“What would happen if we started being honest with ourselves about what we really want?

What if we started being ruthlessly real? What if we actually said the things that we think about, but are afraid to say?

Our egos may shrink and squirm, afraid to face reality as it is; afraid to bypass all the pretense; afraid to confront the shear nakedness of authenticity.

But maybe if we could evade the grip of our ego-based fears, we could embrace unfiltered, unmediated reality.

Maybe, just then, we’d start to come alive.”

This quotes comes from Jonathon Mead’s most recent contribution to ZenHabits and it really resonated with me today.  You can read the rest of Jonathon’s article here.

Probably the biggest benefit I’ve noticed from my week-long media fast is that it made it impossible NOT to have to come to terms with some things which haven’t been working in my life.  (Plus it freed up a heck of a lot of time to actually address those areas.)

More on this particular subject later.  However, here’s something to consider in the meantime… what, in your own life, aren’t you telling the truth about?  What do you think but not say to others?  And what are you afraid to say even to yourself?

If you really give it some thought, I bet you come up with some  interesting answers.

Solargon Structures is a rather innovative Fort Collins, Colorado company that is really trying to make some waves in the tiny home universe.  They have three sizes of homes: a 20′ diameter that is 309 square feet, a 30′ diameter that is 695 square feet with 8′ walls and a third model that is 695 square feet with 10′ walls.  The reason that their concepts and designs are so interesting isn’t the size of their tiny homes, but how they approach building and design.

The Solargon Structures concept is designed to be quickly assembled using a yurt design and SIPs, which stands for Structural Insulated Panels.  These SIPs are essentially designed to be prebuilt wall and roof panels that can quickly be laid in place once homeowners receive their building kit.  This design gives homeowners a variety of benefits including being able to quickly erect the structure, work on the structure on their own, transport the structure into remote locations and have a small environmental footprint.  These panels are made from all natural materials as well meaning that no VOC’s are used in the construction of the panels.  No VOC’s means no formaldehyde for example. which,  This principle of course, translates into results when it comes to your indoor air quality.

These panels, the heart and sole of this building concept, have high R-values. As a result, homeowners will have reduced heating and cooling costs.  The wall panels are a very respectable R28 and the ceiling panels are R42.  But saving energy is only one the ways that these Solargon Structures tiny houses are green and environmentally friendly.  They are designed with an eye toward passive solar heating and all the materials used in their construction are from natural materials that are also renewable.

There are some other benefits to a design like Solargon Structures, which might not be instantly obvious.  Being able to build a home quickly means less overall expense, as families do not have to carry the cost of two homes simultaneously.  This is one of the tiny extra benefits that can make building a tiny home really worthwhile in a variety of significant ways.

I’ve had a couple of emails over the past few days letting me know that your RSS feeds are no longer updating for the site.  I’m currently trying to troubleshoot what the problem may be.

Please bear with me as I tinker with a few things trying to fix the issue.

If you discover you’re one of the people no longer receiving updates, I’d love to know what browser you’re using and whether or not you’re in the U.S. or not.  (Feel free to comment below.)

PowerHouse is a builder that is looking to make a real difference by building tiny homes that pull off a pretty neat little trick.  A PowerHouse home arrives on the back of a single flatbed truck, and is set up in a single day.

That’s right at the end of the day the home is in place and running off solar energy to top it all off.  PowerHouse wants to be a green builder, and to this end they have made they designs sustainable and very energy aware.  The PowerHouse concept for the PowerPod is likely to capture the imagination of many, as this unique design has the added additional benefit of instant gratification. Homeowners can start living in their home the same day it arrives.

A big trend in tiny and green homes is for the homes to be off the grid.  There is a definite move towards creating homes that are freed from the wide array of problems that are associated with being tethered to the power grid.  The first thing that will strike many about the design of PowerHouse’s PowerPod is that the entire concept seems to be built around staying off the grid.  There is a passive solar design that incorporates a solar butterfly roof and solar array. A high level of insulation has also been put into the PowerPod to make the most out of it’s solar roof panels. There are other energy sipping features built into the design as well.  The PowerPod uses SIP design and R-28 walls, insulated water tanks, radiant floor heating and high efficiency lighting.  PowerHouse believes that their mixture of technologies may enable homeowners to cut cost by up to 80%.  The notion of reducing energy consumption by 80% is a very attractive one, especially when one considers the unpredictable nature of home heating and cooling prices.

Water usage has also been taken into consideration.  There is also a rainwater collector built right into the roof as well.  Composting commodes and grey water technology are additional possibilities which all contribute to making the PowerPod a tiny home that could be completely off the grid.

PowerHouse’s PowerPod is yet another good example of a homebuilder that is attempting to provide customers an easier and energy independent option.  They are incorporating technologies and approaches that were overlooked just a few years ago, and in the process helping usher in a new era in homebuilding.  Check out the details at http://www.powerhouse-enterprises.com.

Also, a great way to increase the energy efficiency in your home immediately is to upgrade those old windows to Vinyl Replacement Windows.

Quick note: I’ve just been told this video only plays for viewers in the U.S.  If someone knows of an alternative source that’s friendly to other locations, please let me know and I’ll gladly swap it out.

In the spirit of my media-free week, this Saturday’s video is a short one.  Besides, I couldn’t resist sharing.

Summer is here, gang.  Step away from the computer and go enjoy!

Each Friday Coming Unmoored runs a weekly roundup of tiny homes featured on the web and recent news stories that may be of interest to small home enthusiasts.

(Not bad for someone on a media fast, right? )

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Tiny Houses Featured in the Past Week:

• Willerby Vogue
• Sisters on the Fly
• TrailerWrap Project
• Little Tom Thumb
• Earth House
• Push Button House
• Dwelling Shed
• Two Sustainable Sheds
• Multicellular Caravan
• Swedish Prefab Cabins
• Sonoma Shanty (in the making)
• iHome
• Barcelona

Recent News Stories and Essays on Tiny Homes and the Small Home Movement:

• Student Builds Tiny House (Fox News)
• The Small House Movement (SF Homes Examiner)
• If Your Oversized House is Giving You Anxiety (Kansas City InfoZine)
• Tiny House Living #8
  

New Small Home Websites and Blogs to Check Out:

• Project Rolling Freedom
• Tiny House Project
• Coyote Cottage
• Shed Flickr Group
• Technomadia
• Yonderosa

German pre-fabricated homes company, Hanse Haus, is now distributing a Rotor House.  The Rotor House incorporates a bit of a carousel theme- and is certainly doing its part to make tiny houses fun.

This is an innovative tiny house that fits into a space of just approximately 18×18 feet. The house is called the “rotor” house, because it actually has a turning rotor.  You can use a remote and turn the house from your bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen.  So when you decide you want to see or visit one room or another, simply pick up the remote control.  There is also a toilet and a small hallway that is separately designated from the spinable rooms. The colors of this house make it look quite space age, as it is circular and white, with calming muted colors in the interior rooms.

Luigi Colani, a designer who was born in Berlin, was the mastermind behind this tiny house. Colani is quite the Renaissance man as he is a sculptor, painter, flight engineer, and philosopher. Colani’s car designs, and furniture designs have garnered awards and prizes over the years.  His website is www. Colani.de.  Currently, Luigi Colani is a professor in Shanghai.

Hanse Haus has been building pre-fab homes for 80 years.  According to their website, the are “leaders in the field of energy-efficient house-building using the highest quality craftsmanship.” The Rotor House is energy-efficient and definitely quite the ingenious way to maximize inner space potential within a tiny house framework.

Some days home renovations are easier than others. For example, I was just getting ready to get rid of the extra kitchen cabinet I removed when Rumi decided it was the new official Cat Cave.

In spite of him bonding with the cabinet, I did finally get rid of it after stubbing my toe on it one too many times during the night.  I’m still getting a major guilt trip and sulks from the cat, though…

I have a feeling if feline-human relations continue to devolve, I may end up smothered in my sleep some night not too far off.  (Especially if he can figure out how to use the bottle opener by himself.)

Time for some major sucking-up to the kitten methinks.

One of the first things I did upon moving up to Portland was to join a Artist’s Way group led by Ingrid Kincaid.

The Artist’s Way is a book written by Julia Cameron. It is a program of “artistic recovery” and involves a twelve-week structure of exercises. I first did the program roughly a decade ago when the book first became popular in writing circles. I find it useful to repeat the exercises every couple of years. Moreover, I really enjoy being part of an Artist Way group because they tend to attract a fascinating mix of people I enjoy getting to know and spend time with.

The one thing I dread in the program is Week #4 because one of the exercises for that week is a week-long media fast. That means: no books, magazines, NPR, TV, movies, music with lyrics, email that is not work-related, frantic reading of the back of cereal boxes, etc. The point of the exercise is to disconnect from the constant stream of information our modern brains are constantly bombarded with so that one can more easily listen to one’s own internal voice.

Now, I don’t own a TV and I can fairly easily go a week without that or movies. Music is slightly more difficult as I really enjoy it, but I’ve got plenty of music without lyrics. However, I love NPR. And I’m thoroughly addicted to the written word. I am a voracious reader. Books are my sustenance and connection to the outside world. The thought of going without them, my news feeds, or non-work-related email for a week sends me into fits of anticipatory withdrawal.

Which, I’m afraid, also means it’s likely I’ll learn something worthwhile from the exercise. It’s hard to say, though, as I’ve never actually made it the full week before when I’ve completed the program. I’m going to give it my best shot this time, though.

Because I received a decent amount of email related to this website, I will be checking my personal email twice daily. I will also be online long enough to submit posts to both Coming Unmoored and the Small Living Journal. But if I seem a little scarce online the upcoming week, you now know what’s up.

The good news is that this exercise should free up some time to both work on my house and also to do more actual writing (rather than my obsessively following every bit of news related to the small home movement). I’ll keep you posted on how things progress.

If you are seriously considering building a tiny home, there is a book that you must pick up.  New Small Spaces: Good Ideas, edited by Francesc Zamora Mola and published by Collins Design, is simply a gem.  This book features forty-one great homes that are all less than 900 square feet.  The homes in New Small Spaces are always elegant and are often mind-blowing.  You will definitely be inspired to create your own tiny home after you see what some of the world’s best and brightest architects have done with their tiny space concepts.

Some of the spaces featured in the book are homes, while others are apartments.  New Small Spaces starts out with the tiniest of small homes and works its way up.  One of the outstanding smaller homes is the Shouldham Street Extension from Henning Stummel Architects in London.  This tiny home may only be 161 feet, but it packs a lot of “wow” into that 161 number.  The exterior of this tiny home is a lap wood ship siding that has been panted in various shades of gray with random Plexiglas strips placed throughout.  The interior is just as creative, as the Shouldham Street Extension has walls that are gloss white.  Perhaps most impressive of all is the way the interior and exterior interact to produce some very well framed shots that any photographer would love.

Ever so slightly bigger at 205 square feet, comes the Boxhome from Norway.  The Boxhome was designed by architect Sami Rintala in 2007 and can be found (looking like some transplant from the future), in Oslo.  This four room tiny home was designed with an eye towards energy efficiency, as well as creating a relaxing space.  The outside of the Boxhome more closely resembles a work of modern art than it does a home.  The polished metal exterior is broken up a highly asymmetrical plus sign shaped window pattern.  The end result is just breathtaking.

Anyone seriously contemplating building their own tiny home, should really take a look at New Small Spaces.  The Boxhome and Shouldham Street Extension are just two of the forty-one homes featured in the book. Most homes in the book are larger, and some homes are as large as 900 square feet.

New Small Spaces, quietly and elegantly, makes the point that brilliant design and innovative material usage can produce some truly amazing homes that can feel much more spacious and luxurious than their number of square feet would dictate. You can read more about this book at the Amazon link.