Monthly Archives: February 2009

Cob Building Work Exchange Opportunity for Spring 2009

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Michael Janzen

This is Brian, a.k.a. Ziggy. He currently lives at the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in northeastern Missouri. He also writes for Green Optins and recently published an article on my passion for pallets. Thanks Ziggy! This spring he’ll be finishing up … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects | Tagged brian liloia, cob, cob house, dancing rabbit, dancing rabbit ecovillage, ecovillage, tiny house, ziggy | Leave a comment

Tiny House Homeless Shelters to Weather The Economic Hurricane

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Michael Janzen

Oprah ran a story about the recession and the increasing number of people finding themselves with nothing but debt and homelessness. Part of the story was about the tent cities popping up all across America. The tent city they visited … Continue reading →

Posted in Humanitarian | Tagged canada, emily carr, homeless, homeless shelter, oprah, tiny house, vancouver | 44 Comments

How-To Create A Living Roof

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Michael Janzen

A reader named Mark passed this onto me the other day. It’s a how-to article on setting up a shed roof for growing plants. This seems like an excellent idea for those with limited space and a shed or tiny … Continue reading →

Posted in How To | Tagged garden roof, green roof, living roof | 4 Comments

Tent Cities on Oprah

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Michael Janzen

This is a little off topic but a good example of one of the many problems simple owner-built tiny houses could solve… and a story worth listening to. I also hope that stories like this begin to wake up local … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Design | Tagged affordable housing, housing, low-cost housing, oprah, sacramento, tent city | 9 Comments

Get to know Jay Shafer

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Michael Janzen

Thanks to Twitter and Stephanie over at Coming Unmoored I noticed that Amanda over at Constructing a Simpler Life posted the text and photos of an interview she recently had with Jay Shafer at his tiny house in Sebastopol, California. … Continue reading →

Posted in Sustainable Living | Tagged Amanda Abel, Coming Unmoored, Constructing a Simpler Life, interview, jay shafer, Kent Griswold, small house society, Stephanie Reiley, tiny house, tumbleweed tiny house company | 9 Comments

Architectual Furniture

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Michael Janzen

I spotted this on LittleDiggs tonight. It’s a great fold-away furniture concept from Japan that packs a kitchen-in-a-box, a bedroom-in-a-box, and an office-in-a-box. The designers call it architectural furniture, furniture combining architectural functions. No matter what you call it, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Interior Design | Tagged architectural furniture, furniture, japan | Leave a comment

Tiny Simple House and it’s Inspiration

Posted on February 22, 2009 by Michael Janzen

I’ve been enjoying drawing more with DoodleCAD and thought I’d share the latest drawing and some photos of the houses that are inspiring the Tiny Simple House. The drawing is the framing plan with some blue boxes added to show … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Concept | Tagged row house, shotgun house, shotgun shack, tiny house, Tiny Simple House | 3 Comments

Nine Tiny Feet 3D Model

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Michael Janzen

I’m really starting to have fun with Google SketchUp. Last weekend I started this drawing simply to give myself practice with SketchUp. Tonight I put the finishing touches on it. It’s a design I came up with last year called … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Concept, Nine Tiny Feet | Tagged Nine Tiny Feet, smallest house, tiny house | 19 Comments

Tiny Simple House Plans

Posted on February 19, 2009 by Michael Janzen

You might have noticed I’ve been experimenting with different drawing programs looking for the right tool to draw the illustrations for the house plan book I’m trying to finish up. I don’t have a bunch of money to spend on … Continue reading →

Posted in Tiny Simple House | Tagged house plans, small house, tiny house, Tiny Simple House, trailer | 2 Comments

Firesign Farm – Sustainability and Simple Living

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Michael Janzen

This is a quick, almost-off-topic post, but I thought important enough to share. In my online wanderings for more information about sustainable living I ran across a blog about a place called Firesign Farm. It’s the one-acre homestead of Sadge … Continue reading →