing number of writers are beginning to cover the small home movement. This is fantastic news for people interested in the small home movement.  However, keeping tabs on the wide range of tiny homes being covered could easily become a full-time occupation.

Beginning this week Coming Unmoored will begin recapping the latest homes featured by tiny house writers.  Please keep an eye out for this every Friday, and plan on having some fun browsing sites when TGIF fever hits on Friday afternoons!

Tiny homes featured in the past week:

Old Place Cabin

Walt’s Micro Home

Kai’s German WeeBee

JB’s Tiny House

Free Spirit Spheres

Green Retreats

The Long Long Honeymoon (airstream trailer)

GreenPod Homes

Signal Shed

Tiny Cob House

Amanda and Tyson’s Tiny House

Trailerwrap Project

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

If you are considering a tiny cabin retreat,  you really might want to consider the Metrocabin from Cabin Fever.  The Metrocabin is a modular structure that is designed to be highly functional and sturdy. The Maximo unit is 16 feet by 20 feet and has a price of about $32,000 dollars.  The smaller Medio unit is 12 feet by 16 feet and cost about $20,000.  Cabin Fever can also build larger units on request.  The Metrocabin concept seems to offer a lot for the money and also has some nice modification options.

Part of what makes the Metrocabin concept so interesting is it happens to be extremely versatile.  Almost every aspect of the design can be modified, and the prices for all the options are easy to understand.  Everything from air-conditioning and heating, to wall finishes and electrical packages can be changed and upgraded.  Sometimes builders overlook the notion of being able to modify tiny homes.  The option to modify a tiny home is especially nice when considering that one needs to be highly satisfied with the interior space, due to the inherit lack of space.

Cabin Fever is definitely approaching the tiny home concept from the perspective of building homes to be tough.  Much attention is given to the issue of foundations, structural engineering and roofing.  Consequently, their design is pleasant but lacks some of the wow factor of other tiny home models.  Still, as a retreat cabin the Metrocabin is a fine concept. Since the Metrocabin is a prefab kit, built in a factory, it can be assembled and shipped anywhere in the country.

It is obvious that they have put a great deal of thought into the concept and have created a solid home kit.  Yet, in this increasingly environmentally aware era, it would be nice to see some sort of solar power option, especially as this advantage is so common in prefab housing and small homes in general.  However, this fact alone should not deter those who are considering buying a cabin retreat, for Cabin Fever has created a solid product with the Metrocabin.  Take a look at Cabin Fever’s website to see if the Metrocabin concept might be a good fit.  The overall cost of the kit definitely makes it an attractive contender in the tiny house market.

Tiny Home enthusiasts may take issue with whether or not an automatic dishwasher is a necessity for simple living.  Certainly I have lived happily in homes without one.  However, in planning out my (eventual) kitchen redesign, I’ve come across some examples that might be viable dishwasher options in even the smallest of homes.

The smallest of the small options are countertop dishwashers, which I didn’t know existed until I stumbled across an example. Several companies including EdgeStar, Danby, Haier, and Koldfront offer countertop options. Here are two of my favorites:

The EdgeStar DWP45ES allows you to wash up to four (10.5″ max) place settings at a time. EnergyStar rated, it uses approximately 61% less energy than other countertop options. Dimensions are 17.1″ x 22.5″ x 18.9″.  The EdgeStar retails for roughly $235.

Another countertop option is the Danby DDW 497W.  The Danby is also EnergyStar rated and can hold up to four place settings.   It also offers five different wash settings.  Dimensions are17″ x 22 7/16″ x 18 7/8″.  The Daby also retails for around $235.

I could easily see either of these two models being tucked under a kitchen counter in a Tumbleweed or Tortoise Shell tiny home.

Moving up in size, you can also find 18″ models.  Danby offers an 18″ portable dishwasher that easily could be built into a small kitchen or stand alongside cabinetry. The Danby features a stainless steel tub, adjustable dishracks, 7 wash programs, and advertises low water consumption.   Dimensions are 32 5/16″ x 17 11/16″ x 21 5/16″.  The Danby18″  retails for around $380.00.

GE has also begun offering compact 18″ dishwashers.  Their dishwasher can either be ordered with a stainless steel front or with a wood cover panel to match the dishwasher to other cabinetry.  They are EnergyStar rated and offer five different wash cycles.  Dimensions are 32 1/2″ x 17 1/2 x 22 1/2″.  These retail for roughly $500.

These are certainly not the only small dishwasher options out there.  However, hopefully, they’re enough to get you started researching options that may be appropriate for your own situation.