Project Rolling Freedom!
The persuit of a tiny rolling home.

Dec
01

So Michael Janzen at Tiny House Design is celebrating his 400th post by announcing:

I’m now going to begin publishing a series of low cost tiny house plans, in addition to all the other normal writing I do about tiny houses and the first is the Tiny Solar House. I’m keeping the cost low because I really want to help empower other people to find their own housing solutions as much as I want to achieve a self-sustaining lifestyle for myself…I’m committed to keeping all my house plans affordable. 

The first house plan will be his Tiny Solar House. Check it out!

3D-view-2

Nov
29

Hey kids! I know it’s been FOREVER since I posted.  No excuses, I’m just lazy.  Anyway, I found this over at BikePortland.org; and I thought I’d weigh in. 

There’s been a lot of talk recently about building homes for the homeless.  All these fancy architecture students are coming up with these fabulous plans for these fabulous tiny houses and after I read about Brian’s bike motorhome, it got me thinking that there are 3 fundamental problems with these architecture students’ plans:

1) many of them are big enough that you need either a peice of property to set them on or a huge truck to pull them or a lot of money to buy the plans and build them (or buy them prebuilt).

2) nobody is really giving these plans away for free (except Michael Janzen) or really getting off their patuties (myself included) to help build these homes.

 3) homeless people don’t have the money to spend on purchasing these plans or the homes premade or to build these homes. Period.

These homes are beautiful and well designed, however, they don’t really suit the needs of the homeless.  They need something cheap.  Something that is easy to take with them by hand or bike; something light and fairly small like Michael’s teardrop bike trailer or Brian’s bike motorhomes.

I also think the fastest way to help the homeless is to support them.  Take Brian for example.  He currently has a pull behind bike trailer that weighs 80lbs for sale.  It’s definately not as pretty as one of the fabulous tiny houses but it is small, light, weatherproof and can be tugged along easily.  So in that regard, it serves the needs of the homeless. 

So since it’s almost December and all, I’m going to whip out the Christmas card and say, even if you don’t want this tiny house for yourself, why not purchase it and then donate it to someone who really needs it?

 Brian probably needs the money more than those fancy architecture students do.  He actually lives on the streets.  He is not neccessarily homeless because of his bike motorhome, however, just because you have a place to sleep doesn’t mean that you are rich.  Brian still needs food for his mouth and clothes for his back. And probably money for repairs on his home.

So to wrap up my time on my soap box, here is one of the comments by the editor of BikePortland.org:

Elly Blue (Editor)
November 28th, 2009 16:22

Hey all,

I spent a while talking with Brian today. He definitely needs to find a buyer for this rig, and is entertaining offers. In the meantime, he could really use smaller donations as well. If you know where he’s at, drop by and chat with him for a while. If you don’t, feel free to drop it by our office, 833 SE Main #102.

Besides money, his other urgent short-term need is a covered place where he can fix his own house-bike — the rear axle needs to be replaced and he isn’t looking forward to working on it out in the rain and cold for another winter. Any leads on a big, covered, preferably indoor area where he could work?

In the longer term, the guy needs investors, and a team.

And here also are some pictures of Brian’s bike motorhome that he has for sale.

This model is 8′ x 4′ and weighs only 80 pounds. It has a spacious interior that fits a sleeping adult (or two?), has many interior shelves, and is priced to sell (he’s asking $1,950 but says he’ll take offers). He can modify the hitch custom for any bicycle. -quote and photos courtesy of Kent Griswold of the Tiny House Blog

 

Oct
12

So I’ve decided to take a line from Tammy over at Unconventional Photography and Leo at Zenhabits, and uncopyright my work.  Who knows, maybe someone will build a tiny house inspired by one of my designs?  I hope they send me pictures!

Tiny Victorian front

Oct
05

Or should I say blog?  Tammy from RowdyKittens has just released her uncopyrighted photo blog!  Hooray for Tammy!  Here’s what she has to say about her new blog: 

A few months ago, I started working on my photoblog and it’s finally ready to share with the world!
Why a photoblog? Since RowdyKittens is devoted to social change through simple living, I wanted to create a space to share my photos and geek out about the latest photography news, tips and gadgets. :)

I have a lot to learn about photography, but I’m taking baby steps. So please head over to unconventional photography and tell me what you think.

Sincerely,
Tammy
http://rowdykittens.com
http://SmallLivingJournal.com

I think you’ll be delighted with her photos.  Her technique is a little unconventional – hence the name – but entirely beautiful!  So, take a minute and head over to http://tammystrobel.com/ and leave her a comment.

Kitten loves yoga

Sep
30

I know I’ve been super lax lately about getting new tiny house designs up.  I guess you could say it was a dry spell.  But my creative spark lit a fire today and I came up with 2 new designs.  My new designs switch up the bathroom placement.  In other tiny homes it feels to me like the bathroom placement is right out in the open for all to smell.  In my new designs, they’re behind a wall connected to the bedroom.  Each of these also has a bedroom on the main floor and could possibly have sleeping/storage loft overhead if the builder were so inclined.  The design to the left is 8×16 with a 2′ porch.  The design to the right is 8×18. Well, you’ll see.  Here they are in 2d and 3d.  Tell me what you think!

Sep
27

Here are some pictures of a bunch of stuff I donated today.  I’ve decided to focus on the garage.  I gotta get it cleaned out if I plan to make it into a house in the near future!

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And here’s my poochie Kayla MacFrulele.  She loves to help!

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Sep
25

I’ve had theives lately, who have decided that it’s ok to steal my stuff. I guess it’s a blessing because I want to downsize anyway but it would be nice if they wouldn’t take the stuff I need to fix my house (my compressor) and keep my trees under control (my chainsaw).
So, my plan? I have emptied my garage and I’m leaving everything outside over night to see if my thieves will clean up for me. Whatever’s left will either go on Craigslist or will be donated to the Idaho Youth Ranch Thrift Store.

Here is an example of the amount of excess in which I live (please don’t judge too harshley):

Sep
24

I just love Tammy at RowdyKittens!  She always posts the greatest stuff on her blog.  A recent entry included a link about a lady who created her personal manifesto and a life list to boot.  Well Tammy had the audacity to post her own life list and I think I’m going to muster the courage to post mine right now.  While writing my list I realized that there are a lot of things on it that I could be doing right now instead of sitting on my rear, and that a lot of it has nothing to do with not having enough money.  Oh, AND there’s a lot of wanting to learn in my list.  I’m not going to put it into any particular order since I didn’t originally draft it that way.  This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the things I wanna do with my life.

If Time, Money, and People Were Of No Consequence, I Would:

read more – travel – build my tiny house – divorce my car – finish my remodel – rent out my big house – take the 100 thing challenge - take my dog for more walks – go to the gym – create an urban homestead - learn life coaching - learn hypnotherapy - learn Theta Healing - start a life coaching business integrating neurolinguistic programming, hypnosis and Theta Healing – start an Academie for the Arts of Seduction - open a full figure bra store (like Victoria’s Secret for big hooters!) – spend more time with my brother and my dad – edit new books by local authors - take belly dance lessons – take adult ballet lessons – start a ministry - drink more beer – build a quadricycle - get a massage – eat healthier  -  learn to enjoy exercise – get rid of my tv – learn to blog successfully – see more concerts – learn to draw – learn to pierce – help build a tiny house community – build bikehauses for the homeless – refinance my house – start a salvaged home business – learn nutrition and herbalism – take yoga – go on a retreat at the Anima Center - take the Anima Rewilding course – own my own tattoo shop – more to come as I think of them!

A lot of these things are totally hippy in nature but I’m learning to embrace the black sheep within me and take that leap.  I’m going to let my freak flag fly!

What would your life list look like?

Sep
17

I love it when tiny/alternative housing is featured in any magazine.  This one happened to be in Escape From America Magazine, a magazine for expats and travelers.  Check it out!  http://www.escapefromamerica.com/2009/09/unique-housing-for-global-nomads/

Sep
09

Here is another good idea.  I just love youtube!  The awesome part about this one is that with a little cash and some fortitude, a person could make one of these themselves.  It tickles me!  I think I’ll have one made for my tiny house.