Relaxshax's Blog

Yes, this is STILL the OLD BLOG….but here’s a new video….

relaxshax — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:16:33 +0000

I was sick of seeing the old last post on this version of the blog….so although this site is DONE- and has moved to www.RELAXSHACKS.com on another host….here’s a new video on a tiny homeless shelter/cabin/house I built for Make Magazine….

My new book is out 2012 through THE LYONS PRESS- a new, VERY expanded edition of “Humble Homes, Simple Shacks…”- we still have a few copies left (very few) of the old version (some of its designs and sketches will never see the light of day again).

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

GO TO OUR NEW SITE!- this is THE LAST POST on this one site (WE MOVED)

relaxshax — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:58:05 +0000

From now on, PLEASE GO TO OUR NEW and CURRENT SITE! (click on anything below)

THIS IS THE LAST DOUBLE POST ON BOTH THIS SITE, AND THE NEW ONE/NEW HOSTED SPOT….we WILL keep this old site up with its 400 or so archived posts though- so don’t worry if you’ve been featured, interviewed, etc- we’ll still be keepin’ ya around, and the the related cabin, tiny house, shanty, houseboat, treefort/treehouse, micro-architecture, rv, camper, floating home, and shack photos.

AGAIN- THE NEW SITE’s BEEN UP AND RUNNING- PLEASE CLICK ANY OF THESE WORDS TO TAKE YOU THERE- and bookmark us- its simple http://www.Relaxshacks.com (aka relaxshacks.blogspot.com)- same thing…

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

A tiny sailboat/home tour of a Catalina ’25 from Kevin Coy (Small Space Living/Downsizing)

relaxshax — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 21:08:56 +0000

Only ONE more day of posting here- we’re now at a new location- RELAXSHACKS.COM (and not relaxshax.wordpress.com)- Please bookmark us and check out the new site!

Reader Kevin Coy (and fellow tiny-house enthusiast) recently sent me this lil’ video tour of a Catalina 25′ cabin-cruiser- as a possible ultra-tiny, budget friendly alternative to small/micro-housing/homes. I’m posting this too, as we recently had a discussion on the very same idea here on Relaxshacks.com- living in dry-docked boat cabins (where, again, in some cases you can even get these boat shells for FREE on craigslist). Yes, these spaces are going to be far too tiny for most, but hey, if you’re single, or an adventurous duo, by living in one of these even for a brief period of time, you’d no doubt save a TON of money. Anyway, the video starts out a little “earthquake shaky”, but hang in there, as Kevin gives us a nice tour throughout this little sailboat.

Another part of the beauty of tiny sailboat living, is that if you’re NOT handy at all, these come fully equipped and ready for use -as opposed to building your own tiny home- especially if time is something you don’t have much of. In water, they’re obviously mobile too!

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

A tiny solar heater made from junk and soda cans (and almost FREE!)- for tiny houses?

relaxshax — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:41:31 +0000

TWO DAYS LEFT OF THIS SITE- the NEW RELAXSHACKS.COM is already up and running- please check it out and bookmark it, etc

Perfect for tiny homes or cabins?

I’ve messed with similar systems in the past, as well as with a good variety of solar cookers (some of which we just might mess with in our 2011 Relaxshacks.com Hands-On Tiny Shelter/House Building Workshop), but here’s a concept (especially the FREE part) that I always thought was great- and THEGOODHUMAN.com explains this solar heater build quite nicely with a photo gallery. I’ve long planned to film a micro-solar heating video, so who knows, I might finally get up off my butt and do so (when I finish about five other episodes and projects I’m involved with).

CLICK HERE: http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2009/06/09/solar-space-heater-made-from-soda-cans-an-old-window/

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

Thanks to the reader who sent this link! Couldn’t recall exactly who- sorry!

A hanging A-frame-style/pyramid tent (a la the “Jungle Hammock”)

relaxshax — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:53:46 +0000

A hanging A-frame-style/pyramid tent (a la the “Jungle Hammock”)

ONLY THREE MORE DAYS OF THIS SITE- SO BOOKMARK, GO OVER TO OUR ALREADY RUNNING NEW SITE at RELAXSHACKS.com! (we’ll keep all these old archived posts up though!)

I came across this photo, have no idea who makes this tent/model (or if its a custom creation) but it certainly is cool. It seems to be going for the part hammock/part tent thing- a sleeping space away from crawling bugs, snakes, and the damp earth perhaps.
Funny thing is, as apparently there are only so many unique designs, ideas, and approaches out there, I already have a very similar structure ready for my next book- but more so a wooden, reinforced, swinging A-frame micro/tiny house.
On a similar tangent, check out my video on the hammock-tent I have from the company Junglehammock.com. VERY cool, ultra-rugged!

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

Dry-docked boats as HOUSE-boats (in a RV or Van Dwelling sense)

relaxshax — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:47:26 +0000

FOUR DAYS LEFT OF THIS SITE…BOOKMARK and CHECK OUT OUR NEW LOCATION FOR RELAXSHACKS.COM HERE….

I was having a coffee-laden internal conversation with myself the other day, and a long-running idea kept coming back to me….As most micro dwellers are living on the DL anyway (in the permissive backyards of others, etc), why not simply park a good-sized, dry-docked sailboat with a cabin somewhere, and live in THAT? Most sailboats in the 23′ and beyond range are outfitted with small cabins, sleeping berths, and micro-toilers, so why not? Better yet, I can’t tell you how many FREE sailboats- some HUGE ones too- I’ve seen on craigslist.org. Fix these suckers up a little, customize them, enclose some of the deck area, and you might have yourself a nice little, unique, place to call home, even if just for awhile. Beyond that, as long as you’re not in a hugely congested area, most people might not know, or care, AND boat owners park their winterized, or ununsed boats in their own yards anyway, so you’re not going to stick out like a sore thumb anywhere. If I were straight out of college, single, and had this idea, this might be the route I’d take- especially in today’s economy, where living cheaply might be one of the few means of survival.

More or less, boats ARE tiny homes/houses, and while a ’23 foot cabin might be a little cramped, keep in mind boats do come in all shapes and sizes. Also, as more and more people seem to be cutting back or, sadly, losing their jobs these days, you’re seeing more and more very affordably-priced used boats on the market.

‘Just though, whether a good or bad idea, that this might be an interesting enough topic or subject for discussion or comments….

This boat here doesn’t so much apply to the example/discussion, but it could easily be converted into a houseboat, tiny home, or shantyboat with minimal work.

Speaking of tiny floating homes n’ shantyboats, again, I feel the BEST and most inspirational tale/tome/book out there, is “SHANTYBOAT” from Harlan and Anna Hubbard- a factual account that reads like the catchiest of novels. We’ll blog on other decent and recommended houseboat and tiny house books soon as well.

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

A Prefabbin’ Micro-Cabin (Forklift assembled, small container houses from ARK)

relaxshax — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 01:01:37 +0000

Our NEW Relaxshacks.com site can be found HERE….

Another cool little video, on an interesting tiny house package/product. Once you get by the computerized, Hal/Space Odyssey narration, I think you’ll enjoy this one- even if only for its uniqueness in container housing design. Small, shippable, and simple, it could be a decent emergency relief option, or simply a tiny home possibility.

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

How’s THIS for tiny housing- a micro-house/home for dogs!?

relaxshax — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:31:46 +0000

NOTE: We’ll only be double posting on this site and our BRAND NEW- NEW LOCALE SITE, for another 5-6 days- so please bookmark and check out our new RELAXSHACKS.com site. Thanks!

Here’s another micro-structure, not intended for people, but that is rather unique in its Bauhaus-style look and approach. It called “The Cubix” and yeah, it would probably roast your dog to death in the sun, and its glass would be blurred with nose prints in no time at all, but it IS pretty cool looking.

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

A video tour of the Lake Union Houseboats/Floating Homes

relaxshax — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 02:13:07 +0000

Again, WE”VE MOVED (NEW SITE’S HERE)- but I’ll continue to double post on this site and the next one for another week or so….things, in the wake of our New York Times Home and Garden cover article/feature have also been NUTS- with a few insane things/tv shoots in the works, so I’m still trying my best to STILL get frequent posts and photos up- while binding, packaging, and mailing huge amount of books, etc. So thanks for your patience!

Anyway, I came across this rather well done video online the other day (from author Howard Droker), and was somewhat surprised to find that it had so few views (2,087) for being up so long (over two years ago). I guess the overall houseboating, shantyboating, and floating home scene still is very underground in the overall scheme of worldly things- perhaps, its best if kept that way (so, maybe I SHOULDNT post this video…..). Sadly, there are so few good books on the subject- or at least one’s I’ve come across. Naturally, if you have any houseboat, tiny floating home, or shantyboat book recommendations, comment away….

Anyway, check it out…

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

A photo of a photo guy taking photos, during a photo shoot for The NY Times on Tiny Houses/Homes (well, “Shelters”)

relaxshax — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 02:48:01 +0000

AS ALWAYS- CHECK OUT ALL OUR OTHER VIDEOS ON TINY HOUSE PROJECTS HERE…

Um….title-wise, I just confused myself. Anyhow, when Erik Jacobs (the guy was incredible) of The New York Times came out to shoot four of my little cabins here in Massachusetts for an article titled “The $200 Microhouse (Joyce Wadler), I decide to turn the photo session on HIM, to make him sweat a lil’. No, Erik was cool with me doing this and I shot some video too- as its not everyday that the NY Times is prowlin’ in your frontyard, snappin’ pictures, as the neighbors look on wondering what the hell is happening….

What you can’t see in this shot are several tripod light/flash rigs set-up throughout my front yard for lighting….like some mini CSI forensics/crime scene…

-Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

Also, just got word that MAKE Magazine wants us to shoot a new series of videos for them soon….and oh yes, we’ll have some real far out, funky, and flobaglooted (yeah, just made that up) stuff in store for ya!