Creativity Unleashed!

It's been a while since posting. The creativity muse hit hard the other night. Think 2x4 and back of the head. When consciousness was regained, this was on the computer screen:

After another muse attack (bag of doorknobs this time), this variant appeared:

Both are available for sale on a T-shirt or, say, tote bag. (Ice pack would be nice). This second one looks real nice on a thong.

See the full collections on CafePress:

"Tinier Than Thou" apparel and gifts
"Mine's Tinier" apparel and gifts

Or if you prefer, Zazzle.

Ebook is Live!

"200 Square Feet" our first ebook is now live and free for a limited time.  You can find it on Amazon or check here for other international markets.  Free promo period will end on Saturday at midnight PST (UTC -8:00).  If you are interested in tiny house ideas, details, and designs, please check out the book.  We've included over a dozen different plans for 200sf and smaller shelters.  We've also set up a support website for the book.  Of course, your referrals and reviews are highly appreciated.  Send us your questions and comments!

Busy Elsewhere - Announcement

For the last few months we have been busy writing.  Not on this blog, obviously.  All of our wordsmithing efforts have been going into creating an ebook on tiny home design.  Several designs are being created to go along with the book.  We are aiming for a Cyber Monday release.  Standard price will be $3.99 for the book in either pdf or Kindle version.  But during Cyber Monday week (Monday through Friday) we'll be introducing the book for the low price of free.  For five days only you'll have the opportunity to see our content for nothing out of pocket.

What you'll get:
Ideas, some building theory, comparisons of construction types

What's not included:
Building on a trailer (plenty of others doing that), detailed step by step construction guide.

Stay tuned to this blog or use the subscribe feature on the right to be the first to know.

*edit: if you want to add yourself to the notification list, visit http://eepurl.com/87lin

ADU, Do You?

Here at Istockhouseplans we have been pleased to be consulted for several local Accessory Dwelling Unit (AKA ADU, granny flat, lane housing) projects.  Most, but not all, of these projects involve the homeowner creating an ADU space to move into so that they can rent out their house.  We would expect the other way around.  We've designed a 12x24 garage conversion, are working on turning a bonus room into an ADU, and are drafting up plans for an addition and ADU.  Most of our work is in the Great Northwest but the ADU projects are very specific to Portland.  Portland has very graciously extended two huge benefits to ADU builders.  The first is square footage requirements.  Used to be that you could build an ADU to 30% of the house square footage, max 800sf.  Now that has increased to 75% of the house, still 800sf.  This means smaller 1000sf homes don't have to try to work living space into 300sf, they can shoot for 750sf.  But really, 300sf is still doable.

The second benefit is the temporary elimination of systems development charges on a permit when building an ADU.  In some cases this fee can be thousands and thousands of dollars.  But in order to try to encourage higher density (and avoid sprawl) the fees are reduced or in most cases eliminated for a while.  The one caveat with all ADU spaces is that the property owner must live either in the house or the ADU.  Not allowed to rent out both.  Not that that stops folks from doing so.

If you've been considering an ADU on your property, let us know if we can help.  We already have a host of plans that could be used for an ADU as well as garage options with living space.  Of course every property is different.  If nothing works for you let us know.  We are eager to design small and beautiful.

Tiny House, Big Problem

A bit late on posting this, but we backdated it so it looks good.

A homeless Veteran in California used his wits, resources and possibly past training to create basic survival needs for himself.  He built a tiny home in a California wildlife sanctuary and lived there comfortably for a year before the Sheriff's department finally discovered it.  Now receiving three hots and a cot, we applaud Mr. Downs for his ability to live lightly and live off the grid.

Not so much applause for what else was found there though.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/07/camouflaged-residence-discovered-in-california-park/

Istockhouseplans does not condone illegal activities of any kind, including but not limited to building without a permit on public land.  If you'd like some help in designing or building a tiny house, see our catalog or contact us for more details.

Use it UP!

Where do you suppose the most wasted space in your home is?  Probably from about 4' up the wall and higher.  No, really.  Look around your room right now.  I'll bet that furniture goes about 4' up the wall and then maybe there's some pictures above that.  But if you look around that same room, you've probably got bits and bobs and some mess on the floor.  Consider a child's bedroom.  Taking up floor space is a bed, dresser, closet, and numerous toys on the floor including LEGO that you will step on at 2am during a bed check.

Perhaps the most obvious way to go up is with cabinets or shelving.  Your kitchen should be a natural example of this.  Why do we not do this in other rooms of the house?  The dining room is a perfect place to install a small bank of floor cabinets with some wall cabinets above.  Add some tile, trim and glass doors.  Congratulations, you just installed a buffet.  The family room or great room or media room or whatever you want to call it is another place where a tall wardrobe, or open cabinets or shelves might free up some floor space.  Toys go low, media goes in the middle, decor and display goes high, extra pillows or blankets can be stashed behind solid doors.

Or what about a kids room?  Captain's beds have a bed over desk combo that can save floor space by elevating.  Bunk beds are another great option for rooms with more than one kid.  You may run into some arguing over who gets to be on top.  But what if you have 9' or greater or sloped ceilings?  This is a great opportunity to try out a technique that we've drawn but not yet implemented.  First, the closet (including walls) needs to be have a footprint of at least 40"x78".  Build it with a ceiling about 78" tall.  You're not going to use much space above the clothes rod anyway.  Next, build a rail around the top and install a ladder to climb up.  There should be enough room for a twin size mattress to fit up there.  * May not be suitable for younger children or anyone subject to random tripping.  If you're quite crafty you could work a dresser into one side of the closet without encroaching too much into the rod space.

Or consider a reverse captain's bed layout.  Enclose a space about 78"x60" or more and about 4' tall.  In this space goes a bed and basic nighttime necessities.  Call it the cave.  Above this remains a platform large enough for a desk, dressing area, LEGO layout, or mini Pro Wrestling ring.

Could this be affected in a master bedroom as well?  Sure, why not!  Most master bedrooms are laid out with an idea to be conservative, elegant, and grown-up.  But who says grown-ups can't have fun?  Elevate that bed with a walk-in closet below!  Or enclose the bed and include a home office above.  Oh sure it won't be for everyone.  There'll be complaints of, "how do I change the sheets without falling or knocking my head?"  You just do.  Or you choose a more normal layout.  But for those with stars in their eyes, go for it!

This post was inspired by a house we worked on with 13' ceilings.  It's not our plan, we were just pitching in with a friend's overload of drafting.  If you consider 6'-4" of head height with perhaps a 2x8 floor in the middle you reach 13'-4".  While it's not possible to get two legal stories in that space, it is possible to create a small loft in one side or corner and double up the floor space.

Istockhouseplans will be exploring this concept for some future small house plans.  If you currently are using vertical space in your house or apartment, we'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Petition the White House in support of small houses

Like small houses? Want to see more? Sign this petition and ask the White House to reform zoning laws.

http://wh.gov/nBE

 

Build it on the Cheap

If you are looking to build a new home you know that sometimes the land can cost as much as the house itself. Everybody has one idea on their mind and that is, "How can I get cheap land?" Land-grabs are over despite some fraudulent claims on the internet. What we have found, however, is that some very cheap land CAN be had. This is not $20,000 for 5 acres in the middle of nowhere and no water supply in sight. What if I told you that you could have a building lot near mountain recreation that would allow you to build a 900sf home. "Big deal", you say, "there's lots of that." What if it could cost you only $736. That's not a typo, let me spell it out: Seven hundred and thirty-six dollars. Every year (more or less) Clackamas County in Oregon auctions off their surplus land. Some of this land has been county owned for some time, some may have been repossessed and have some back taxes to pay. Taxes on small vacant parcels in the middle of nowhere tends to be in the range of $20 to $50 per year or less.

The particular parcel that we found is item number 15 at http://www.clackamas.us/property/properties.htm. This is a 30x80 parcel outside of Zigzag, Oregon. The zoning code at http://www.clackamas.us/docs/dtd/zdo/ZDO305.pdf describes how this parcel can support a house with 480sf of ground area (20x24). Two stories makes for 960sf less about 60sf for stairs. The opening bid is $736. We've been watching this website for years and we're pretty sure this parcel will stay low, perhaps a couple of thousand. This would make an absolutely ideal cabin if you are into winter recreation or summer mountain air.

We made some preliminary sketches for this small parcel. Downstairs is completely open with a kitchen and laundry under the stairs. Upstairs is a bed and bath with the rest of the area being an open sleeping loft. You could include more space with a second loft over the bedroom and a fairly steep roof. You'll want a steeper roof anyway to shed snow. A 12:12 pitch would not be out of place on a small cabin. Think chalet.

There are other lots in the mountains as well. Items 9, 10, and 16 are all smaller parcels with low opening bids. If you are interested in one of these lots, have Istockhouseplans design a cabin for you. Our recent love of small homes has expanded our thinking outside the box and we're excited for a challenge.

Salvaged Materials

We at Istockhouseplans dig reusing materials.  Production builders may not find it to be as advantageous given their needs for larger quantities of stock.  But for the one-off builder and the devoted salvaged materials can lend a certain flavor to a home.  One need not be all or nothing either.  You reuse of materials can be as simple as finding a beautiful old stressed beam to use for a mantelpiece or some columns from a torn-down church to be used as decorative detailing in a dining room.  Old-style farmer's sinks can fetch a high price at salvage yards

Pure Salvage Living is decidedly devoted to salvaged materials as well as small housing.  We find this to be a perfect mix of styles.  Your options for reuse are much greater when you don't need 100 of something.  Check out the gallery especially for some beautiful ways to reuse what would otherwise be discarded materials.

And then check out our catalog to find a home to use your ideas in!

Massive Influx of Plans

In what might be described as an heroic maneuver, we at Istockhouseplans just cleared out a bunch of backlog and loaded more than a handful of plans.  The final damage?  Seven in one blow!  Listed below is the latest additions to the lineup:

The Wilsada A 1416A joins her brother the Wilsada 1416.  This tiny house duo are each a whopping 200sf.  The bed is in its own nook, the rest of the space being open save for a bathroom.  Therein is the difference.  Wilsada has a narrow 4x6 bath while the A is a slightly more spacious 5x5.  Otherwise the plans are very similar with their multitude of windows.

The Cottage in the Grove C2042 was a joint project with our builder friend last year.  We finally got around to creating the artwork and writing the text for this one.  This was a narrow 1356sf house that has the most charm of any of our offerings yet.  Two suites each with bathrooms and a large open downstairs space.

The Houston A 2448A steps in with a slightly larger footprint than his predecessor.  The numbering belies his true width of 25'.  Other than an even 1200sf, not much changed from the prior version.  The roof line was modified to maintain the 16' roof plane.

Three Edgewoods were finally put on display.  A few years ago we spent alot of time with the original version creating several spin offs for our builder friend.  The Edgewood C C2552C and The Edgewood D C2552D offer variations on the 25'-28' wide 3 bed 2 bath story-and-a-half theme.  Rounding out the triad is the The Edgewood D2 C2552D-2 mashup.  Not only is it a lot of width, it's also a lot of characters in the numerical coding!

Finally is a brand new plan inspired from a century ago.  The Arleta 2850 adds a third true single story full size plan to our lineup (right behind the Houstons).  At only 1353sf, this little charmer is guaranteed to be a winner in the new downsized home movement.  Three beds, two baths, lots of closets, and both material and energy efficiency just enforce her future position in the marketplace.  We're very excited about this one and hope to see it built soon.

Check out our full catalog for all plans.

New Tiny House Plan

We at Istockhouseplans have been busy developing a cadre of tiny house plans.  Not every one makes the cut to be web-worthy.  Most of them do however become inspiration for other plans.  We are proud to introduce our latest plan, the Wilsada 1416.

Several things inspired this plan.  One was simple lines.  The plan is a simple box with one tip out and three ridges.  Generous light also came into play.  A sliding glass door provides entry on one side while a bank of windows opens up a view on another side.  The third was tiny bathrooms.  We first introduced a complete wet room in the Carver cabin series.  We continue the idea in the Wilsada.  Finally, we have been recently enamored with the idea of sleeping nooks.  Rather than a formal bedroom, the Wilsada contains a very cozy bed nook.  Visualize curtains over the opening and a little bookcase at the foot.  And of course it's elevated allowing for storage underneath.

A kitchenette, sitting porch, and vaulted ceiling complete the look.  Despite our generally craftsman motifs, we could easily see this one decked in white beadboard.  Somewhat of an East Coast beach theme.  Probably not appropriate for a mountain retreat.  Or maybe that's just the kind of irony that you go for.

IKEA Loves Small Homes

If you've received your copy of the 2012 IKEA catalog, you may have noticed a theme. We at Istockhouseplans were thrilled to read the phrase on the front: "A HOME DOESN'T NEED TO BE BIG, JUST SMART."  Bravo IKEA, bravo!


The first couple of pages immediately show some ideas that the IKEA design team put together.  They created a space for 6 friends to live in within 430 square feet.  The solution consists of curtained bunkbeds at the edge with a large table in the middle.  All other space is communal.


Their second challenge was a 75 square foot kitchen.  IKEA was able to get an island and plenty of storage in the small space. Other layouts are shown starting on page 112.  If these still aren't inspiration enough, you can go to IKEA's website and use their kitchen design software.


The next challenge was a 118 square foot living-slash-bedroom-slash-playroom.  The central feature is a loft bed for the grown-ups.  Another variation is shown in a 107 square foot living room that is essentially a showcase room for a chaise lounge.


The final design involves a 29 square foot bathroom - with laundry space and a spa tub.  There must be some smoke and mirrors here because no good ol' 'Merican spa tub would be less than 29sf itself, right?


To see videos showcasing all of these ideas, visit IKEA-USA.com/smallspaces.


The coup de grace of all of this for us was the new Lillangen single bowl sink.  One of our favorite things is to make secondary rooms (powder baths especially) as small as possible.  Building code dictates some minimum sizes needed around fixtures.  At some point to get smaller, the fixtures need to shrink.  We can specify a smaller sink only to have the contractor turn it down because of cost.  (Why are smaller appliances, fixtures, and doodads so much more expensive anyway?)  IKEA's previously mentioned sink is less than 11" in depth with a side faucet (faucet sold separately).  Price for the ceramic, $49.99.  Price for faucets starting at $39.99.  Less than $100 to reduce the size of the house, or give that space to another use.


Of course this is all good news for our line of tiny homes.  If you try to design a tiny home as a mini-McMansion you will fail.  But with IKEA and a little ingenuity you can make anything happen.


*Full disclosure: IKEA has no idea I wrote this blog post.

Free Plans part 4

As we wrap up August and the month of free, we offer one more plan for your enjoyment.  Last week we promised two new plans but the dog ate part of our homework.  So we're left with one final flagship plan to introduce.

The Ramapo is 12' long and 8' deep covering 96sf.  It sports a single shed roof with clerestory windows on the tall wall.  This was originally designed as a bunkhouse for a rural property.  It's big enough to get a bed and bathroomette and closet in.  Or loft the bed and increase the floor space.

This may be the last of the free blitzkrieg for a while but it won't be the last of the free plans forever.  There are a few variants on the current plans that we would like to add, plus some new ideas.  In the meantime we need to attend to some other business.  If you have a particular idea that you would like to see, post it here or send it to us and we'd be happy to give it a go.

Free Plans part 3

More free than you can shake a stud at!  The third of our free plans, the Watson 88 has been released into the public.  The Watson is a simple 8'x8' building that anybody could build in a week.  We've kept the 2x3 wall studs but 2x4 would be perfectly appropriate at this point.  Some gridded windows and a small front porch create an appeal that's hard to pass up.  The uses for this building are as vast as your imagination.  At this size we're bordering on the edge of playhouse and small house.  Istockhouseplans has two more basic sizes to offer and... oh shoot, there's only one Tuesday left in August.  I guess our back to school special includes our flagship free plan.

We better get cracking.  In the meantime download the plans, build the shed, and give us your feedback.  Maybe we should have a contest with the most innovative use of materials in one of our sheds...

Beneath the Maple Tree

It's been a while since Istockhouseplans has released a new plan.  Part of that is not feeling that what comes up is good enough for inclusion.  Then there's the whole bit about keeping with our new model of smaller homes.  To fill the void, we've let inspiration take hold.  A railroad building at Union Station in Portland, Oregon gave us inspiration for a multi-use building.  The structure is about 16x24', two stories and bricked out.  We thought this would make a great garage model and ran with it.  The Maple Garage G201 was born.  The building is 16x24 of garage (or shop) below.  The upstairs is 384sf of office, studio, or apartment.  The bathroom is only a half bath and the kitchen only denotes a sink.  However you are not strictly limited to what our drawings represent.  Were you to want to use the upstairs as a true living quarters, the bathroom could increase a touch and the kitchen be further decked in appliances.  The stairs are on the outside of the building which allows for true separation of uses.  Got a piece of land to squat?  Consider planting a Maple and grow from there!

Can You Spot the Difference?

There are a strain of tiny trailer builders who attempt to create a dwelling that looks very much like a house.  Jay Shafer at Tumbleweed Tiny Houses is probably the most famous progenitor of this style.  His tiny trailer houses are employed most commonly as travel trailers and ADUs among other uses.  So we thought, what would it take to convert one of our full size plans to a travel trailer?

So there's some artistic license and maybe we didn't quite nail it but it was fun to convert one of our 800sf ADUs to an 84sf trailer.  Full dimensions are 7x12' with a 6' plate height.  Total height is around 11' from the ground to the peak of the roof.  2x3 wall construction allows for a cross-wise elevated bed in the back with a closet or low couch underneath.  One wall would contain a small counter and kitchenette.  Not quite the same layout as the Tumbleweed XS-House, but also about 21" less in height.

Check Dragonfly Trailers for progress of builds.

Timing is Everything

Just last week we laid own our intentions to follow a dream of building tiny trailers.  This week came the opportunity to bring the plan to fruition!  We entered into the Dockers Wear the Pants Project.  We could have a chance to win $100,000 to get our plan off the ground.  This would be enough to rent some warehouse space, purchase trailers and materials, and get some rolling stock created.  The mind is just swirling with ideas!

Vote for our entry daily at http://apps.facebook.com/dockerswearthepants/entries/14591

Century Post!

Congratulations to us for our 100th post.  Our first post was in June 2007, 3 years, 7 and one half months ago.  At the time we wondered how we might fill up bandwidth with meaningful discussions.  Maybe it hasn't been 100% quality but we're still looking for that sweet spot anyway.

So what do we have to say for ourselves?  Well first of all receipts have been low.  We attribute this to the economy.  Second, we have found a groove regarding small homes and intend to stick with it.  We have one more large home design that is almost done.  We will release that beast and then focus most of our drafting efforts towards 1500sf homes and under.  All the charm with 1/3 less fat.  And finally we have decided to branch out and use our hands for additional uses.

With T-squares in one hand and hammers in the other, we will begin designing and building tiny travel trailers for sale.  We have become so obsessed with tiny living spaces that we just have to try some out.  Possibilities include vardos, teardrops, canned hams, etc.  Maximum size is about 7'x12'.  We considered mimicking Tumbleweed Tiny Homes but want less house-y looking for now.  We want you to be able to tow one of these behind your station wagon and park it in the garage, not have it sitting on a parking pad behind your F-350.

The goal is to begin building by March 1st and have it ready for camping by June 1st.  We'll post updates as we go so that the tiny travel trailer community can share in whatever ideas we have to offer.  If you are interested in being the owner of our first 4'x8' ledge vardo prototype, contact us and we'll customize it for you.  Amenities include sleeping for 2, tiny pullout table, 12V wiring and stationary 120V hookup, and fully insulated to R-10.  We plan on a craftsman sort of aesthetic but if you get in early enough you can have a say in paint colors or take delivery (and a price reduction) of a primed trailer ready for your artistic eye.

Happy trailers and here's hoping we get hitched soon!

Go Green, Go Small

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) released a report today on an evaluation of waste prevention practices using life cycle analysis.  The report focused on 30 different measures and the impact they could have on our environment over a 70 year span.  We thought some of these measures might fare favorably.  Such include advanced framing, using salvaged materials, drywall clips, and other such resource efficient methods.  Of all the measures focused on though, the winners were smaller homes and multi-family living.  This would make sense since the measures we favored would tend to have more of a point of use impact whereas the clear winners would have more of a lifetime impact.  You can read the full report on ODEQ's website.

In this case, smaller home means 1149sf, half the size of the national average.  Istockhouseplans finds this rather exciting since our average designed house size is tending that direction.  We noted last December that average house size has peaked and is on the slide.  While not all the chips are falling immediately into the tiny house movement, it's encouraging to see the push this direction.  We hope that large home builders will be able to reduce their house sizes by using some of the techniques that the tiny house design community has put forth.  We will continue to work on our plans adding more 700sf and smaller plans as time allows.

Tiny+

Istockhouseplans seems to be creating a middle ground of homes in our arsenal.  We have composed quite a little group of tiny homes, by our definition 600sf and less.  With such homes as the Albina and Albina A encroaching above that mark we are having to redefine what a tiny home really is.  Both of these examples are under 600sf but have non-legal loft space of 300sf.  One could define a tiny home on square footage alone.  Part of the problem here is when a tiny home gets a modification that increases it's size past the cutoff point.  Does it then suddenly become a standard sized single family home?  We would like our classifications to make sense but also be flexible without being unruly.  So perhaps we increase our benchmark but it becomes a game of chasing one's tail.  At some point a tiny home may be around 1000sf.  Do we then bring all the related models up to the standard set on account of the largest revision?

In the meantime we have increased our tiny home definition to 700sf if only to accommodate our latest design.  The Durham A is based off of the standard Durham, but with an attached 10x12 addition.  This brings this little 1 bed 1 bath accessory dwelling up to 696sf.  Why do you think we upped our maximum size?  We liked the original of this little beast but were inspired to increase it after playing with some LEGO bricks.  In fact, the picture on set 5477 looks similar to what we ended up building.  Our drawn plans have a little more precision than the plastic brick model.

Speaking of which, if you would like to commission a LEGO model of any of our homes that you are building, contact us and we'll talk about details.