March 3 through 16, 2019 One of my favorite Tom Robbins quotes is, “You should never hesitate to trade your cow for a handful of magic beans.” And that’s a bit how it feels to be planning a tiny house design and building workshop in New Zealand — or “NZ” as my friend and co-teacher…Read more
By Dee Williams What are you focusing on this year during the upcoming holiday blitz? In the past I’ve paid a lot of attention to stuff-minimization, but this year, I’m focusing on just trying to be present with the grace that rests inside the holiday craziness. A couple years ago, I wrote about Holiday Stuffing…Read more
What’s your design aesthetic? We spend a lot of time at PAD talking about why to build a house and how to build a house, but don’t talk as much about all the little aesthetic choices you make along the way to make a house feel like home. This has been on my mind lately as…Read more
Anyone who has shopped for tiny house plans and designs knows that the shopping process is, well…pretty annoying. Tiny house plan shoppers need to visit sites scattered all over the internet and compare designs with totally different features and prices. That’s why I’m excited to announce the launch of TinyHousePlans.com, a new one-stop shop to…Read more
How do you prepare and insulate the floor of a van to convert it into a campervan or home on wheels? To be honest, I didn’t think this question was going to take me so long to answer. It may not take you as long to answer – a lot depends on your goals, preferences,…Read more
A 93% Off Sale – But You Have to Move Fast!Do you want over $700 of tiny house educational resources for just $49? Of course you do – it’s 93% off! The Tiny House Bundle Sale includes 35 tiny house plans, ebooks, courses and videos — including our Salsa Box Tiny House Plans and Don Vardo…Read more
It’s been almost four years since The Big Tiny came out – jeez, time flies! Dee roved the country for the better part of that year, speaking with audiences from Brooklyn to Sebastopol, sharing her pioneering version of what it looks like to live lightly with her signature humor, candor and heart. But tiny houses…Read more
By Billy Ulmer So what’s that thing on top of our van, and how did it get there? As I mentioned in my introduction post to the van, my partner and I knew we wanted a full head height van from the beginning. Sprinters were out of our price range, and Ford Transits and Ram…Read more
Whoa Nelly you guys! Are tiny houses legal in Portand? Not quite, but they will be “allowed” through a creative workaround: the laws about “camping” in tiny houses and RVs on private property will no longer be enforced! Rachel Monahan from Willamette Week has the scoop: “In a sweeping change to Portland housing policy, City…Read more
The heart of small housing is about giving people more options for what to call home. At PAD, we’ve never cared much to discriminate about “small vs. tiny”, or “on wheels vs. on a foundation.” What we care about is people having access to affordable, sustainable places to live in a way that serves their…Read more
By Billy Ulmer I once mentioned the tiny house movement to an outdoor guide who remarked, “Oh, I’ve got a tiny house! It’s called a campervan.” And he’s right, in a lot of ways. Vans outfitted for camping or living have quite a lot in common with tiny houses on wheels. I’m learning this every…Read more
It’s both hard and fun to design a tiny house on wheels. You have Department of Transportation requirements for height and width, limited square footage, and you’re trying to accommodate key functions, systems, possessions… and trying to make it all multi-purpose and flexible over time. It’s a lot to handle! That’s why we sell tiny…Read more
One of the most exciting things about offering tiny house designs for sale is seeing them built in the real world by our customers. All of our tiny house plans have already been built in real life for custom clients, but it’s a new thrill to see them built by others. Some look just like…Read more
If you’re tired of seeing the same layouts and configurations in tiny house designs, it might be time to look at some tiny house alternatives. Step into the related small-space worlds of vans, travel trailers, and even truck camping, and you’ll see some truly unique and ingenious designs. Some people start their small home search…Read more
Wondering how to power your tiny house with solar power? I was, too! My current little house has been running on solar power for 13 years, but when it came time to set up a system for my new, littler house, I was starting from square one. My book, The Big Tiny, explained my solar…Read more