In a recent post I talked about the tiny house movement and my reasons for wanting to live a ‘tiny’ life. Since then I have spent a lot of time researching and thinking about the type of house I want to build, as well as thinking ahead about the kind of life I want to be working towards.
Ever since I seriously considered this journey I knew I wanted to buy plans for the house, as apposed to designing and building it myself. Having done nothing like this before, building my own house is going to be plenty to keep my busy. At the end of the day I want a house that is safe, structurally sound and a pleasure to live in. I can’t even imagine the amount of time and effort it would take to learn all of the skills required to accomplish this. There are some exceptional people out there that have done this however, Tiny Nest being a superb example. Maybe I’ll attempt this second time around.
I have spent the last couple of months looking at what other people have done, to help me better understand the kind of house I would like to live in. Luckily there is no shortage of examples online, Macey Miller of MiniMotives has the largest list of tiny house websites I have seen so far.
With more of an idea for my requirements, I have started looking for construction plans to purchase. These are plans made by professionals, often by or with the assistance of an architect. So far I have come across the following plans for sale:
As well as traditional paper plans, tiny house plans often come with 3D SketchUp plans which allow you make changes yourself. Being able to modify the house design is important to me, so I end up with a house to suit my personal needs. I hope to use the plans to build a solid structure, which I can then tweak.
While I know there is a lot of work ahead of me, going through this process has really hammered it home. Every step and decision in the project will require research, planning and hard work. With many many of these to come, I now need to find the plan which will allow me to focus my efforts and allow me to take the first step towards starting for real. Which is both exciting and a little scary!
morehawes
Of course, you could buy a plot of land with some trees, chop them down and stack them on top of each other to make a sort of box….
Hi joe! This will be a great project. You certainly have some good resources to draw from. ie Shaun and his dad have built many homes. Good luck. We may require your developing expertise to build one for my son Dawson someday.
Dave
Thanks Dave, yes I was thinking they would be good people to ask. I’m sure I will need it along the way!
Joe
I think you are really brave to even THINK about such a project. More power to your elbow!.love,Grandma’
Thanks Gran, yes it is going to be quite the undertaking! I plan to be documenting my progress, so watch this space.
Joe