The Big Tiny by Dee Williams

The Big Tiny by Dee Williams

The Big Tiny is the story of how one woman built her own house with her own two hands - all 84 square feet of it - and discovered that the important stuff in life isn't stuff.

"Admitting that I am 'happy enough' makes me wonder if I'm falling short of my potential as a middle-class American; like I should want more out of life than this tiny house and the backyard, and the way it feels to sit on the porch and watch the sun come up...

But the fact are the facts: I found a certain bigness in my little house--a sense of largeness, freedom, and happiness that comes when you see there's no place else you'd rather be."  - Dee Williams

Praise for The Big Tiny

The Big Tiny is a beautifully written narrative, one that goes beyond happiness and living simply. The power of Dee's words will touch your heart, make you laugh, cry, and change your life.
Tammy Strobel, author of You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap)
The Big Tiny is irresistible. Dee Williams is as much fun on the page as she is in person. Comic, silly, and soulful, she takes us on her journey to simplify her life and along the way tunes in to our own inner desire to pare down to our nearly naked selves.
Jim Lynch, author of The Highest Tide and Truth Like the Sun

Get The Big Tiny Now!

Read excerpts:

Dee Williams Tiny House

“How would it feel to live so light?”: An Excerpt from The Big Tiny

Dee Williams has inspired tiny house builders across the world, but where did her own inspiration come from? Find out below, in the first of a series of excerpts we’re sharing from her forthcoming memoir, The Big Tiny, due out April 22! In this excerpt, Dee explains her first exposure…
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How Do You Start Building a Tiny House?

How do you start building a tiny house? Ideally, by building a few other things first. Continuing our series of excerpts from her new memoir, The Big Tiny, Dee Williams shares some of her own tiny house building process:  “A few days ago, I spent almost an hour trying to recondition…
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Dee Williams' Tiny House

Little House Magic: “Connecting To People And Materials”

We’re celebrating two things today – Earth Day, and the paperback release of The Big Tiny, Dee Williams’ memoir about building her tiny house on wheels in 2004.  In this new excerpt, Dee shares an example of how making thoughtful choices about your building materials can pay off in more…
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Selected Press

About Author Dee Williams

Dee loft headshotDee Williams built and moved into her first little house in 2004, and since then over 20 million people have toured it virtually to learn more about the house and her life.  Dee founded Portland Alternative Dwellings, or PAD, to help others learn to build homes that serve their lives, instead of the other way around. 2014's The Big Tiny is her first book. To schedule a reading from The Big Tiny, contact Brian Ulicky at brian.ulicky [at] us.penguingroup.com.

Dee's tiny house journey didn't end with The Big Tiny. In 2016, she gave her original "Kozy Kabin" Tiny House to her nephew, and moved...into an even smaller tiny house. You can keep following Dee's story, writing, and evolving reflections on life and home.

Learn More About Dee's Tiny Homes and Story

 

Speaking Engagements

Dee Williams is a compelling, authentic speaker with a unique and moving story to tell. Her choice to live in a little house in the backyard speaks not just to the tiny house movement, but to themes of sustainability, making choices from the heart, and the desire to simply show up in your own life and in the lives of others in a way that really matters. 

Dee has inspired audiences across the country and around the world, speaking everywhere from local libraries to international business events. Her speaker's resume includes:

  • Chris Guillebeau's perennially sold-out World Domination Summit
  • The Vine, the inspirational kick-off event for the Pacific Coast Home Builder's Conference
  • TEDxConcordia
  • Keynote addresses at the Tiny House Jamboree and the Build Small Live Large Summit
  • Sessions at the Tiny House Conference and The Tiny House Street Fair

Contact PAD today to inquire about having Dee speak at your event or to a private audience.

Image of Dee Williams with a cape.
Image via: Ryan's Creative Universe