As of yet, I don’t offer a book on how to design and build tiny houses. This is mostly in part because there are already so many good ones out there! As I develop new designs and push the envelope of Tiny House innovation, there will come a time for such a resource, but for now I recommend checking out these other books along with my review. I own and have read all these books page by page and try to be as honest as I can in my review.
ESSENTIALS
The Small House Book, Jay Schafer – The first Tiny House book I ever bought. I thought it would talk more about the details of building a Tiny House, but instead focuses on other just as important topics such as the problems with modern “McMansions”, Jay’s story, advantages of going tiny, and good design principles. A classic read for any Tiny House enthusiast
Tiny House Design & Construction Guide, Dan Louche – What The Small House Book lacks in meat and potatoes of “how-to”, this book certainly makes up for it. With good photos, illustrations, and easy to read text, Dan does a good job of covering the basics of Tiny House construction for the DIYer
Tiny Homes, Simple Shelter, Lloyd Kahn- Many Tiny House experts credit Kahn’s earlier Shelter as divine inspiration getting into Tiny Houses. While the former deals mostly with vernacular and indigenous types of shelters spread across the globe, the newer book deals almost exclusively with Tiny Homes across North America. The photos and ideas in this book are priceless. With 1,300 pictures covering 250 buildings all under 500 square feet, most of which are owner built, there is some serious creativity and inspiration to take away from this book. In fact, if I could only own just one Tiny House book, this would probably be my pick.
Little House on a Small Planet, Shay Salomon- This book starts out with a very academic look of the at the problems associated with living in houses that are too big, not only from an environmental aspect, but a psychological and financial sense. I’m a very visual person that prefers a lot of pictures and it was almost too much text for me, but it is all well written and all makes a very good point. The photos and graphics that come a little later are very useful
INSPIRATION
Tiny House Floor Plans, Michael Janzen- If you are considering designing your own tiny house, this is a great study guide. There is no text, just 200+ floor plans of tiny houses of various sizes. You can get some great ideas of layout and furniture/fixture layout
Radical Simplicity, Dan Price- This is a biographical account of Dan’s experiment to live in simple self made structures on a piece of land he rents for next to nothing, but gives great insight into the joys that he finds while getting rid or stuff and learning what really is and isn’t essential to everyday living. A brilliant read for anyone wanting to get into the “less is more” mindset or needing some tips on how to get rid of “stuff”
Tiny Houses, Lester Walker-
Micro Green, Mimi Zieger-
Freewheeling Homes, David Pearson
Walden, Thoreau- Read it, then go for a walk in the woods.